History UsefulNotes / Cairo

* In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse]] awakens from his thousands of years sleep in [[TheEighties 1980s]] Cairo and meets ComicBook/{{Storm}} there. In the climax, he [[MindOverMatter reshapes the entire city]] into a pyramid for his transfer ritual.

* ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'': Godzilla and Kong fight near the city and damage one of the piramids.

Meanwhile, throughout all this history, Memphis had a twin city on the east bank of the Nile: Iunu, etter known by its Greek name Heliopolis. While Iunu was never the capital of ancient Egypt, it was a major ''religious'' center of the country, being the principal seat of the cult of [[SunGod Ra]]. This city was so important that Middle and New Kingdom pharaohs trying to buff up Thebes (modern Luxor) called their capital ''Iunu-Shemau'' ("The Iunu/Heliopolis of the South") to be seen as more cool/awesome. It's buried under Ain Shams, a major district of modern Cairo.

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo dates back to AncientEgypt, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of an united Egypt, Memphis; and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. Indeed, the reason the Giza pyramids are in Giza is that the location was conveniently close to Memphis (these days buried under the village of Mit Rahina about 20 kilometers south of central Giza). More relevantly, the ancient Egyptian city of Iunu--better known by its Greek name Heliopolis--was never the capital of Egypt but was one of its top ''religious'' cities and a twin city to Memphis since time immemorial--to the point where Middle and New Kingdom pharaohs trying to buff up Thebes called their capital ''Iunu-Shemau'' ("The Iunu/Heliopolis of the South") to be seen as more cool/awesome. It's buried under Ain Shams, a major district of modern Cairo. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it is a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

The story of Cairo is generally considered to have begun with the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 642, when the traditional capital was still Alexandria. The Muslim armies needed a base and the administrators needed a capital; Alexandria being too vulnerable to Byzantine naval assaults, it was decided that the capital should be inland. The armies took over Byzantine Babylon; they then expanded it into a settlement called ''(Al)-Fustat'', meaning "(The) Tent", supposedly because a dove had landed in the commander's tent there and laid an egg. Over the next few centuries, the city was expanded a few times by various dynasties, responding to population pressure and to security concerns (each dynasty wanted to have a big section of city for itself and its court). Finally, in 969, the North African, Shiite, Fatimid Dynasty took over Egypt. Recognizing that as Shiites they weren't exactly welcome in majority-Sunni Egypt, they wanted to make sure that the palace was far from the masses; to this end, they established a new palace-district "city" adjoining the old ones: Al-Qahira, meaning "The Conqueror". This new name eventually came to be applied to the whole agglomeration. However, Italian traders couldn't be bothered to pronounce that, so they just called it ''Il Cairo''. And now you know.

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[[captionright:350:Technically this is Giza but whatever.]]

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo dates back to AncientEgypt, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of an united Egypt, Memphis; and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it is a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

** The first act of ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' is mostly set in Egypt (and was filmed on location), with Bond investigating in and around Cairo.

* In ''Film/OSS117CairoNestOfSpies'', bumbling and stupid French secret agent OSS 117 is sent to investigate the mysterious disappearances both of another OSS agent and a ship full of illegal weaponry. His ignorance of local culture gets him in trouble more than once. It was actually filmed in Essaouira, UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}}.

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* In ''Film/OSS117CairoNestOfSpies'', bumbling and stupid French secret agent OSS 117 is sent to investigate the mysterious disappearances both of another OSS agent and a ship full of illegal weaponry. His ignorance of local culture gets him in trouble more than once.

Cairo is the capital city of UsefulNotes/{{modern|egypt}} UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after Jakarta and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the UsefulNotes/ArabWorld, and is thus a major Arab and [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim]] cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo is often nicknamed "the city of a thousand minarets" owing to the very large number of mosques in the city (it is one of the few major Arab cities founded by the Muslims).

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo is just as ancient, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of an united Egypt, Memphis; and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it is a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

Cairo is the capital city of UsefulNotes/{{modern|egypt}} UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after Jakarta and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major UsefulNotes/{{Arab|World}} and [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim]] cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo is the capital city of UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after Jakarta and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major UsefulNotes/{{Arab|World}} and [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} Muslim]] cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo is the capital city of UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after Jakarta and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major Arab and Muslim cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo is the capital of Egypt.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after Jakarta and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major Arab and Muslim cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo is just as ancient, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of a united Egypt, Memphis; and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it's a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

The story of Cairo is generally considered to have begun with the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 642. The Muslim armies needed a base and the administrators needed a capital; Alexandria being too vulnerable to Byzantine naval assaults, it was decided that the capital should be inland. The armies took over Byzantine Babylon; they then expanded it into a settlement called ''(Al)-Fustat'', meaning "(The) Tent", supposedly because a dove had landed in the commander's tent there and laid an egg. Over the next few centuries, the city was expanded a few times by various dynasties, responding to population pressure and to security concerns (each dynasty wanted to have a big section of city for itself and its court). Finally, in 969, the North African Shiite Fatimid Dynasty took over Egypt. Recognizing that as Shiites they weren't exactly welcome in majority-Sunni Egypt, they wanted to make sure the palace was far from the masses; to this end, they established a new palace-district "city" adjoining the old ones: Al-Qahira, meaning "The Conqueror". This new name eventually came to be applied to the whole agglomeration. However, Italian traders couldn't be bothered to pronounce that, so they just called it ''Il Cairo''. And now you know.

Cairo is the capital of Egypt.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after UsefulNotes/{{Jakarta}} and ahead of UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major Arab and Muslim cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo is the capital of Egypt.[[note]]Supposedly, [[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31874886 a new city to Cairo's northeast]] is supposed to take over as capital sometime in the 2020s. An Egyptian will say, "And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Valley_Project New Valley]] produces a quarter of Egypt's agricultural output."[[/note]] At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after {{Jakarta}} and ahead of {{Istanbul}} and {{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major Arab and Muslim cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo is just as ancient, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of a united Egypt, Memphis; and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it's a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo is just as ancient, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of a united Egypt, Memphis; the capital of weird monotheist pharaoh Akhenaton, Akhetaton (today called El-Amarna or Heliopolis--also the name of a preexisting city nearby that was never capital); and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the [[ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it's a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).

Cairo is the capital of Egypt. At 20 million people in its greater metropolitan area (which includes the governorates of Giza and Qalyubiyya), it is Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest Muslim-majority metropolitan area (after {{Jakarta}} and ahead of {{Istanbul}} and {{Karachi}}). It also happens to sit near the middle of the Arab world, and is thus a major Arab and Muslim cultural center. When a movie is dubbed in Arabic, you can bet that everyone will suddenly be from Cairo.

As noted, Cairo is ''huge'': 10 million people live in the city proper. The Greater Cairo area also contains two of the world's largest suburbs: Giza to the west at about 3.5 million is usually in the top four (along with [[UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}} Yokohama]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}} Incheon]], and [[UsefulNotes/{{Manila}} Quezon City]])[[note]]A few include New Taipei and Ekurhuleni, but New Taipei is just the old sprawl surrounding Taipei incorporated into a single municipality, while Ekurhuleni is ''larger'' than Johannesburg--it's simply that Jo'burg is denser and more economically significant. Also local government in South Africa is weird.[[/note]] and Shobra El-Kheima at 1.1 million in Qalyubiyyah to the north. Cairo is also a mess; the city is completely unplanned, so while small neighborhoods might have some semblance of order, getting around the city sometimes even confuses natives. Traffic is hell, too, and public transit can be rather difficult (although the Metro is decent and expanding coverage), particularly for a non-local. Nevertheless, it is without question the heart of Egypt; if you can't find it in Cairo, you probably can't find it anywhere in the country.

Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonders of the Ancient World, the [[PyramidPower Pyramids of Giza]]. This allows many to assume that Cairo is just as ancient, but the city is only about a thousand years old. However, the area has often been the site of an Egyptian capital, including the first capital of a united Egypt, Memphis; the capital of weird monotheist pharaoh Akhenaton, Akhetaton (today called El-Amarna or Heliopolis--also the name of a preexisting city nearby that was never capital); and the Roman fort of Babylon, which was the main military garrison of the ByzantineEmpire in Egypt. The location almost immediately south of where the Nile splits up into its Delta--or in other words, right at the border between Upper and Lower Egypt--is highly strategic. This position makes it a natural place from which to govern the country--Lower Egypt tends to be more populous and more economically important than Upper Egypt, for a variety of reasons (including Lower Egypt's proximity to Mediterranean trade routes and the fact that it's a lot ''wider''--Upper Egypt is a narrow ribbon, but Lower Egypt has some actual area to it).