Line #2 UsefulNotes/Cairo


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/islamic_cairo.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:View of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan and Al Rifa'i Mosque, part of Islamic Cairo. The skyline of Boulaq, Downtown Cairo, and Zamalek is visible in the background.]]
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4	Cairo is the capital city of UsefulNotes/{{modern\|egypt}} UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}.[[note]]A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Administrative_Capital new administrative capital]] was announced in 2015 to be built on an undeveloped desert area to the east of Cairo (not to be confused with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Cairo New Cairo]], which was created in 2000 by merging a couple of Cairo's existing eastern suburbs, namely, the First, Third, and Fifth Settlements). As of 2023, the government is in the process of relocating some state institutions to the new capital.[[/note]] The city proper has 10 million people, but there are 22 million people in its greater metropolitan area, making it Africa's largest urban area, and the world's second largest [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} 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 UsefulNotes/ArabWorld, 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.
5
6	Cairo sits next to the only extant Wonder 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. Indeed, Memphis, the ''first'' capital of a united Egypt, built in the [[UsefulNotes/AncientEgyptianHistory Early Dynastic Period]], was located in the region; its ruins lie on the west bank of the Nile under the modern village of Mit Rahina about 20 kilometers south of central Giza. It was actually proximity to Memphis that led the Old Kingdom pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty to build their giant pyramids at Giza.
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8	After the collapse of the Old Kingdom, Memphis lost its status as "official" capital. However, the city remained a major center of trade and administration basically for the rest of the existence of the ancient Egyptian civilization; the very word "Egypt" derives from a Greek mishearing of one of the names of Memphis (''Hwt-ka-Ptah'', "home of the soul of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptah Ptah]]"). Also, even when the "official" capital was elsewhere, many pharaohs maintained their courts at Memphis for a variety of reasons--not least that it was almost always the biggest, richest, most vibrant city in Egypt.
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10	Meanwhile, throughout all this history, Memphis had a twin city on the east bank of the Nile: Iunu, better known by its Greek name Heliopolis ("city of the sun"). 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 [[GodOfLight 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. Today, the city's ruins are buried under Ain Shams, a major district in northeastern modern Cairo, and the name is now used to refer to the nearby upscale districts of Masr El Gedida and El Nozha, built and promoted as a new residential area during the British colonial period.
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12	The point of all this is that 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).
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14	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 chose the former Roman fort of Babylon, located to the southwest of the ancient Iunu/Heliopolis, which had been the main military garrison of the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]] in Egypt. 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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16	Since its establishment, Cairo has almost always been the capital of Egypt, and has shared in Arab Egypt's rising and falling fortunes. At one time, it was the largest city outside of UsefulNotes/{{China}}, but changing trade routes, TheBlackDeath, and eventual domination by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} Ottoman Empire]] lessened its importance.
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18	The decline of the Ottoman Empire allowed rapid modernization during the 19th century, but the debt resulting from the improvements was so crushing that Cairo and Egypt were added to UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire in 1882, and would remain a British "protectorate" until ''de jure'' independence in 1922 and ''de facto'' independence in 1952. During this period, Cairo entered a period of explosive growth.
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20	From 1952 onwards, the city continues to grow and becomes a major global city. However, it has long stifled under a series of strong-arm presidents, culminating with Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years before being dramatically and unexpectedly ousted by the Egyptian people themselves during the UsefulNotes/ArabSpring. Now Egyptian society is in flux, with Cairo remaining center stage in an act that will define Egypt, and perhaps the Middle East at large, in the modern era.
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22	Administratively, Cairo encompasses the whole of Cairo Governorate, which includes New Cairo and the New Administrative Capital. It is divided into 4 areas and 38 districts. The city's main commercial, financial, and political center is located in the Western Area that adjoins the Nile. This area includes Downtown Cairo, commissioned by Khedive Isma'il Pasha as a modernized, European-style neighborhood, and Boulaq, formerly a port that is now geared towards industrial activities. Technically, the oldest part of the city (Iunu/Heliopolis/Ain Shams) is in the Eastern Area, but Egyptians view Islamic Cairo in the Southern Area, centered around Al-Fustat, as the city's true "old city". It contains most of the city's historical buildings, such as the Amr ibn al-As Mosque (built in 641, the same year the Arabs conquered Egypt, making it the oldest mosque in the country), the Al-Azhar Mosque and University (built by the Fatimid Caliphate in the 10th century, the latter is considered the second-oldest active university in the world), the Cairo Citadel (constructed by Saladin in the 12th century and served as the main seat of government until the 19th century), and the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan (built in the 14th century, its location near the Salah al-Din Square makes it the city's main landmark). That said, Islamic Cairo doesn't just contain monuments dating back to the Islamic period; the area surrounding the former Babylon Fortress is now regarded as a Coptic Christian outpost within the otherwise predominantly-Muslim area.
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24	Meanwhile, Greater Cairo includes the above-mentioned Cairo Governorate, Shubra El Kheima in the north, and Giza across the Nile in the west, plus their satellite cities, including Obour, 6th of October, and Sheikh Zayed City. The Great Pyramids are to be found in Giza and, [[ArtisticLicenseGeography contrary to popular perception]], are wedged between two packed residential areas, with a golf course, a sprawling hotel complex, and a Pizza Hut/KFC outlet combo not even a kilometer away. There are a couple of islands on the Nile separating Cairo from Giza, the most famous being the posh Zamalek, which is a part of Cairo proper. It is an artificial island that was separated from Giza by a canal in the 19th century.
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26	As noted, Cairo is ''huge''; not only its city proper is the second-largest city proper in Africa (after [[UsefulNotes/DemocraticRepublicOfTheCongo Kinshasa]]), but its metropolitan area 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 [[UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}} 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 UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica is weird.[[/note]] and Shubra El Kheima at 1.1 million in Qalyubiyya 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 Cairo 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.
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28	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).
29	----
30	!!Cairene Media:
31	[[index]]
32	* Art/TheSphinx
33	[[/index]]
34
35	!!Cairo in fiction:
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37	[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
38	* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' has the final battle between the heroes and [[BigBad DIO]] taking place within the city.
39
40	[[AC:Comic Books]]
41	* ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer go there in ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid'' (two volumes).
42
43	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* ''Film/AdieuBonaparte'' is about UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's campaign in Egypt in 1798. It includes scenes in Cairo.
45	* ''Film/CairoStation'' is a 1958 Egyptian film about the various workers at the central Cairo train station.
46	* Film/JamesBond goes there twice:
47	** In ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Bond goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Ernst Stavro Blofeld. One member of Blofeld's chain of contacts is a fez-wearing Cairo gambler at a local casino. The gambler tells the dealer "Hit me." Bond taps him on the shoulder, then [[HeyYouHaymaker obliges]] and interrogates him. It was filmed at Creator/PinewoodStudios, however.
48	** The first act of ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' is mostly set in Egypt (and was filmed on location), with Bond investigating in and around Cairo, and near the Pyramids of course.
49	* ''Film/GodzillaXKongTheNewEmpire'': Godzilla and Kong fight near the city and damage one of the pyramids.
50	* Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood flee to Cairo in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' after escaping some Nazis in Nepal, where the former begins to search for the Ark of the Covenant with the help of his friend Sallah. Indy also participates in an epic chase scene through the streets of the city, which culminates in the famous GunsVsSwords scene.
51	* 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. [[CaliforniaDoubling Actually filmed]] in Essaouira, UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}}.
52	* ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' has the climax taking place at the Pyramids of Giza in modern day.
53	* In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', [[ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse]] awakens from his thousands of years sleep in [[TheEighties 1980s]] Cairo and meets ComicBook/{{Storm\|MarvelComics}} there. In the climax, he [[MindOverMatter reshapes the entire city]] into a pyramid for his transfer ritual.

Context UsefulNotes / Cairo