Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the city-state Cairo Governorate, and is the country's largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.9 million, is the 12th-largest in the world by population. Cairo is associated with ancient Egypt, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as Fustat, a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to an existing ancient Roman fortress, Babylon. Under the Fatimid dynasty a new city, al-Qāhirah, was founded nearby in 969. It later superseded Fustat as the main urban centre during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo's historic center was awarded World Heritage Site status in 1979. Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.
Transport in Egypt is centered in Cairo and largely follows the pattern of settlement along the Nile. The Ministry of Transportation and other government bodies are responsible for transportation in Egypt, whether by sea, river, land or air.
Heliopolis was a major city of ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the 13th or Heliopolite Nome of Lower Egypt and a major religious centre. It is now located in Ayn Shams, a northeastern district of Cairo.
Cairo Governorate is one of the 27 governorates of Egypt. It is formed of the city of Cairo, both the national capital of Egypt and the governorate's, in addition to five satellite cities: the New Administrative Capital - set to become the seat of national government, New Cairo, Shourok, Badr, Capital Gardens, and 15th of May. These cities form almost half of the Greater Cairo metropolitan area by population.
Egypt has a centralized system of local government officially called local administration as it is a branch of the Executive. The country is divided into twenty-seven governorates, the top tier of local administration. A governorate is administered by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Egypt and serves at the president's discretion.
Cairo International Airport is the principal international airport of Cairo and the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. It serves as the primary hub for Egyptair and Nile Air as well as several other airlines. The airport is located in Heliopolis, to the northeast of Cairo around fifteen kilometres from the business area of the city and has an area of approximately 37 km2 (14 sq mi).
The Cairo Metro is the rapid transit system in Greater Cairo, Egypt. It was the first of the three full-fledged metro systems in Africa and the first in the Middle East to be constructed. It was opened in 1987 as Line 1 from Helwan to Ramsis square with a length of 29 kilometres (18.0 mi). As of 2013, the metro carried nearly 4 million passengers per day. As of October 2022, the Cairo Metro has 74 stations of which 4 are transfer stations, with a total length of 93.1 kilometres (57.8 mi). The system consists of three operational lines numbered 1 to 3.
The Cairo Electric Railways & Heliopolis Oases Company, is ), was formed in Cairo, Egypt in 1906 to develop a 25 square kilometer plot of land into the Heliopolis suburb. It was nationalised in 1960, and remained a state-owned enterprise until it was listed on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange in 1995 and renamed the Heliopolis Company for Housing and Development.
Helwan is a suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The area of Helwan witnessed prehistoric, ancient Egyptian, Roman and Muslim era activity. More recently it was designated as a city until as late as the 1960s, before it became contiguous with the city of Cairo and was incorporated as a district. For a brief period between April 2008 and April 2011 it was redesignated as a city, and served as the capital of the now defunct Helwan Governorate that was split from Cairo and Giza governorates, before being re-incorporated back into them. The kism of Helwan had a population of 521,239 in the 2017 census.
Transport in Cairo comprises an extensive road network, rail system, subway system and maritime services for the more than 15.2 million inhabitants of the city. Cairo is the hub of almost the entire Egyptian transport network.
Heliopolis was an early 20th Century suburb outside Cairo, Egypt, which has since merged with Cairo and is administratively divided into the districts of Masr al-Gadida and al-Nozha in the Eastern Area.
Nasr City forms two of the nine districts of the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is administratively divided into Nasr City West/One (Gharb Madinet Nasr/awwal), and Nasr City East/Two.
The Children's Civilization and Creativity Center is a children's museum in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt, established in 1986. It was renovated twice in 1996 and in 2012. It is a large museum and cultural center covering 4,000 square meters in a 14 Feddan, 14.3 acre landscape. It was built by the Heliopolis Society for the benefit of all the children of Egypt. This work involved contributions from Egyptian and international museums and institutions.
Helwan Governorate was one of the governorates of Egypt. It was located in Lower Egypt.
El Matareya is a district in the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The district is unrelated to the coastal town in the Dakahlia Governorate, that is also named El Matareya. The district holds the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt.
Cairo Metro Line 1 is the first line of the Cairo Metro in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first metro system in the Africa and the Middle East. It was constructed in 1987 and connects Helwan with El Marg, stopping at 35 stations. Line 1, sometimes called the French-built line or simply the French line has a total length of 44.3 kilometres (27.5 mi) with 4.7 kilometres (2.9 mi) of it being underground and has trains that run with 3 units, which have a frequency of 2.5 minutes and a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). The line can carry 60,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
Cairo Metro Line 3 is a main line of the Cairo Metro mass transit system in Greater Cairo, Egypt.
