Cairo (/ˈkaɪroʊ/ KY-roh; Arabic: القاهرة‎, romanized: al-Qāhirah, pronounced [ælˈqɑːhɪɾɑ] (About this soundlisten), Coptic: ϯⲕⲉϣⲣⲱⲙⲓ) is the capital and largest city of Egypt. The Cairo metropolitan area, with a population of 21.3 million,[citation needed] is the largest metropolitan area in the Arab world, the second largest in Africa, and the sixth largest in the world.

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The Mosque of Ibn Tulun

The Mosque of Ibn Tulun (Arabic: مسجد إبن طولون‎, romanized: Masjid Ibn Ṭūlūn) is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area.

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The Citadel of Cairo

Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin (Arabic: قلعة صلاح الدين‎, romanized: Qalaʿat Salāḥ ad-Dīn) is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its location on a promontory of the Mokattam hills near the center of Cairo commands a strategic position overlooking the city and dominating its skyline.

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Talaat Harb Street

Talaat Harb Street (Arabic: شارع طلعت حرب‎ pronounced [ˈtˤɑlʕɑt ˈħɑɾb]) is a historic street in downtown Cairo, Egypt, connecting Tahrir Square and Talaat Harb Square. Originally it was named 'Soliman Pasha Street' after Suleiman Pasha, Egypt's French-born General under Muhammad Ali. The street was renamed in 1954 after Talaat Harb, the leading Egyptian economist of the early 1900s. The street received the 'Talaat Harb Street' name during a sweeping effort by Egypt’s new president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to rid the city of all reminders of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and British occupation era.

Initial settlements

The area around present-day Cairo, especially Memphis, which was the old capital of Egypt, had long been a focal point of Ancient Egypt due to its strategic location just upstream from the Nile Delta. However, the origins of the modern city are generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, was the nucleus of the Roman and then the Byzantine city and is the oldest structure in the city today. It is also situated at the nucleus of the Coptic Orthodox community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century. Many of Cairo's oldest Coptic churches, including the Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo.

Modern era

Until his death in 1848, Muhammad Ali Pasha instituted a number of social and economic reforms that earned him the title of founder of modern Egypt. However, while Muhammad Ali initiated the construction of public buildings in the city, those reforms had minimal effect on Cairo's landscape. Bigger changes came to Cairo under Isma'il Pasha (r. 1863–1879), who continued the modernisation processes started by his grandfather. Drawing inspiration from Paris, Isma'il envisioned a city of maidans and wide avenues; due to financial constraints, only some of them, in the area now composing Downtown Cairo, came to fruition.[58] Isma'il also sought to modernize the city, which was merging with neighbouring settlements, by establishing a public works ministry, bringing gas and lighting to the city, and opening a theatre and opera house.