Cairo

The Jewel of the Orient, the City of the Thousand Minarets, and the Melting Pot of Ancient and Modern Egyptian Civilizations. Cairo is a bizarre and vast city, fourth largest in the world with about 14 million inhabitants. Few know the exact number, though (the exact number being the closest million). Infamous for its traffic and general chaos. Famous for the Pyramids and several other sights of historical importance, but also for its 30.000 cafés, the marketplace and the eclectic mix of new, old, strange and beatiful. The weather in Cairo, as in most of Egypt, is 95% sun, and the city recieves it water from the Nile.

Many visitors do not want to go back after their first visit, as it is easy to dislike Cairo. The noise, heat, chaos and constant bargaining and nagging for baksheesh is tiresome for a novice. They say that if you drink from the Nile, you will once return to Egypt. Due to the pollution it is not adviced to do this.

Egypt has a thriving movie industry, and in most of the 20th century Cairo has been the Hollywood of the Arabic world. About 30.000 Cairenes work in media, the most famous being Karim el Hakim of MTV fame.

One cannot visit Cairo without dropping by the Pyramids. Go there by bus and not by taxi, as the taxi drivers usually have deals with several merchants in the area (Giza), and you will spend most of your time bargaining about camel renting, travelling in the desert and visiting "The Papyrus Institute".

Cairo, (Arab. Musr el Kaherah, "the victorious capital"), the capital of modern Egypt, situated in a sandy plain between the right bank of the Nile and the ridge of Mokattam, near the point of the delta of the Nile.

The remarkable edifices of Cairo comprise many of the finest remains of Arabian architecture, all dating from the time of the ancient sultans of Egypt. Among these, besides mosques, chapels, and Coptic churches, are several of the ancient gates, an aqueduct for conveying water from the Nile to the citadel, the works of the citadel, and the palace and well of Joseph. At Old Cairo are the seven towers, still called the "Granary of Joseph," and serving their ancient purpose. In the island of Rhoda is the celebrated Nilometer. On the S., Mamelukes, and on the N.E. the obelisk of Heliopolis. There are also a magnetic observatory, and the College of El Ahzar, the principal university of the Mohammedan world. Pop. (1897) 570,062.

Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.