Arabic Al-Qāhirah
City (pop., 1996: city, 6,789,479; 1999 est.: metro. area, 10,345,000), capital of Egypt.
Located on the banks of the Nile River near the site of a Roman city captured by the Arabs in 641, Old Cairo (Al-Fusṭāṭ) was then built by the Arabs as a military camp. Cairo's newer section (Al-Qāhirah) was built by the Mamlūk dynasty , it reached its greatest prosperity as a trade and cultural centre. Occupied by French forces under Napoleon I in 1798, it was held by the French for three years. In World War II (1939–45) it was a base of operations for British and U.S. forces and was also the site of two conferences by the Allied Powers (see Cairo conferences ). The ancient metropolis is a blend of old and new, East and West. It is the centre of the largest urban agglomeration in the Middle East and Africa, and it is the chief cultural centre of the Arab world. Its most noteworthy landmark is the pyramid complex of {{link=Jizah, Al-">Giza , located at the southwestern edge of the city. A manufacturing centre, it is also the site of several important universities and colleges.