CAIRO

city, seat of Alexander county, extreme southern Illinois, U.S. The city stands on a low-lying delta at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Bridges over both rivers connect the city with Kentucky and Missouri. Cairo was so named because its site was thought to resemble that of the Egyptian city, and southern Illinois subsequently became known as Little Egypt. Cairo and the Bank of Cairo were chartered in 1818, when there was no settlement and there were no depositors. A second and successful try at establishing a town was made in 183637 by the Cairo City and Canal Company, which, however, collapsed in 1840. Cairo was visited in 1842 by Charles Dickens, who was not impressed and made it the prototype for the nightmare City of Eden in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit (1843). In 1846, 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares) of the site were purchased by the trustees of the Cairo City Property Trust, a group of Eastern investors who were interested in making the town the terminus of the projected Illinois Central Railroad. A city charter was obtained in 1857. Cairo was General Ulysses S. Grant's headquarters during the western campaigns of the American Civil War. The city was protected by its levees from destruction during the 1937 flood when the Ohio River rose to record heights. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the city was the scene of racial strife. Cairo is a shipping centre for the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys as well as for southern Illinois. Industries include lumber and flour milling and the manufacture of polyurethane foam, work clothing, and pipe fittings. Fort Defiance State Park, site of the Civil War garrison, is just south. Inc. 1818; re-inc. 1837. Pop. (1990) 4,846. The early period Although ruined Memphis, 14 miles southwest of Cairo, was a metropolis 5,000 years ago, and about 2,000 years ago the Romans occupied a town on the site of Cairo called Babylon (now the Misr al-Qadimah quarter), the seed from which contemporary Cairo sprang was the town of al-Fustat, founded as a military encampment in AD 641 by 'Amr ibn al-'As, commander of the Arabs who brought Islam to Egypt. Successor dynasties added royal suburbs (al-'Askar, founded in 750 by the Umayyads; al-Qata'i', founded in 870 by Ahmad ibn Tulun) to the increasingly prosperous commercial and industrial port city of al-Fustat. Little remains of these early developments in the southern part of the city, except the tower of Trajan (AD 130), the mosques of 'Amr ibn al-'As (641) and Ahmad ibn Tulun (878), and the partially excavated mounds covering the site of al-Fustat. In 969 adherents of a dissident Islamic sect, the Fatimids, invaded Egypt from what is now Tunisia. The conquering general, Jawhar, established a new rectangular walled city northeast of existing settlements. Initially named al-Mansuriyah, the city was renamed al-Qahirah in 973974 when the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz arrived to make it the capital of a dynasty that lasted for 200 years. Al-Qahirah and al-Fustat coexisted until 1168, when unfortified al-Fustat was set on fire to protect Cairo from the crusaders. The crusaders were driven off by a Sunni (orthodox Islamic) army from Syria, after which the victorious commander, Saladin, founded the Ayyubid dynasty, which controlled a vast empire from Cairo. Even though al-Fustat was partially rebuilt, Cairo itself became transformed from a royal enclave into an imperial metropolis. Saladin further extended the 11th-century walls built by a high official called Badr al-Jamali (the northern and southern walls and three main gates, al-Futuh Gate, an-Nasr Gate, and Zuwaylah Gate, are still extant) and constructed a citadel on the Muqattam spur (now dominated by the Muhammad 'Ali Mosque). After 1260, when Baybars I became the first Mamluk sultan of undisputed legitimacy, Cairo served as the capital of the Mamluk empire, which governed Egypt and the Fertile Crescent until 1516. Medieval Cairo reached its apogee during the Mamluk era. By about 1340, almost 500,000 persons lived in an area five times greater than the original Fatimid walled city, and Cairo had become the greatest city of Africa, Europe, and Asia Minor. Its al-Azhar University was the principal seat of Islamic learning. The city was a key link in the profitable EastWest spice trade and the recipient of tribute from a wealthy empire. Most of Cairo's greatest architectural masterpieces were built during this epoch. Decline set in thereaftersporadically at first, and then precipitously. The population was decimated by plagues, including the Black Death in 1348. The spice trade monopoly was broken by Vasco da Gama's voyage from Portugal to India (149799). Finally, political autonomy was lost to the conquering Turks, who, after 1517, reduced Cairo to a provincial capital. In 1798, when Napoleon and his troops arrived in Cairo, fewer than 300,000 people were living in the city and its two port suburbs, Misr al-Qadimah and Buiaq. The Turks returned after Napoleon's defeat in 1801. In 1805 Muhammad 'Ali, commander of an Albanian contingent, was appointed pasha, thus founding the dynasty that ruled Egypt until his great-great-grandson, Farouk I, abdicated in 1952. Development of the city Modern urban growth began in the 1830s, but only during Isma'il's reign (186379) was the city fundamentally transformed. Influenced by Baron Haussmann's renovation of Paris, Isma'il ordered the construction of a European-style city to the west of the medieval core. French city-planning methods dominated the design of the districts of al-Azbakiyah (with its large park), 'Abdin, and Isma'iliyahall now central zones of contemporary Cairo. By the end of the 19th century these districts were well developed, but with the rise of British hegemony from 1882 onward, they became transformed into a colonial enclave. Following the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952, however, the number and power of foreign residents declined. During the 20th century, Cairo grew spectacularly in both population and area. Improvements in transportation fostered the growth of suburban Heliopolis and al-Ma'adi; flood control permitted riverfront development; bridges encouraged settlement of islands (ar-Rudah and az-Zamalik) and of the west bank. By mid-century the city was primarily growing northward into the fertile Delta, a trend further encouraged by industrialization. Since 1952 the government has attempted to accommodate Cairo's rapidly increasing population by building planned suburbs (Nasr City, Muqattam City, Engineers' City) and, more recently, distant satellite towns, such as May 15th, October 6th, and Tenth of Ramadan towns. Arabic al-Qahirah (Victorious), city, capital of Egypt, and largest city in Africa. It has stood for more than 1,000 years on the same site on the banks of the Nile, primarily on the eastern shore, some 500 miles (800 kilometres) downstream from the Aswan High Dam. Cairo is the gateway to the Nile Delta, which begins about 10 miles to the north where the lower Nile separates into the Rosetta and Damietta branches, and it has served for centuries as the stronghold from which to defend all of Egypt to the south. Cairo is a place of vivid contrasts. Along the well-irrigated shoreline, lush tropical vegetation, tall palms, flowering flame trees, and skyscrapers are profiled against a cloudless sky; in the older inland quarters to the east, beneath the foothills of the Arabian Desert (as-Sahra' ash-Sharqiyah; Eastern Desert) and the rocky promontories of the Muqattam Hills and the Red Mountain (al-Jabal al-Ahmar, with its petrified forest), browns and ochres are the dominant hues of land and buildings. The city juxtaposes ancient and new, East and West. The Great Pyramids near Memphis stand at the southwestern edge of the metropolis, and an obelisk in the northeast marks the site of Heliopolis, where Plato once studied; modern landmarks include elegant Western-style high-rise hotels overlooking the Nile River. Between these extremes are other architectural monuments dating from Roman, Arab, and Turkish times. In addition to department stores, cinemas, hotels, and town houses, Cairo contains a large functioning bazaar and an extensive medieval city endowed with more than 400 registered historic monumentsmosques, mausoleums, crenellated walls, and massive gatewaysdating from AD 130 to the early 19th century. Arabic Al-Qahirah (the Victorious), city, capital of Egypt, and largest city in Africa. The city is located predominantly on the eastern bank of the Nile River, just south of the point at which the lower Nile separates into the Rosetta and Damietta branches. This ancient metropolis, which has stood for more than 1,000 years on the same site and with the same name, presents an eclectic blend of old and new, East and West. Cairo is the chief cultural centre of the Arab world and also is the largest city of the Middle East. The population of its metropolitan area has grown enormously since the early 20th century. Cairo city is nearly coextensive with Cairo muhafazah (governorate). The city is fan-shaped, being narrow in the south, where the river valley is wedged between desert escarpments, and widest in the north, where the valley blends into the Nile's delta. Over the centuries the city expanded onto land left newly flood-free by a receding channel. The city also has been elongated to the north and south and has spread to the river's western shore, although expansion into the desert there has been largely blocked by terrain and the expense of irrigation. Cairo's desert climate contrasts dry, hot days with cool nights freshened by Nile breezes. The city's scant rainfall occurs only during the brief winter. The economy of Cairo is based on government, commerce, trade, and industrial production. The city's large-scale industry includes the manufacture of textiles (largely cotton), iron and steel, and consumer goods (including electronics), as well as food and tobacco processing. In addition, a substantial traditional artisan sector has survived. Most of Egypt's major banking, financial, and transit firms are headquartered in Cairo. The three oldest quarters of the city constitute densely settled slums that virtually surround a Westernized core. The largest of these areas is Fatimid city, with its wealth of historic monuments, including the Mosque of Baybars I and Saladin's Citadel. The modern downtown area (Al-Azbakiyah) and its nearby elegant commercial-residential sections stand in sharp contrast to the impoverished areas. The major thoroughfare is Al-Kurnish (the Corniche) highway, which runs parallel to the river and is flanked by imposing modern buildings. The islands of Az-Zamalik and Ar-Rudah in the Nile River are primarily residential and recreational sectors. South of an area of lower-middle-class neighbourhoods is a zone known as the City of the Dead, where exquisite shrine-mosques and mausoleums of early religious leaders are located. A number of Cairo's poorest inhabitants live in this zone, because of the city's extreme housing shortage. Cairo's architecture is rich and diverse, representing ancient Egyptian, Roman, medieval Arab and Turkish, and more modern times. The Pyramids of Giza, near Memphis, stand at the southwestern edge of the metropolis. The city of Cairo is endowed with more than 400 registered historical monumentsthe largest number in any African or Middle Eastern citydating from AD 130 to the early 19th century. As the centre of Egyptian higher education, Cairo attracts students from throughout the Arab Middle East. Cairo University (1908) is the major educational institution; others include 'Ain Shams University, Al-Azhar University, and the American University in Cairo. Cairo's many cultural facilities include the Egyptian (National) Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the National Library, as well as numerous mosques and bazaars. Horse-drawn carts and donkeys have been almost completely supplanted by automobiles, buses, and suburban trains. Air pollution, mainly from motor vehicles, is now a serious problem, as is pollution of the Nile. The Cairo metro, the first subway system in Africa, began operation in 1987. Cairo is connected to other major cities by rail service and by the Cairo International Airport, located beyond Heliopolis. Area city, 82.6 square miles (214 square km). Pop. (1986) city, 6,052,836; (1994 est.) city, 6,849,000; (1996 est.) urban agglomeration, 9,900,000. Additional reading Descriptive and pictorial works include Deborah Cowley and Aleya Serour (eds.), Cairo: A Practical Guide, 5th ed. rev. by Marianne Pearson (1986), a concise compilation of useful information; G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The Beauty of Cairo: A Historical Guide to the Chief Islamic and Coptic Monuments (1981); Malise Ruthven, Cairo (1980), with excellent photographs; and Cairo: A Life Story of 1000 Years, 969-1969 (1969), mostly illustrations and photographs, published by the Cairo Ministry of Culture. Socioeconomic conditions in the city are dealt with in Marcel Clerget, Le Caire: tude de gographie urbaine et d'histoire conomique, 2 vol. (1934), a scholarly work on the city from its origins to 1927. Historical overviews are provided by Carl F. Petry, The Civilian Elite of Cairo in the Later Middle Ages (1981), a discussion of the relationship between Islamic religious scholars and the ruling class of Cairo in the 15th century; Janet L. Abu-lughod, Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious (1971), a scholarly historical and sociological study; Stanley Lane-Poole, The Story of Cairo (1902, reprinted 1971), heavily architectural; James Aldridge, Cairo (1969), general and anecdotal; and Desmond Stewart, Cairo: 5500 Years (1968; U.K. title, Great Cairo: Mother of the World, 1969), a beautifully written, brief history with contemporary vignettes. Janet L. Abu-Lughod