Cairo

Capital of Egypt: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.

Cairo Skyline (2020)

Cairo Skyline (2020): Faris El-Gwely, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Overview

Cairo is the capital of Egypt. About 9.6 million people live in the city proper, making it the 1st largest city of Egypt in our atlas.

It lies at 30.06° N, 31.25° E, about 23 m (75 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Africa/Cairo time zone.

Location

Red dot: Cairo. Green dots: other major cities of Egypt. Map data: Natural Earth.

Climate

Cairo has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh). The warmest month is usually Jul, with average highs near 38°C (101°F); the coolest nights come in Jan at about 6°C (43°F). Around 60 mm (2 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, most of it in Nov.

18°6°Jan820°7°Feb725°9°Mar729°13°Apr934°17°May037°20°Jun038°21°Jul038°22°Aug035°20°Sep030°17°Oct525°12°Nov1720°8°Dec7mm

Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.

Landmarks and places to see

Tahrir Square
Tahrir SquarePublic town square in Downtown Cairo, Egypt
El-Fustat
El-FustatFirst capital of Islamic Egypt, in Old Cairo
National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
National Museum of Egyptian CivilizationMuseum in Cairo, Egypt
Coptic MuseumMuseum in Coptic Cairo, Egypt
El Mataria
El MatariaUrban district
Baron Empain Palace
Baron Empain PalaceArchitectural structure in Heliopolis, a suburb near Cairo, Egypt
Egyptian Royal Opera House
Egyptian Royal Opera HouseFormer opera house in Cairo, Egypt
Al-Azhar Park
Al-Azhar ParkPublic park in Cairo, Egypt

Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.

What to eat in EgyptNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.

Nearby major cities

← EgyptAll cities

Sources

Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.

Photo credits
  • Cairo Skyline (2020): Faris El-Gwely, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Babelisk Tahrir Square Cairo: Waelmansoory, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Fostat-329: Rappoport, A.S. (Angelo Solomon), 1871-1950 VIAF (71482297), Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • NMEC-SiraLake: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • CairoObeliskSesostris1: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • The exterior of the Baron Empain palace: Bishoy Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • ModernEgypt, Khedivial Opera House, BAP 25178: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Al Azhar Park Egypt (cropped): Al Azhar, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)