Talk:Cairo

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[edit] Population

Here it says "around 16 million" and in the list of metropolitan areas by population it's 15,600,000. In the article of the week candidate list someone mentions 18+ million, and in some of the different language versions of this article the figure is as high as 20 million. (Also, brief googling gave anything from 12 to 19 million.) I wonder if anyone knows the real (approximate) population of the Cairo metropolitan area... Or should we just settle with a vague "about 16-20 million"? --Jonik 19:43, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I've lived there and yes, the varying estimates one hears range consistantly from 16 to 20 million. Wikipedia should be secure in the uncertainty. An official figure for the population of the Greater Cairo region is 16.075 million. That's in an area of 86,369.3 km. (Egypt Almanac 2003). --[[User:HamYoyo|Bendž

|Ť]] 22:55, Jul 8, 2004 (UTC)

A related question: according to the list of cities by population, Cairo (the city without the metropolitan area) is the most dense large city in the world. Does anyone know more about this and is it relevant to add to the article? It seems like an interesting matter --Mathan 09:00, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

== Gezira/Zamalek == rearranging section, and replying

Are Gezira and Zamalek different names for the same place in Cairo? Gareth Hughes 19:26, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

My understanding is that Gezira is the island, while Zamalek is the up-market residential quarter on the northern end of that island. I'm more than willing to be corrected by someone who knows the city better than me, of course. –Hajor 04:57, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Thanks for that: I thought that Zamalek didn't cover all of Gezira. I'll see if I can alter the stub on Zamalek to make more sense. Gareth Hughes 10:35, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Gareth is correct. Gezira is the arabic word for island (identical to Jazeera, but in Egyptian colloquial) and Zamalek is the area towards the top.

Is Cairo the largest city in Africa? If it isn't, I can only imagine Kinshasa would be bigger. Does anyone know? --Gareth Hughes 23:25, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Cairo is the largest city in Africa by general consensus - I will try and dig up a source or two for this when I have the time.

[edit] Origin of the name "Cairo"

There seems to be some confusion about where the name of this city came from. As this article currently reads, the introductory section states that the city originally was named as "The Subduer" or after the planet Mars, from which the name Qahirat al-Adaa ("the Subduer of Enemies") was derived. However, thumbing thru Paul E. Walker's Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatamid History and its Sources, he states that the city was originally named al-Qahira al-Mu'izziya or "City of the Victory of al-Mu'izza"; this is the same explanation found at Fatimid.

Should I assume that Walker & the source for the Fatimid article are wrong? Or that the relationship to Mars is wrong? Or is correct to say that there are several competing etymologies for the name of this city, each of which has its own champions? (Since I know no Arabic, I can't research this issue for myself.) -- llywrch 03:35, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Certainly this seems like an interesting topic, but not appropriate for 2 whole paragraphs at the top of the article. Sbwoodside 08:34, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Maimonides

Is it fair to say that the Rambam was a "Famous Cairenes". He was born in Cordoba in Al-Andalus and shifted through various places. --Irishpunktom\talk July 4, 2005 15:19 (UTC)

[edit] category:Holy cities

To whom is Cairo a holy city? The article doesn't say anything about this, nor does the list of holy cities. —Charles P. (Mirv) 17:08, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

the following posted on User talk:Mirv by 63.87.74.235 (talk • contribs) and copied here for future reference.

I have read your question about Cairo and as an Egyptian I think I can answer it, Cairo is considered a holy city because it got the rules of the three profits Mousse, Jesus and Mohammed. Mousse was born in Cairo and raised by the pharos, Jesus escaped to Egypt when he was young boy and Mohammed always said he liked Egypt that he didn’t visit but married an Egyptian lady (Maria). Also you will notice in Cairo the presence of thousands of mosques and churches beside the pharonic temples, which can be considered as holy places for ancient Egyptians.
  • Ehim! It seems to me that Cairo is the sin-city! However, in that sense, I can't seem to think of a city that cannot be holly! Cairo is no one's holly city, perhaps apart from 63.87.74.235 (talk • contribs). Maysara 16:28, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cairo the city and Cairo the Governorate

ar:محافظة القاهرةis Cairo the Governorate ar: القاهرة redirects to ar:قاهرة (the city. --The Brain 15:34, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Districts of Cairo

Alot of the Districts of Cairo list are actually Districts of Giza. There should be a huge contrast that Giza and Cairo and two different cities.--Ahmed 10:45, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

Giza and Cairo are, from an administrative perspective, two cities but Giza is often bundled when speaking of the "Greater Cairo Area". All in all, there are several other districts in both Cairo and Giza that are not listed. In local terms (e.g. asking for directions) "Giza" refers to the southern stretch of buildings on the West bank of the Nile (south of the Cairo Sheraton).

[edit] Empty sections

I'm commenting out the empty sections. First time I've seen such in a WP article... --LodeRunner 02:05, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Governorate

Should the redirect of Al Qahirah be turned into a stub about the governorate, like all of the other arab-language areas (i.e. Al Iskandariyah is the article for Alexandria governorate)? --Golbez 08:41, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea. - SimonP 15:22, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia:Article Improvement Drive

Architecture of Africa is currently nominated on Wikipedia:Article Improvement Drive. Come to this page and support it with your vote. Help us improve this article to featured status.--Fenice 08:46, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Should not have been moved

This article should not have been moved. The city in Egypt is the overwhelmingly most common usage of the term. - SimonP 14:16, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree—compare Paris, London, Moscow, not Paris (France), London (England), Moscow (Russia)—and have moved the page back. —Charles P._(Mirv) 16:14, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] First mosque in Africa

The article claims that the first is in Cairo in 632 AD, but I was under the impression that Negash had the first mosque in Africa (before the Saudi Arabian peninsula was under Islamic control). Can someone provide a citation, please? Yom 22:59, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

  • the user Yom is correct that cairo was not the first city to have a mosque in Africa. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sinanwolfgazo (talk • contribs).
  • Hello there -- take a look here and pick your citation. (the date seems to be wrong though, or something!). Best, __Maysara 16:23, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
  • yo man I found something that the first mosque was in Ethiopia in the Tigre region plus it had to be because it was the first African country to be conquered by the Muslims around 615 A.D so they probable build a mosque there at list by 620 A.D. that is way before the first mosque in Egypt was built.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22first+mosque+in+Africa%22+Ethiopia&btnG=Search http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Ethiopia.html http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/arabic.html

[edit] ElBaradei

ElBaradei is claimed to be a Cairene. I thought I once heard he was born in the Delta (North of Cairo) and the IAEA is Vienna. Anybody?

[edit] Education

"Cairo has long been the hub of education and educational services not only for Egypt but also for the whole world." This statement needs a citation, or else it should be changed.

[edit] POV!

  • Jeez! Look at the culture section! 69.214.139.240 06:50, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Huge copyvio problem

It looks like everything added by Realman has been copied from various internet sources. And I mean EVERYTHING. I'll try to revert just what he added... but yecch.

  • I tried to remove his stuff, but I might have taken out a few legit edits with it... please readd them if I did. Also, many of the images I reverted were uploaded by Realman, who (based on his talk page) already has a bad rap for uploading copyrighted material.
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