Cairo (ArB: القاهرة ), which means "the Victorious" or "the Triumphant", is the capital and largest city of Egypt. It is the Arab World's and Africa's second most populous city. While Al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in Egyptian Arabic it is called by the dialect's name for the country, .

Cairo was founded by the Fatimid caliphs as a royal enclosure. It replaced Fustat as the seat of the government. It later came under the Mamluks, was ruled by the Ottomans 1517 to 1798, and briefly occupied by Napoleon. Muhammad Ali of Egypt made Cairo the capital of his independent empire from 1805 to 1882, after which the British took control of it until Egypt attained independence in 1922.

Cairo has a population of about 6.8 million people, according to the 2006 population census. The number of inhabitants was about a million higher at the time of the census, but this was adjusted downwards on the 17th of April 2008 when the new governorate of Helwan was created from parts of a.o. Cairo governorate. Cairo's metropolitan area has a population of about 17.8 million people. Cairo is the sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world. It is also the most populous metropolitan area in Africa.

Today, Greater Cairo homes various historic towns and modern districts. A journey through Cairo is virtual time travel: from the Pyramids, the Hanging Church, Saladin's Citadel, the Virgin Mary's Tree, the Sphinx, and Heliopolis, to Al-Azhar, the Mosque of Amr ibn al-A'as, Saqqara, the Cairo Tower, and the Old City. It is the Capital of Egypt, and its history is intertwined with that of the country. Today, Cairo's official name is Al-Qahira (Cairo), although the name informally used by most Egyptians is "Masr" (Egyptian Arabic name for Egypt), from the original name of Egypt's first Arab capital Fustat, Misr al-Fustat, "City of the Tents". It is also titled as "The City of A Thousand Minarets".

Etymology

The name Al-Qahirah has been said to mean "the Subduer", and it's often translated as "the Victorious". The origin of Al-Qahirah is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the foundation of the City of Cairo. The planet Mars, which in Greek was called Ares, was associated with ruin or destruction and was called Al Najm Al Qahir in Arabic. Al Najm Al Qahir is transliterated as "the destroyer star 1". The legacy of the name evolved into “Qahirat Al Adaa” meaning “the subduer of the enemies”. This title was given to the city as many armies were destroyed in attempts to invade Cairo or defeated elsewhere by troops sent from the settlement.

The Arabic word "qa'id" means commander of the castle or fortress. "Alqaida" means base or camp. The root of these words is seen in the Romanized Arabic word "qa'ad", which means to live, dwell, or sit, which in Swahili is "kaa". "Qa" corresponds to the Latin word "cola" meaning seat 2 and cultivated land. The prefix of Cairo may also mean the landing or the quay, the small hill by the river, that serves as a wharf. In Swahili, "harabu" means to ruin or destroy, and the Persian word "karo" means army or the camp of an army.