Overview:

Cairo, Arabic Al-Qāhirah (“The Victorious”), city, capital of Egypt, and one of the largest cities in Africa. Cairo 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 km) downstream from the Aswān High Dam. Located in the northeast of the country, Cairo is the gateway to the Nile delta, where the lower Nile separates into the Rosetta and Damietta branches. Metropolitan Cairo is made up of the Cairo muḥāfazah (governorate), as well as other districts, some of which belong to neighbouring governorates such as Al-Jīzah and Qalūbiyyah. Area governorate, 83 square miles (214 square km). Pop. (2006) governorate, 7,786,640; (2005 est.) urban agglom., 11,128,000.

Character Of The City

Cairo is a place of physical contrast. Along the well-irrigated shoreline, lush vegetation shares the landscape with tall skyscrapers. In the older inland quarters to the east, however, beneath the foothills of the Eastern Desert and the rocky promontories of the Muqaṭṭam Hills and the Al-Jabal al-Aḥmar (Arabic: Red Mountain), browns and ochres are the dominant hues of land and buildings.

The city juxtaposes ancient and new, East and West. The Pyramids of Giza, 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 of Western-style high-rise hotels and apartment buildings overlook 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, semi-walled medieval city endowed with more than 400 registered historic monuments—including mosques, mausoleums, and massive stone gates—dating to 130 CE.

Money

Egyptian pound (LE)

Hotel bank branches can change cash, but rates are slightly better at independent exchange bureaux, of which there are several along Sharia Adly in Downtown and on Sharia 26th of July in Zamalek. These tend to be open from 10am to 8pm Saturday to Thursday. ATMs are numerous, except in Islamic Cairo – the most convenient machine here is below El Hussein hotel in Khan Al Khalili.

Electricity in Egypt

In Egypt the power plugs and sockets are of type C and F. The standard voltage is 220 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz.

Power plug adapter needed in Egypt?

In Egypt the power plugs and sockets are of type C and F. Check out the following pictures. When living in the United States of America you will need a power plug adapter for sockets type C and F.