CITY FOCUS
CAIRO IS AN historic Africa city that is the largest in Egypt and also the country ’ s capital .
The city has a population of 6.76mn people while nearly 10mn additional individuals reside within close proximity . In addition to being the site of Egypt ’ s music and film industries , Cairo is home to the headquarters of the Arab League , many international businesses and media organisations as well as the second-oldest institute of higher learning in the world , Al-Azhar University .
Cairo boasts a strong infrastructure with an established healthcare system that is the most advanced in the country and which contains half of all the hospital beds in Egypt . The city is also home to at least 20 universities of higher learning including the Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Support , Cairo University , Arab Open University , Nile University and many more .
In spite of the city ’ s age - modern-day Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in 969 CE - much of its buildings are fairly young . Due to significant growth , Cairo has undergone rapid construction with about one building out of every five being 15 years old or younger . This “ hyper-urbanisation ” has spurred rapid infrastructure growth .
46 February 2018