Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, with a population exceeding 20 million people. It forms part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area is among the world’s most populous, with more than 25 million residents.

The region that later became Cairo has deep roots in ancient Egypt, as it lies close to the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis. Situated near the Nile Delta, the earliest settlement in the area was Fustat, established after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 beside the Roman fortress of Babylon. Cairo itself was founded in 969 by the Fatimid dynasty and gradually replaced Fustat as the main urban center during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, from the 12th to the 16th centuries.