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Capitals of the world
Cairo, capital of Egypt: facts and figures
Cairo is the capital of Egypt. It has about 21,300,000 residents, which makes it the 5th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 29 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Jerusalem, 426 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Egypt |
| Continent | Africa |
| City population | 21,300,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 5th of 172 |
| Elevation | 29 m |
| Founded | 969 |
| Time zone | Africa/Cairo |
| Coordinates | 30.04° N, 31.24° E |
| Country population | 118,365,995 residents |
| Country GDP | 365.3 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $3,086 |
| Life expectancy | 71.8 years |
| Internet users | 74.6 % |
| Big Mac price | EGP 145 (about $2.87) |
Climate through the year
Cairo averages 14.9 °C in winter and 30.5 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 33 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 13.7 °C |
| February | 15.1 °C |
| March | 18.3 °C |
| April | 22.3 °C |
| May | 26.6 °C |
| June | 29.6 °C |
| July | 30.9 °C |
| August | 30.9 °C |
| September | 29.0 °C |
| October | 25.1 °C |
| November | 20.4 °C |
| December | 16.0 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Size: most populous capital in Africa (21,300,000 residents).
- Summer: 3rd hottest capital in Africa (30.5 °C).
- Rainfall: driest capital in the world (33 mm).
- Age: 3rd oldest capital in Africa (969).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Jerusalem is the closest capital to Cairo.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | Israel | 426 km |
| Amman | Jordan | 495 km |
| Beirut | Lebanon | 587 km |
| Nicosia | Cyprus | 607 km |
| Damascus | Syria | 614 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Cairo to a place and a number you already know: it is 426 km from Jerusalem, and it is the 5th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Egypt compares with every other country on figures like these, the most expensive Big Mac index ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Big Mac price: The Economist's Big Mac index, from its published dataset. The index covers about 55 economies, so most capitals here have no figure.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Cairo is the capital of Egypt, in Africa, with about 21,300,000 residents, averaging 14.9 °C in winter and 30.5 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Egypt?
Cairo is the capital of Egypt. It has about 21,300,000 residents and lies in Africa.
How many people live in Cairo?
About 21,300,000, which ranks Cairo 5th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Cairo?
Cairo averages 14.9 °C in winter and 30.5 °C in summer, with 33 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Cairo?
A Big Mac costs EGP 145 (about $2.87) there. GDP per capita in the country is $3,086, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Jerusalem, capital of Israel: facts and figures
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel: 950,000 residents, 778 m above sea level, 10.0 °C in winter and 24.9 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Amman, capital of Jordan: facts and figures
Amman is the capital of Jordan: 4,000,000 residents, 811 m above sea level, 9.2 °C in winter and 25.9 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Beirut, capital of Lebanon: facts and figures
Beirut is the capital of Lebanon: 2,400,000 residents, 60 m above sea level, 13.7 °C in winter and 26.9 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.