Cairo, Egypt Statistics

The actual official name of Cairo is al-Qāhirah, though in local speech it is typically called simply by the name of the country, Misr pronounced Masr in the local dialect. It is currently Africa's most populous city, and by some accounts the thirteenth most populous city in the world, though this statistic probably only refers to Cairo proper. Others place the city 24th, though this clearly includes only the city and not the surrounding metropolitan area.

Cairo is the administrative center of Egypt, but like the rest of the country, statistical information about the city is sometimes difficult. Certainly we can produce relatively accurate figures on such topics as land area, temperature and average rainfall, but the population, and particularly statistics about the population are problematic because it is so large and much of its populations lives, so to speak, under the radar of the government. The information below is relatively correct, though as some of the information states, it is for the metropolitan area, without stating exactly what the metropolitan area is. The city that most visitors see is actually a combination of cities including Cairo itself, Heliopolis, Nasser City and Maadi, Giza, as well as some smaller villages. However, the populations figures probably apply to a larger number of areas, including 6th of October City, New Cairo, Shrouq, 15th of May City and Obour.

Location:
Egypt, North Africa.

Language
Arabic with an Egyptian dialect, though a significant percentage of the educated population are capable in English, French and/or Italian.

Currency
Egyptian Pound, as in the rest of Egypt, though US Dollars and Euros are freely exchanged.

Country dialing code:
20.

Religion:
90-94 % Muslim, most of the rest are Coptic Christian. Most Muslims are Sunni, though no specific percentages seem to be available. While Copts make up the largest percentage of Christians, there is a small, declining number of Catholics, and apparently an increasing number of protestants, mostly Episcopal.

Time zone:
GMT + 2.

Electricity:
220 volts AC, 50Hz; round two-pin plugs are used.

Average January temp:
17.5ºC (63.5ºF); 8ºC (47ºF) at night.

Average July temp:
36.5ºC (97.7ºF).

Annual rainfall:
25mm (1 inch) per year, usually Dec-Mar.

Land Mass
About 214.2 sq km stretching along the banks of the River Nile for 40km (25 miles) (metropolitan area) Greater Cairo, including all suburbs, is estimated to cover an area of 86,369.3 square kilometers of which the region of Giza accounts for 85,153.6.

Population
The average annual population growth rate from 1960 to 1994 was 2.1%. For the years 1994 to 2001, the estimated average annual growth rate is 1.6%. About 36 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.

The population estimate is 6,789,479 for the city and 14,872,204 for the greater Metropolitan Area. The population density is 31,727 per square kilometer for the city and 2361 for the greater metropolitan area. The average household size is 4.4 persons per household.

The average life expectancy is 60 to 65 for males, and 63 to 68 for females. The crude birth rate is 30.6 per 1000 people, and the crude death rate is 7.3 per 1000 people.

Economy
The Greater Cairo Metropolitan area is the major urban, industrial, and financial agglomeration in Egypt. Per capita GNP is 5,630.2 L.E.($1,656). Cairo proper GNP is 8,854.3 L.E. GNP. The total number of poor persons in 1995-96 was 749,400. The unemployment rate in 1995 was 7.6%.

Among the labor force, 0.8% are involved in agriculture, 32.3% in industry, and 66.9% in services. Professional and technical staff represent 25.4%, and 70% of those of working age are employed in the informal sector.

Health and Environment
Cairo is plagued by countless illnesses from bacterial infections, viruses, parasitic infections and malnutrition. Cairo has serious air pollution from motor vehicles and factories, which combine to make Cairo's air pollution level one of the highest in the world. Air quality is severe and comprises 2.1 percent of all deaths. Environmental problems are primarily a by-product of population explosion and industrial overexpansion. Sources of water pollution range from industrial effluent discharged into the Nile to untreated sewage that finds its way into waterways and ground water. Waste generated per day equals 8500 of solid waste and 30 tons of hazardous waste.

Infrastructure and Social Services
Water —85% of the city's population have access to potable water, supplied by local water works and the Nile River. The average per capita supply is 300 liters daily.

Electricity —99% of the population have access to electricity, which is provided by hydroelectric and gas power.

Waste —Septic tanks serve only about 25% of the city's population; 70.9% have access to sewage connections.

Transportation — Infrastructure includes railways, an underground metro (currently Africa's only metro system), motor highways and buses. Cairo has had a dramatic growth in the number of private vehicles. It has an insufficient bus and tram fleet and inadequately developed secondary road network. Automobile Ownership in Cairo Proper is estimated at 114 per 1,000 people. In 1993, 73 people per every 1000 in the city owned passenger cars. How Cairenes Get Around:

• Walking: 36%
• Microbus 18%
• Bus 12%
• Metro 11%
• Car 13%
• Taxi 4%
• Other Pubic Transportation 6%

Cairo's 42.5 kilometer metro carries 60,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

Health —Infant mortality is 42.2 per 1000 live births, a big reduction from 240 in 1961. There are 100 hospitals and 12,834 doctors in Cairo.

Education —The adult literacy rate (for people aged 15+) is 70.8%.

Enrollment ratios in schools are 93.9% for the total population and 93.7% for females.

Housing —Cairo's housing stock has expanded with a surplus of about 1 million housing units.

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