It has more people than any other city in Africa. The headquarters of the Arab League are in Cairo. Egypt Cairo lies in the Nile Valley at the southern edge of the Nile Delta. It is in one of the few parts of Egypt that have fertile soil and plentiful water. The Nile River divides into two channels just north of the city.
Huge deserts lie east and west of the city.
Cairo is a mixture of the old and the new. In general, the oldest and most historic sections are in the eastern part of the city. In the 1800's and 1900's, bridges were built connecting the city to the islands and the west bank. These bridges made urban development possible on both sides of the Nile. Most government buildings, foreign embassies, hotels, museums, and universities are in Garden City, on the islands, or in the suburbs.