“After 5000 years of continuous habitation Cairo remains the greatest metropolis in its quarter of the globe. The seat of pharaohs and sultans,   the prize of conquerors from Alexander to Napoleon, the city has never stopped reinventing itself. ‘The Victorious’ is what the Arabs call Cairo, and the indomitable spirit of the place still merits the name.”
[from Cairo: the City Victorious by Max Rodenbeck ]

Cairo, Egypt’s capital and Africa’s largest city, is the home to almost a quarter of Egypt’s population.  More than 16 million people call it home. The city is a diverse mosaic of modern urban development, splendid Islamic architecture, a medieval Coptic quarter, Belle époque inspired downtown area, poor slum like neighborhoods, the newest trend of gated communities springing like mushrooms at Cairo’s outskirts, … and the pyramids, of course.
Cairo is a city that never sleeps; it is full of life and movement, with noisy honking of horns, children playing in the streets, and merchants selling its wears and services.  It's chaotic, exotic, smelly, dusty, and beautiful … and can be somewhat overwhelming for a first time visitor.

Please check Accomodation for more information of where congress participants can stay during the congress.

To find out more, check the following links, or “Google” Cairo and/or Egypt:

http://goafrica.about.com/library/bl.mapfacts.egypt.htm - basic facts on Egypt
http://goafrica.about.com/od/egypttopattractions/a/cairoguide.htm - Cairo tourist info
http://www.touregypt.net/cairo/ - more on Cairo
http://www.touregypt.net/monument.htm#Historic%20Arabic%20Era – Egypt’s & Cairo’s historical sites

For interested readers:

Cairo. The City Vitorious  by Max Rodenbeck   [Cairo’s social history]
Pyramids and nightclubs by L. L. Wynn [ A travel ethnography of Arab and Western imaginations of Egypt]
Cairo Cosmopolitan by Diane Singerman and Paul Amar [Urban studies of Cairo – more academic reading]
Cairo. City of Sand by Maria Golia [A contemporary portrait of Cairo]
A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani [A comprehensive history of the Middle East]