SPACEPHOTOS

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is visible near the center of the photograph. Cairo is the largest city in Africa, with almost 10 million people in the greater metropolitan area, and is located at the southern apex (east side) of the Nile River. Roads and railroads radiate from central Cairo. Giza, the third largest city in Egypt, with more than 1 million people, is located along the west bank of the Nile directly across from Cairo. The dark green areas are the intensively cultivated, irrigated agricultural lands along the Nile River and on the fan-shaped Nile River Delta. The grayish areas show the locations of numerous towns and cities on the delta or on the floodplain where there is less vegetation. Cairo International Airport is barely visible northeast of the city. The desert area southeast of Cairo is part of the Arabian Desert, which extends southward along the western edge of the Gulf of Suez.