Cairo
3,085 km²
Rio de Janeiro
1,221 km²
Egypt
Brazil
Area Comparison
Cairo is 2.5x larger than Rio de Janeiro
Population Comparison
Cairo has 1.5x more people than Rio de Janeiro
Yes — Cairo is 2.5x larger than Rio de Janeiro by area. Cairo spans 3,085 km² (1,191 mi²) while Rio de Janeiro covers 1,221 km² (471 mi²) — a difference of 1,864 km². You could fit Rio de Janeiro inside Cairo approximately 2 times.
To put Cairo's size in perspective, its area of 3,085 km² is about 1.2x the size of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, Rio de Janeiro at 1,221 km² is about 1.3x smaller than London.
Picture Cairo another way: its area is large enough to fit about 432,000 American football fields, 52 times the area of Manhattan, or 29 times the area of Paris. Rio de Janeiro, by comparison, equals about 171,000 American football fields, 21 times the area of Manhattan, or 12 times the area of Paris.
Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate. It is home to more than 9.8 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area is one of the largest in the world by population with over 22 million people. Areas of what would become Cairo were inhabited from pre-dynastic and early-dynastic ancient Egypt c.
Known as "The City of a Thousand Minarets", Cairo covers 3,085 km² with a population of 10.1 million. The city was established in 969. Cairo is known for Pyramids of Giza, Great Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, among other attractions. The city's main transit system is the Cairo Metro.
Cairo is home to more than 9.8 million people and is part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa and the Arab world.
Rio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil after São Paulo and the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas.
Nicknamed "Cidade Maravilhosa", Rio de Janeiro has an area of 1,221 km² and is home to 6.8 million people. It was established in 1565. Visitors come for Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana beach, and much more. Getting around is easy with the MetrôRio.
Rio de Janeiro is the second-most-populous city in Brazil after São Paulo and the sixth-most-populous in the Americas.
Looking beyond city limits, the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area covers 6,744 km², which is 1.0x larger than greater Cairo at 6,588 km². The Cairo metro area is also more populous, with 21.3 million people compared to 13.5 million.
Cairo has a population density of 3,274 people per km² — a moderately dense city. Rio de Janeiro, with 5,528 people per km², is a densely populated city. Rio de Janeiro is noticeably denser, packing 1.7 times more people per square kilometer.
This comparison spans continents — Cairo in Africa versus Rio de Janeiro in South America. Despite the geographic distance, comparing their sizes reveals surprising insights about how cities grow worldwide.
Cairo has a hot desert climate while Rio de Janeiro experiences tropical savanna conditions. When it's noon in Cairo, it's 7:00 AM in Rio de Janeiro — a 5-hour time difference.
Size Ratio
Rio de Janeiro fits inside Cairo ~2 times
Density Gap
Rio de Janeiro is 1.7x more densely populated
Time Difference
5 hours apart
History
Cairo is ~596 years older
Cairo covers 3,085 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Hanoi (3,359 km²), Karachi (3,527 km²), Lima (2,672 km²), Moscow (2,511 km²), or Cape Town (2,455 km²).
Rio de Janeiro covers 1,221 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include San Antonio (1,209 km²), Lagos (1,172 km²), Rome (1,285 km²), Los Angeles (1,302 km²), or Hong Kong (1,114 km²).
The straight-line distance from Cairo to Rio de Janeiro is 9,884 km (6,141 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~12h 8m.
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