Cairo Illinois Map

About Cairo, Illinois

Cairo is a locality in Alexander County, Illinois, United States. It has a population of approximately 1,733. The population density is 95.8 people per km². Cairo is located at 37.0053°N, 89.1765°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Cairo is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 62914.

Cairo stands as a sentinel at the confluence of great currents, where the flat, fertile plains of the Midwest yield to the persistent moisture of the Ohio River. It lies 49.9 miles south of Carbondale, IL (from Carbondale, IL: bearing 177°T), and is situated 11.2 miles east-northeast of Charleston. The landscape around Cairo is defined by a low, alluvial stillness, punctuated by the quiet expanse of Grassy Lake just two miles to the north and the distant, subtle rise of Twin Mounds five miles away. Within the quiet perimeter of Unknown Park, the air carries a humid, weighted gravity, as if the land itself is exhaling after the long labor of the seasons. Sunlight here possesses a particular, heavy clarity, casting long, amber shadows across the fields that seem to amplify the silence of the horizon.

Cairo bears the weight of a century’s ambitions in its weathered brick facades and the skeletal remains of its grander commercial era. Once a bustling nexus of riverine trade, the economy of Cairo has retreated into a more modest, introspective rhythm, far removed from the frantic commerce that once surged through its streets. The legacy of its position—an inland crossroads of rail and water—remains etched into the very geometry of its streets, where the architecture reflects a mid-nineteenth-century aspiration that has since been softened by the patient reclamation of the vegetation. Life in Cairo moves with a deliberate, singular pace, defined by the seasonal pulse of the surrounding agricultural expanse and the quiet endurance of those who remain to watch the light change over the fields.

About This Cairo Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cairo, Illinois. Coordinates: 37.005329, -89.176461. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Cairo includes the ZIP code (62914), telephone area code (618), county seat of Alexander County (Cairo), and school district assignment (Cairo Community Unit School District 1).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.