Cairo ranked one of world’s least competitive cities

Number 113 out of 120. Ouch. 

That's the Egyptian capital Cairo's rank in the Economist research unit's 2012 Global City Competitiveness Index, which evaluates the general economic environments of 120 of the world's major cities. 

Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest metropolis on the Mediterranean, clocks in at an embarassing 116. The Iranian capital, Tehran, takes the index's last place – but that hardly seems fair given the berth of economic sanctions on Iran, right? 

The report doesn't elaborate on Cairo's meager rank, but says the index is classified on eight categories of competitiveness, including economic size and growth, business environment, human capital and quality of life. 

Read more from GlobalPost: Cairo 90210?

Anyone who's so much as touched down in Cairo's International Airport would probably say it's not a surprise this massive, urban mecca – poor, polluted and populated – scored so low. 

Bureaucracy and chaos abound. Corruption is a part of daily life. And you can forget about getting anywhere on time if you get snagged into one of the city's epic traffic jams. 

But one thing Cairo's got is longevity. It might be down and out but it's definitely not going anywhere. 

For more on Cairo's urban idosyncracies and what make it so unique, check out the Cairo Observer, a blog on all of Cairo's metropolitan madness – old and new.