Greater Cairo

The Greater Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة الكبرى, romanized: Al-Qāhira al-Kubrā) is a metropolitan area centered around Cairo, Egypt. It comprises the entirety of the Cairo Governorate, the cities of Imbaba^{[lower-alpha 2]} and Giza in the Giza Governorate, and the city Shubra El Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate.^[4][5] Its definition can be expanded to include peri-urban areas and a number of new planned towns founded in the desert areas east and west of Cairo.^[5] The Greater Cairo Region is also officially defined as an economic region consisting of the Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia Governorates.^[6][7] Within Greater Cairo lies the largest metropolitan area in Egypt,^[8] the largest urban area in Africa, the Middle East, and the Arab world, and the 6th largest metropolitan area in the world.^[9]

Greater Cairo القاهرة الكبرى
Metropolitan area
Coordinates: 30°03′N 31°22′E
Country	Egypt
Core cities	Cairo Giza Banha
Satellite cities	6th of October Sheikh Zayed New Cairo 15th of May Badr Shubra El Kheima Obour 10th of Ramadan New Administrative Capital
Area [lower-alpha 1][1]
• Metro	2,734 km2 (1,056 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (2023)[2]	22,183,000
GDP [3]
• Metro	EGP 2,986 billion (US$ 190.2 billion)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EGY)

In its larger definition, the area includes all cities in the Cairo Governorate (Cairo, New Cairo, Badr, Shorouk, 15th of May, the New Administrative Capital, and Capital Gardens) as well as the main cities of the Giza Governorate (Giza, 6th of October, New 6 October, October Gardens, Sheikh Zayed, and New Sphinx) and Shubra El Kheima and Obour in the Qalyubia Governorate.^[5] According to an estimate based on United Nations projections, the area had a population of 22,183,000 in 2023.^[2] In 2012, when the area's population was estimated at 20.5 million, the population density within Cairo Governorate was estimated at 45,000 per square kilometer (117,00 per square mile).^[10]

Economy

In 2021, Greater Cairo had GDP of around 3 trillion EGP or 45% of total Egypt GDP.^[3]

Governorate	Nominal GDP (billion EGP)[3]	Nominal GDP (billion USD)
Cairo	1,876	120
Giza	770	49
Qalyubiyya	339	22
Greater Cairo	2,985	191

Climate

The Greater Cairo Area and its surrounding region is classified as hot desert climate (BWh) in Köppen-Geiger classification, as all of Egypt. Cairo and its surrounding region have very similar day to day temperatures; however, the less populated parts at the east and the west do not experience the urban heat island effect, which makes them more prone to have soft hail.

Cairo
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     5     19 7     3     21 8     3     24 11     1     29 13     0     32 17     0     35 19     0     35 21     0     35 21     0     33 19     0     30 17     3     26 13     4     21 9 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: Weather2Travel[11]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.2     66 45     0.1     70 46     0.1     75 52     0     84 55     0     90 63     0     95 66     0     95 70     0     95 70     0     91 66     0     86 63     0.1     79 55     0.2     70 48 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Urban issues

See also: Housing in Egypt

60% of all informal houses in Egypt are located in the Greater Cairo area.^[12]

Main cities

Center and south

• Cairo^{[lower-alpha 3]}

West

• Giza

North

• Shubra El Kheima

Satellite cities and towns

North

• Obour (city)

South

• 15th of May (city)^[15][16]

West

• 6th of October
  • Large real estate developments: Dreamland
• New 6 October
• October Gardens (Hadayek October)
• New Sphinx
• Sheikh Zayed City

East

• El Shorouk
  • Large real estate developments: New Heliopolis, Future City
• Badr
• New Cairo
  • Large real estate developments: El Rehab, Madinaty, Mostakbal City
• New Administrative Capital

Sometimes included

North

• 10th of Ramadan (city)

See also

• Cairo Metro
• List of radio stations in Greater Cairo

Notes

1. Cairo Metropolitan is enlarged to cover all the area within the Governorate limits. Government statistics consider that the whole governorate is urban and the whole governorate is treated like as the metropolitan-city of Cairo. Governorate Cairo is considered a city-proper and functions as a municipality. The city of Alexandria is on the same principle as the city of Cairo, being a governorate-city. Because of this, it is difficult to divide Cairo into urban, rural, subdivisions, or to eliminate certain parts of the metropolitan administrative territory on various theme (unofficial statistics and data).
2. Imbaba is considered a city by the World Bank.^[4]
3. Helwan, a district in southern Cairo, was briefly made a separate city in a new governorate in 2008.^[13] It was re-absorbed into the borders of Cairo when this act was repealed in 2011.^[14])

References

1. "Major Agglomerations of the World - Population Statistics and Maps". City Population. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
2. "Cairo, Egypt Metro Area Population 1950-2023". Macrotrends. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
3. "GDP BY GOVERNORATE", mped.gov.eg
4. Egypt - Greater Cairo Urban Development Project (English). Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. 1982. p. 4.
5. Sims, David (2011). Understanding Cairo: The Logic of a City Out of Control. Cairo and New York: American University in Cairo Press. pp. 6–7.
6. Gómez-Álvarez, David; Rajack, Robin; López-Moreno, Eduardo; Lanfranchi, Gabriel, eds. (2014). Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development. Inter-American Development Bank. p. 243. ISBN 978-1-59782-311-1.
7. "أقليم القاهرة الكبرى". الهيئة العامة للتخطيط العمرانى. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
8. Demographia World Urban Areas & Population Projections (PDF), Demographia, April 2009, retrieved 9 July 2009
9. R.L. Forstall, R.P. Greene, and J.B. Pick, "Which are the largest? Why published populations for major world urban areas vary so greatly" Archived 31 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, City Futures Conference, (University of Illinois at Chicago, July 2004) – Table 5 (p.34)
10. The Evolving Urban Form: Cairo, New Geography, 13 June 2012, retrieved 9 October 2015
11. "Cairo Climate and Weather Averages, Egypt". Retrieved 21 February 2014.
12. "Urban Initiatives". UN-Habitat Egypt. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
13. Leila, Reem (24–30 April 2008). "Redrawing the Map". No. 894. al-Ahram Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
14. "Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Decree 63/2011". The Official Gazette. 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
15. "المستثمرون المصريون يطالبون بثورة إدارية في المحليات ويفضلون التعامل مع هيئة المجتمعات العمرانية حاليا". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
16. "الصفحة الرسمية لجهاز تنمية مدينة 15 مايو". www.facebook.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 April 2023.