6th of October (Modern Standard Arabic: السادس من أكتوبر Al Sādis Min Uktōber; Egyptian Arabic: سته اكتوبر Setta Oktōbar) is a city in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. It is a satellite city, located adjacent to Giza, and is part of the Greater Cairo region.
The city served as the capital of the now-defunct 6th of October Governorate, which was dissolved in 2011. Established as a new city in the desert, it hosts many local and international students.
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New Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة الجديدة el-Qāhera el-Gedīda) is a satellite city within the Cairo Governorate of Egypt, and the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Administratively, it is officially part of the Eastern Area of Cairo city, but like all new settlements in Egypt, it is directly governed by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). The city was established in 2000 as part of Egypt's strategic effort to alleviate the chronic congestion of Greater Cairo by decentralising population and economic activity. The city is made up of a mix of residential neighbourhoods, commercial centres, and institutional zones. It is home to several gated communities, private universities, malls, international schools, and corporate headquarters, positioning it as a hub for Cairo’s upper and elite classes. Its development reflects Egypt’s broader neoliberal urban planning strategies, aimed at attracting private investments and promoting modern and western lifestyles.
According to the 2017 census, New Cairo's three qisms (police districts) had a combined population of 297,387 residents (also see population section below). The city could eventually host a population of 5 million. When compared to 6th of October, also built with the hopes of alleviating the strain on Cairo, more homes are being rented out in New 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 and Giza in the Giza Governorate, and the city Shubra El Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate. 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. The Greater Cairo Region is also officially defined as an economic region consisting of the Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia Governorates. Within Greater Cairo lies the largest metropolitan area in Egypt, the largest urban area in Africa, the Middle East, and the Arab world, and the 6th largest metropolitan area in the world.
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. According to an estimate based on United Nations projections, the area had a population of 22,183,000 in 2023. 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 (111,700 per square mile).