The Greater Cairo Region (GCR; ar, القاهرة الكبرى, Al-Qāhira al-Kubrā) is th an economic region with no administrative body comprising the three governorates of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

and Qalyubia. Within it lies the largest metopolitan area in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, the largest

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, and the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, and the 6th largest metropolitan area in the world. It consists of all cities in the

Cairo Governorate Cairo Governorate is one of the 27 governorates of Egypt. It is formed of the city of Cairo, both the national capital of Egypt and the governorate's, in addition to five satellite cities: the New Administrative Capital - set to become the s ...

(

New Cairo New Cairo ( ar, القاهرة الجديدة ' is an Egyptian city covering an area of about on the southeastern edge of Cairo Governorate, 25 kilometres (15 mi) from Maadi. New Cairo is one of the new cities which have been built in ...

Badr Badr (Arabic: بدر) as a given name below is an Arabic masculine and feminine name given to the "full moon on its fourteenth night" or the ecclesiastical full moon. Badr may refer to: .and it is also one of the oldest and rarest names in the Arabi ...

, Shorouk, 15th of May, the New Administrative Capital, and Capital Gardens) as well as the main cities of the Giza Governorate (

6th of October 6th of October (October 6) is the 279th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. The date may also refer to: *the Yom Kippur War, a war between Israel and Egypt and allied Syria which broke on October 6, 1973. Things in Egypt named after the war ...

, New 6th of October, October Gardens, Sheikh Zayed, and New Sphinx) and Shubra El Kheima and Obour in the

Qalyubia Governorate Qalyubia Governorate ( ar, محافظة القليوبية ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in Lower Egypt. It is situated north of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. Its capital is Banha. Name Name of Qalubiyya governorate is driv ...

, with a total population estimated at 20,901,000; area: 1,709 km²; density: 10,400/km².

Climate

The Greater Cairo Area and its surrounding region is classified as hot desert climate (BWh) in Köppen-Geiger classification, as all of

. 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 have the

urban heat An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent ...

, which makes them more prone to have

soft hail Graupel (; ), also called soft hail, hominy snow, or snow pellets, is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets in air are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming balls of crisp, opaque rime. Graupel is distinct from ...

Urban issues

60% of all informal houses in Egypt are located in the Greater Cairo area.

Main cities

* Shubra El Kheima

Satellite cities/ new towns

* New 6th of October * October Gardens (Hadayek October) * New Sphinx *

Sheikh Zayed City Sheikh Zayed City ( ar, مدينة الشيخ زايد) is a city in Giza Governorate in Egypt and part of the Greater Cairo urban area. It was established in 1995 and is named after Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 20th anniversary In 2014, during th ...

* Badr *

* New Administartive Capital * 15th of May *

El Shorouk El Shorouk ( ar, الشروق , "the Sunrise") is a city in the Greater Cairo area, specifically located northeast of Cairo and north of New Cairo in the province of Cairo. El Shorouk is one of Third Generation cities, established by Prim ...

* Obour (city)

Sometimes included

10th of Ramadan (city) 10th of Ramadan ( ar, العاشر من رمضان ') is a city located in the Sharqia Governorate, Egypt. It is a first-generation new urban community, and one of the most industrialized. It enjoys close proximity to the city of Cairo, and is c ...

References