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 metr ...

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 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 ...

. Within it lies the largest metopolitan area in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, 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 ...

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 The New Administrative Capital (NAC) ( ar, العاصمة الإدارية الجديدة, al-ʿĀṣima al-ʾIdārīya al-Gadīda) is a new urban community in Cairo Governorate, Egypt and a satellite of Cairo City. It is planned to be Egypt's n ...

, and Capital Gardens) as well as the main cities of the Giza Governorate (

, 6th of October, New 6th of October, October Gardens, Sheikh Zayed, and New Sphinx) and

Shubra El Kheima Shubra El Kheima, ( ar, شبرا الخيمة, lit=hamlet of the tent, , from ) is the fourth-largest city in Egypt after Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. It is located in the Qalyubia Governorate along the northern edge of the Cairo Governorate. It ...

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 The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(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 apparen ...

, 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 fr ...

Urban issues

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

Main cities

Satellite cities/ new towns

* 6th of October * 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 ...

* 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 i ...

References