Manshiyat Nasser ( ; , sometimes called "the
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
suburb", ) is one of the nine districts that make up the Western Area of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. It covers 5.54 square kilometers, and was home to 258,372 people in the 2017 census.
It borders
Nasr City to the east, central Cairo districts to the west (
Historic Cairo
Islamic Cairo (), or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية ''al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya''), refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Muslim conquest in 641 C ...
), and the
Mokattam
The Mokattam ( , also spelled Muqattam), also known as the Mukattam Mountain or Hills, is the name of an Eastern Desert plateau as well as the district built over it in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt.
Etymology
The Arabic name ''Moka ...
district to the south.

It is famous for the Garbage City quarter, which is a
slum
A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
settlement at the far southern end of Manshiyat Naser, at the base of
Mokattam
The Mokattam ( , also spelled Muqattam), also known as the Mukattam Mountain or Hills, is the name of an Eastern Desert plateau as well as the district built over it in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt.
Etymology
The Arabic name ''Moka ...
hills on the outskirts of Cairo. Being Cairo's largest concentration of "
Zabbaleen
The Zabbaleen ( ', ) is a word which literally means "garbage people" in Egyptian Arabic.Assaad, Ragui. (1996) Formalizing the Informal? The Transformation of Cairo's Refuse Collection System. ''Journal of Planning Education & Research'', vol. 16 ...
" garbage collectors, its economy revolves around the collection and recycling of the city's garbage.
Although Manshiyat Naser has streets, shops, and apartments as other areas of the city, it lacks infrastructure and often has no
running water, sewers, or electricity.
District subdivisions and population
Manshiyat Nasser district covers eight shiakhas that include al-Mujawirin,
Sultan Qaytbay and Sultan Barquq in
Historic Cairo
Islamic Cairo (), or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية ''al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya''), refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest of Egypt, Muslim conquest in 641 C ...
's eastern cemetery field (sometimes known as the
City of the Dead), al-Kahzzan (popularly known as
Zabbalin or Garbage City) to al-Mahagir (literally quarries, also known as
Ezbet Bekheit) that cover the disused quarries at the western foothills of the
Moqattam Plateau, and al-Duweika (Al-Doweiqa) on the northern edge of the Moqattam Plateau.

Manshiyat Nasser had 258,372 residents in the 2017 census, across its eight shiakhas:
Coptic district
Coptic Christians
Copts (; ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts p ...
were originally the predominant inhabitants of Manshiyat Naser, though in recent decades the area's Muslim population has grown. The Christians are well known for herding
swine
Suina (also known as Suiformes) is a suborder of omnivorous, non-ruminant artiodactyl mammals that includes the domestic pig and peccaries. A member of this clade is known as a suine. Suina includes the family Suidae, termed suids, known in ...
within the city, which are fed edible pieces of garbage and marketed across Cairo to Coptic Christian establishments. However, in the spring of 2009, the Egyptian government, in response to the worldwide
threat
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation f ...
of
swine flu, embarked on a massive program to cull the herds of pigs in Manshiyat Naser.
The Cave Cathedral or St
Sama'ans Church, used by the Coptic Christians in Garbage City, is the largest
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in the Middle East, with seating for 15,000 people.
Garbage and recycling
The city's garbage is brought to the Garbage City in Manshiyat Naser by the Zabbaleen (garbage collectors), who then sort through the garbage to attempt to retrieve any potentially useful or recyclable items. Families typically specialize in a particular type of garbage they sort and sell—one room of children sorting out plastic bottles, while the next of women separating cans from the rest. Anything that can be reused or recycled is saved by one of the numerous families in Manshiyat Naser. Various recycled paper and glass products are made and sold from the city, while metal is sold by the kilo to be melted down and reused. Carts pulled by horse or donkey are often stacked high with the
recyclable goods. More than 14,000 tons of garbage are processed each day, 85% of Cairo's waste. Some recycled goods are sold on to Europe and North America.
The
economic system
An economic system, or economic order, is a system of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services within an economy. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making proces ...
in the Garbage City is classified as the
informal sector
An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countri ...
.
Most families typically have worked in the same area and type of specialization in the garbage piles and continue to make enough money to support themselves.
Media
''
Garbage Dreams
''Garbage Dreams'' is a 2009 feature length documentary film produced and directed by Mai Iskander. Filmed over the course of four years, ''Garbage Dreams'' follows three teenage boys growing up in Egypt's garbage village. ''Garbage Dreams'' air ...
'' is a 2009 documentary directed by Mai Iskander about boys born and raised in the Garbage City and how they must look for new ways to support themselves and their families as trash collection in Cairo changes.
See also
*
City of the Dead (slum)
*
2008 Cairo landslide
*
Waste Management in Egypt
References
External links
*
{{Districts of Cairo
Districts of Greater Cairo
Coptic settlements
Landfills
Slums in Egypt