Garbage City

Manshiyat Naser (Egyptian Arabic: منشية ناصر‎‎ manšeyyet Nāṣer pronounced [mænˈʃejjet ˈnɑːsˤeɾ]) is a ward (kism) of Cairo, Egypt. It covers 5.54 square kilometers, home to 262,050 people in the 2006 census, up from 168,425 in 1996 census. and borders Nasr City to the east, central Cairo districts to the west, and Khalifa ward to the south.

It is famous for the Garbage City quarter which is a slum settlement at the far southern end of Manshiyat Naser, at the base of Mokattam hills on the outskirts of Cairo. Being Cairo's largest concentration of Zabbaleen 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.

Coptic Christians 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 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 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 in the Middle East, with seating for 15,000 people.

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Wikipedia