Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Egypt Cairo Cairo’s Garbage City

Cairo’s Garbage City

Slum Settlement Filled With Mountains of Garbage.

Cairo, Egypt

Added By
Tawsam
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-20...
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-20...
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-20...
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Manshiyat Nasser, or as it is more popularly known, Garbage City,“ is a slum settlement with a population of around 60,000 on the outskirts of the Moqattam Hills, within Cairo’s sprawling metropolitan area.

The village is notable for having nearly every space of it covered in garbage, including the streets and rooftops of the settlement. These piles of garbage are the result of the Cairo Metropolitan Area having never established an efficient garbage collecting system, despite having a population of nearly 20 million.

The inhabitants of Manshiyat Nasser, mostly Coptic Christians, have filled this gap for the past 70 years. These informal garbage collectors, called the Zabbaleen or "Garbage people,“ collect the garbage of Cairo’s residents in a door-to-door service for a small fee and then transport it via donkey carts or pick-up trucks to their homes in Manshiyat Nasser. Once home, they sort the garbage for recyclable material. The collecting of the trash is traditionally the men’s work, while women and children sort the garbage.

Although antiquated on its face, the efficiency of the recycling system of the Zabbaleen is remarkable. Almost 90 percent of the garbage is recycled, which is four times the percentage most Western recycling companies produce.

Living conditions are poor in Manshiyat Nasser and the living situation is unsurprisingly unhealthy. But during the last years, the lives of the Zabbaleen have gotten worse as a result of two decisions of the Cairo municipal government. In 2003 the government hired private companies for the garbage disposal, which today the Zabbaleen have to compete against.

Six years later, in a preventive measure against the threat of an outbreak of the swine flu, the Cairo government ordered the culling of all 350,000 pigs in Manshiyat Nasser. Traditionally, pigs have always been an important factor in the lives of the Zabbaleen, since they cleared the garbage of all organic waste and their meat was later sold to hotels and restaurants catering to non-Muslim tourists.

The village has received much attention following the release of the 2009 documentary film Garbage Dreams, which won the Al Gore Reel Current Award. Since the release of the film, Manshiyat Nasser has become something of an off-the-beaten-path tourist attraction for adventuresome individuals.

Related Tags

Eccentric Homes Homes

Know Before You Go

Manshiyat Nasser, Moqattam Hills

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Egypt Family Adventure: Pyramids, Mummies & The Mighty Nile

Cross dream-like deserts and uncover the secrets of ancient pyramids.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

Tawsam

Published

October 10, 2011

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manshiyat_naser
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabbaleen
  • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019390/Whod-dustman-Cairo-Revolting-pictures-piled-rubbish-Egyptian-capital-label-Garbage-City.html
Cairo’s Garbage City
Manshiyat Naser
Cairo
Egypt
30.045949, 31.285514
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Monastery of Saint Simon

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

National Military Museum of Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

Cairo's City of the Dead

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Places 10
Stories 6

Nearby Places

Monastery of Saint Simon

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

National Military Museum of Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

Cairo's City of the Dead

Cairo, Egypt

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Cairo

Cairo

Egypt

Places 10
Stories 6

Related Stories and Lists

Scavenger Cities

infrastructure

By Chris White

Related Places

  • Eugene, Oregon

    Shelton McMurphey Johnson House

    A Victorian-style home known as the “Castle on the Hill.”

  • Side of house.

    Toronto, Ontario

    The Wood Cake House

    This knick-knack-covered house (complete with a matching van) is a charming oddity in the middle of a modest downtown neighborhood.

  • Front exterior

    Alcoa, Tennessee

    Millennium Manor Castle

    One man’s religious convictions led him to build this stone castle meant to withstand an apocalypse.

  • Castel Meur

    Plougrescant, France

    Castel Meur

    A small house sits between two huge rocks, with its back to the sea.

  • Interior of 575 Wandsworth

    London, England

    575 Wandsworth Road

    What started as a way to address damp basement walls turned into a house filled with intricate hand-carved designs.

  • Florence, Italy

    Massimo Listri Foundation

    An extraordinary house museum and cabinet of curiosities in the heart of Florence.

  • Warner Castle.

    Rochester, New York

    Warner Castle

    This New York estate was designed to resemble a medieval Scottish castle.

  • North Adelaide, Australia

    David Roche House Museum

    A vast and opulent collection of art and show dog memorabilia collected over one man's lifetime.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.