6th of October Governorate

Location of the now defunct 6th of October Governorate within Egypt

The 6th of October Governorate (Arabic: ‏محافظة السادس من أكتوبر‎ Muḥāfaẓat as Sādis min Uktūbar) was one of the governorates of Egypt. It was located in Middle Egypt, to the west of the Nile Valley.

History

The 6th of October Governorate was split from the Giza Governorate on 17 April 2008. It was created through a presidential decree in order to ease the burden placed on Giza, one of Egypt's most densely populated governorates.^[1] The 6th of October City became the capital of the 6th of October Governorate, which was mostly made up of recently established planned communities such as the Sheikh Zayed City. On 14 April 2011, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf dissolved the 6th of October Governorate and reincorporated its territory into the Giza Governorate.^[2]

Etymology

The governorate's name commemorates the Egyptian military's successful crossing of the Suez Canal on 6 October 1973 during the October War, which is known in Israel as the Yom Kippur War. The 6th of October is also Egypt's Armed Forces Day.

Geography

The area of the 6th of October is largely desert, but contains the left bank of the Nile Valley to both the north and south of Giza, and the important oasis town of Bahariya. It is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude, a line where the northern latitude and eastern longitude are the same.

Cities

• 6th of October City
• Sheikh Zayed City

References

1. ^ "Egypt's PM centralises Helwan and 6 October governorates". Al-Ahram. 14 April 2011. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/0/10037/Egypt/Egypts-PM-centralises-Helwan-and--October-governor.aspx. Retrieved 2011-04-16. 
2. ^ "Fresh reshuffle in Egypt’s governors". Egypt State Information Service. 15 April 2011. http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Story.aspx?sid=54863. Retrieved 2011-04-16. 

Coordinates: 29°56′17″N 30°54′50″E / 29.93806°N 30.91389°E / 29.93806; 30.91389