Giza

About Giza

Giza or Gizah (Arabic: الجيزة‎, transliterated el-Gīzah) is a town in Egypt on the west bank of the Nile river, some 20 km southwest of central Cairo and now part of the greater Cairo metropolis. It is the capital of the Al Jizah Governorate, and is located near the northeast border of this governorate in coordinates. It is located right on the banks of the Nile River. Its population is 2,681,863 in the 2006 national census, the governate has 4,779,000 (1998). Its large population makes it the 2nd largest suburb in the world, tied with Incheon, Korea and Quezon City, Philippines, second only to Yokohama, Japan.

Giza is most famous as the location of the Giza Plateau: the site of some of the most impressive ancient monuments in the world, including a complex of ancient Egyptian royal mortuary and sacred structures, including the Great Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and a number of other large pyramids and temples.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was once advocated (1884) as the location for the Prime Meridian, a reference point used for determining a base longitude.