Egypt: Cairo's City of the Dead // MULTIMEDIA

ED GILES ON ASSIGNMENT FOR THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD AND THE AGE.

Cairo's 'city of the dead' is home to four million people, roughly the population of the city of Sydney, Australia. The City of the Dead is a vast 'suburb' of Egypt's capital, where residents live amongst the tombs and gravestones of generations past.

Largely, the people living in the sprawling necropolis are here because they cannot afford the minimum rent of a government apartment, 500 (US$85) Egyptian pounds per month.

As Egypt's revolution has ground on through 2011, residents in the city of the dead say that their living conditions are only getting worse. Crime has increased in the cemetery, and drug dealers now control the entries and exits after dark. Residents say they are scared to go out at night.

Ultimately, the residents of the city of the dead - some of the 40% of Egyptians who live below the poverty line - are still awaiting their true revolution.

FROM ASSIGNMENT WITH MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, RUTH POLLARD, PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 26, 2011.