The settlement was established in 1979 by the 504th presidential decree of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It is 32 km (20 mi) from the center of Cairo and 17 km (11 mi) from the great pyramids of Giza. Despite having many unfinished or vacant buildings, the city has a total area of 482 km2 (119,000 acres) and is eventually expected to have six million residents
It was announced as the capital of the 6th of October Governorate in April 2008. Following the governorate’s dissolution in April 2011, in the wake of the Egyptian revolution, it was reincorporated into the Giza Governorate, to which it had originally belonged.