The tidal basin formed by the two converging rivers was named "dubh linn" (meaning "black pool") by Celts, who had inhabited the area upstream as early as 500 BC.

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Karrada is a mixed commercial and residential area inhabited mostly by Shiites and Christians.

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Al-Bayda is reportedly a predominantly Sunni Muslim village located in an area inhabited largely by members of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, a heterodox offshoot of Shia Islam.

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Just behind the CNN's Cairo bureau lies the Bulaq neighborhood, a ramshackle area of dirt alleys and crumbling houses inhabited by factory workers, government employees (many of whom had to hold second and third jobs to scrape by), small storeowners, etc.

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Carrieann Bedwell, a USGS seismologist, said a 7.8-magnitude quake was "a large event for any area" and could be expected to cause damage in inhabited places.

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The area is dotted with caves, some of which were once inhabited and a few can be toured.

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