Originally Posted by
Dpmesplitter
Tahrir square cannot contain more than 20-40 thousand people depending on how packed the population is.
Go to Google Earth, measure the dimensions and the area (it is no ore than 350,000 square feet),... deduct the unusable area (structures, curbs, obstacles, etc....) you will end up with about 250,000 square feet... now assuming that all of that is covered by people and the people are packed like sardines with a little breathing space (one per 5 square feet, which is not likely- try it at home) you will get 50,000 people. A real number based on tighter density in the center, and more spread out in the periphery, a realistic number of 25,000 will be reached.
In Iran in early 1979, non Islamic revolutionaries, estimated their rally participation at 100,000 which took place on a sub-standard soccer field inside the Tehran University (now the site of Friday prayers), no bigger than 100X50 meters or 45,000 square feet. This propagandist self delusion, had a terrible backlash when the Islamic regime began filling the field and all the surrounding streets and alleyways with many times more people, during rallies and Friday prayers: The anti Khomeini forces , based on their own propaganda, now dreaded that the regime was gathering MILLIONS every week, whereas the real figure was below a 100,000 beyond the first months.
Those of you who (perhaps by the dictates of the "non violent" revolution handbooks), exaggerated the anti Mubarak Tahrir square population as "hundreds of thousands" (real numbers 10-20,000) now have a hard time sleeping, fearing the "millions" chanting anti Israeli slogans.