More than a million protesters have flooded into central Cairo, turning Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, into a sea of humanity in a massive show of protest against Hosni Mubarak, the country's president for three decades.
Packed shoulder to shoulder in and around the famed Tahrir Square, the mass of people on Tuesday held aloft posters denouncing the president, and chanted slogans "Go Mubarak Go" and "Leave! Leave! Leave!"
Similar massive demonstrations calling on Mubarak to step down are also being witnessed across other cities, including Sinai, Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura, Damnhour, Arish, Tanta, el-Mahalla and el-Kubra.
Tens of thousands were reportedly marching in Alexandria while the number of those protesting in Sinai was estimated to be around 250,000.
Tuesday's protests were by far the biggest since street demonstrations broke out against Mubarak's rule last week.
"The crowd is very diverse - young, old, religious, men, women - and growing by the minute," Al Jazeera's online producer said from Tahrir Square.
"They're chanting the same slogans they've been chanting all week. Someone actually hung an effigy of Mubarak from a streetlight."
Organisers had called for a march by a million people on the day, but the turnout surpassed all expectations.
Soldiers deployed at the square did nothing to stop the crowds from entering.
They have formed a human chain around protesters, and are checking people for weapons as they enter. Tanks have been positioned near the square, and officers have been checking identity papers.
According to reports, the military police have placed barbed wire around Mubarak's residence in Masr el-Gedidah, a suburb east of Cairo.
Protest organisers had called for an indefinite strike to be observed across the country on Tuesday, the eighth day of an uprising that has claimed at least 150 lives.
