Governorates of Egypt

Egypt is divided for administrative purposes into 27 governorates (محافظة muḥāfaẓah  Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [moˈħɑfzˤɑ]; genitive case: muḥāfaẓat  [moˈħɑfzˤet]; plural محافظات muḥāfaẓāt  [moħɑfˈzˤɑːt]). Egyptian governorates are the top tier of the country's five-tier jurisdiction hierarchy. A governorate is administered by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Egypt and serves at the president's discretion. Most governorates have a population density of more than one thousand per km², while the three largest have a population density of less than two per km².

Governorates of Egypt

Governorates are either fully "urban" or else an admixture of "urban" and "rural". The official distinction between "urban" and "rural" is reflected in the lower tiers: i.e. fully urban governorates have no regions (markaz), as the markaz is, natively, a conglomeration of villages. Moreover, governorates may comprise just one city, as in the case of Cairo or Alexandria. Hence, these one-city governorates are only divided into districts (urban neighborhoods). Cairo consists of 23 districts; Alexandria consists of 6.

Non-urban Governorates in Upper Egypt and along the Suez Canal are all named after their capitals, while governorates in the Nile Delta and the deserts tend to have names different from their capitals (Kafr el-Sheikh, Damietta, and Matruh Governorates being exceptions).

Two new governorates were created in April 2008: Helwan and 6th of October.[1] In April 2011, however, the 6th of October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into the Giza and Cairo Governorates, respectively.[2] Luxor was created in December 2009, to be the 29th governorate of Egypt, but with the abolition of the 6th of October and Helwan governorates, the number of governorates has decreased to 27.[3]

List of the Egyptian governorates

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Egyptian governorates[4]
Nr. (key) Name Area (km²) Population (2006-11-11) Population (2012-01-01) Capital
2 Alexandria 2,300 4,123,869 4,509,000 Alexandria
27 Aswan 34,608 1,186,482 1,323,000 Aswan
22 Asyut 13,720 3,444,967 3,888,000 Asyut
3 Beheira 9,826 4,747,283 5,327,000 Damanhur
19 Beni Suef 10,954 2,291,618 2,597,000 Beni Suef
16 Cairo 3,085 8,471,859 8,762,000 Cairo
5 Dakahlia 3,538 4,989,997 5,559,000 Mansura
6 Damietta 910 1,097,339 1,240,000 Damietta
15 Faiyum 6,068 2,511,027 2,882,000 Faiyum
9 Gharbia 1,942 4,011,320 4,439,000 Tanta
14 Giza 13,184 5,724,545 6,979,000 Giza
13 Ismailia 5,067 953,006 1,077,000 Ismailia
4 Kafr el-Sheikh 3,467 2,620,208 2,940,000 Kafr el-Sheikh
1 Matruh 166,563 323,381 389,000 Marsa Matruh
20 Minya 2,262 4,166,299 4,701,000 Minya
10 Monufia 2,499 3,270,431 3,657,000 Shibin el-Kom
21 New Valley 440,098 187,263 208,000 Kharga
8 North Sinai 27,564 343,681 395,000 Arish
7 Port Said 1,345 570,603 628,000 Port Said
11 Qalyubia 1,124 4,251,672 4,754,000 Banha
25 Qena 8,980 3,001,681 2,801,000 Qena
23 Red Sea 120,000 288,661 321,000 Hurghada
12 Al Sharqia 4,911 5,354,041 6,010,000 Zagazig
24 Sohag 11,218 3,747,289 4,211,000 Sohag
18 South Sinai 31,272 150,088 159,000 el-Tor
17 Suez 9,002 512,135 576,000 Suez
26 Luxor 2,409.68 457,286 1,064,000 Luxor
Total 996,602.6 72,798,031 81,396,247

The governorates are further divided into regions (markazes).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Reem Leila. "Redrawing the map". Al Ahram Weekly (On-line). Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  2. ↑ http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/0/10037/Egypt/Egypts-PM-centralises-Helwan-and--October-governor.aspx
  3. ↑ "Luxor announced Egypt’s 29th governorate". Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  4. ↑ [Central Agency for Public Mobilization And Statistics 2011 and 2012] ( CAPMAS ) ]

External links