Local Government in 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 3 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; namely, Helwan and 6th of October. In April 2011, the 6th of October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into the Giza and Cairo Governorates, respectively. 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.

List of the Egyptian governorates

Egyptian governorates

Nr. (key)	Name	Area (km²)	Population (2006-11-11)	Population (2012-01-01)	Capital
1	Alexandria	2,300	4,123,869	4,509,000	Alexandria
2	Aswan	34,608	1,186,482	1,323,000	Aswan
3	Asyut	13,720	3,444,967	3,888,000	Asyut
4	Beheira	9,826	4,747,283	5,327,000	Damanhur
5	Beni Suef	10,954	2,291,618	2,597,000	Beni Suef
6	Cairo	3,085	8,471,859	8,762,000	Cairo
7	Dakahlia	3,538	4,989,997	5,559,000	Mansura
8	Damietta	910	1,097,339	1,240,000	Damietta
9	Faiyum	6,068	2,511,027	2,882,000	Faiyum
10	Gharbia	1,942	4,011,320	4,439,000	Tanta
11	Giza	13,184	5,724,545	6,979,000	Giza
12	Ismailia	5,067	953,006	1,077,000	Ismailia
13	Kafr el-Sheikh	3,467	2,620,208	2,940,000	Kafr el-Sheikh
14	Matruh	166,563	323,381	389,000	Marsa Matruh
15	Minya	2,262	4,166,299	4,701,000	Minya
16	Monufia	2,499	3,270,431	3,657,000	Shibin el-Kom
17	New Valley	440,098	187,263	208,000	Kharga
18	North Sinai	27,564	343,681	395,000	Arish
19	Port Said	1,345	570,603	628,000	Port Said
20	Qalyubia	1,124	4,251,672	4,754,000	Banha
21	Qena	8,980	3,001,681	2,801,000	Qena
22	Red Sea	120,000	288,661	321,000	Hurghada
23	Al Sharqia	4,911	5,354,041	6,010,000	Zagazig
24	Sohag	11,218	3,747,289	4,211,000	Sohag
25	South Sinai	31,272	150,088	159,000	el-Tor
26	Suez	9,002	512,135	576,000	Suez
27	Luxor	2,960	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

• List of Egyptian cities
• Subdivisions of Egypt
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• ISO 3166-2:EG
• Province

External links

• Census 2006 area and population data
• Population and area data
• Map
• Egyptian Government Services Portal, Arabic and English
• History of administrative divisions in Egypt since the French Invasion (in Arabic)