Subdivisions of Egypt

Egypt is administratively organized under a dual system that may consist of either two or three tiers, with further subdivisions occasionally resulting in an additional layer. It follows a centralized system of local government, officially termed local administration, as it functions as a part of the executive branch of the government.

Overview

Egyptian law delineates the units of local governance as governorates, centers, cities, districts, and villages, each possessing legal personality. The legal framework establishes a dual system of local administration that alternates between a two-tier and a three-tier structure, depending on the characteristics of the governorate.

At the top of the hierarchy are 27 governorates (singular: , plural: ). Each governorate has a capital, typically its largest city, and is headed by a governor, appointed by the President of Egypt, serving at the president’s discretion.

Governors hold the civilian rank of minister and report directly to the prime minister, who chairs the Council of Governors (maglis al-muhafzin) and convenes regular meetings with them. The Ministry of Local Development is responsible for coordinating the governors and managing their governorates' budgets.

City governorates, whose boundaries largely coincide with those of a major urban center, fall directly under the authority of its governor and are only subdivided into districts (singular: , plural: ), each headed by a district head. In Egypt, there are four such governorates, namely the Alexandria Governorate, Cairo Governorate, Port Said Governorate, and Suez Governorate.

The remaining 23 governorates, which encompass both rural and urban areas, operate under a three-tier system that include intermediate municipal units known as centers (singular: , plural: ). The lowest level of administration is determined by the rural or urban character of the settlement, classified as either a city or a village. Template:Map of Egypt's governorates

Sub-districts and special administrative units

There are additional subdivisions into smaller units and non-administrative census blocks.

In city governorates, districts are further subdivided into non-administrative units called sheyakha (lit. sheikhdom, ). In urban–rural governorates, cities may be divided into districts, although this is not always the case, and these cities may also be subdivided into sheyakhas. Additionally, some cities in those governorates are divided directly into sheyakhas without an intermediate layer.

Two special categories exist outside the traditional administrative structure, but are intended for eventual transfer to local administration:

• New urban communities, governed by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) under the Minister of Housing.
• Agricultural villages, built by the Ministry of Agriculture in its desert land reclamation schemes.

Economic regions

Template:See Separate from administrative divisions, seven economic regions exist for planning purposes, as defined by the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP).

History

Centralization after the 1952 revolution

Before the 1952 Egyptian revolution, state penetration of the rural areas was limited by the power of local notables. Under Nasser, land reform reduced those notables' socioeconomic dominance, and the peasants were incorporated into cooperatives, which transferred mass dependence from landlords to the government. The extension of officials into the countryside permitted the regime to bring development and services to the village. The local branches of the ruling party, the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), fostered a certain peasant political activism and coopted the local notables — in particular, the village headmen — and checked their independence from the regime.

Until 1979, local government enjoyed limited power in Egypt's highly centralized state. Under the central government, there were twenty-six governorates (27 today), which were subdivided into counties (In Template:Langx "center", plural: ), each of which was further subdivided into towns or villages. At each level, there was a governing structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers, and mayors, respectively. Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, appointed subordinate executive officers. The coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors' executive organs to the district police station and the village headman.

Decentralization under Sadat

State penetration did not retreat under Sadat, though the earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the local party and cooperative withered. However, administrative controls over the peasants remained intact. The local power of the old families and the headmen revived but more at the expense of peasants than of the state. The district police station balanced the notables, and the system of local government (the mayor and council) integrated them into the regime.

Sadat took several measures to administratively decentralize power to the provinces and towns, with limited fiscal and almost no political decentralization. Governors acquired more authority under Law 43/1979, which reduced the administrative and budgetary controls of the central government over the provinces. The elected councils acquired, at least formally, the right to approve or disapprove the local budget. In an effort to reduce local demands on the central treasury, local government was given wider powers to raise local taxes. Local representative councils became vehicles of pressure for government spending, and the soaring deficits of local government bodies had to be covered by the central government. Local government was encouraged to enter into joint ventures with private investors, and these ventures stimulated an alliance between government officials and the local rich that paralleled the infitah alliance at the national level.

Under Mubarak

Under president Hosni Mubarak's rule (1981–2011), decentralization continued to evolve. Some scholars believed local autonomy was achieved, as local policies often reflected special local conditions. Thus, officials in Upper Egypt often bowed to the powerful Islamic movement there, while those in the port cities struck alliances with importers.

However, others found that local governance proved impotent. Parliamentarians were reduced to the roles of local councillors, lobbying at the parliamentary level for basic local services, while the elected Local Popular Councils (LPC) had a parallel ceremonial role to the appointed Local Executive Councils (LEC), which managed the local departments.

Elections of the LPCs have also been observed to be fraudulent. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) won 95 percent of local council seats during the last election in 2008, with 84 percent of the seats won unopposed.

Post-2011 revolution

After Mubarak was deposed by the popular uprising of the January 2011, parliament and local councils were dissolved pending the writing of a new constitution. The short-lived 2012 constitution and the current 2014 version gave wider local power through more decentralization.

However, by the end of 2022, these provisions had yet to be implemented, as the government prolonged the process of drafting a new local administration law, leaving LPC seats vacant for over a decade.

List of governorates

File:Official Egypt governorates english.png

Map of Egyptian Governorates

Egypt is divided into 27 governorates (muhāfazāt) and each has a capital and at least one city. Each 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. Administratively, the vast majority of the area of the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates: the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate. Three other governorates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt: Suez Governorate on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia Governorate in the center, and Port Said Governorate in the north. Template:Static row numbers

Governorates
Name	Area		Population (November 2023 estimate)	Density (November 2023)		Capital
	km2	sq mi		per km2	per sq mi
File:Flag of Alexandria.svg Alexandria		5,703,824		Alexandria
File:Flag of Aswan Governorate.png Aswan		1,698,201		Aswan
File:Flag of Asyut Governorate.png Asyut		5,071,485		Asyut
File:Flag of Behira Govenorate.svg Beheira		6,940,234		Damanhur
File:Beni Suef Governorate New Flag.svg Beni Suef		3,618,395		Beni Suef
File:Flag Cairo Governorate.png Cairo		10,456,284		Cairo
File:Dakahlya Governorate Flag - Egypt.svg Dakahlia		7,058,212		Mansoura
File:Flag of Damietta Governorate.svg Damietta		2,023,380		Damietta
File:Governadorat de Faium.png Faiyum		4,141,222		Faiyum
File:Flag of Gharbia Governorate.png Gharbia		5,483,000		Tanta
File:Flag of Giza Governorate.png Giza		9,534,283		Giza
File:Governadorat d'Ismailiya.png Ismailia		1,482,999		Ismailia
File:Flag of Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate.svg Kafr El Sheikh		3,731,540		Kafr El Sheikh
File:Eg luxor1.png Luxor		1,429,385		Luxor
File:Flag Of The Matrouh Governorate (High resolution).png Matrouh		580,304		Marsa Matruh
File:Flag of Minya Governorate.jpg Minya		6,332,918		Minya
File:Flag of Menoufia Governorate.PNG Monufia		4,743,341		Shibin El Kom
File:Flag of New Valley Governorate.png New Valley		324,600		Kharga
File:North Sinai (New Flag).svg North Sinai		544,494		Arish
File:Port Said Flag Version 2.svg Port Said		835,193		Port Said
File:Governadorat de Qalyubiya.png Qalyubia		6,137,896		Banha
File:Flag of Qena Governorate.png Qena		3,651,215		Qena
File:Red sea governorate flag.png Red Sea		409,394		Hurghada
File:Flag Of Sharqia Governorate.png Sharqia		8,032,683		Zagazig
File:Governadorat de Suhaj.png Sohag		5,714,903		Sohag
File:Flag of South Sinai Governorate.png South Sinai		145,934		El Tor
File:Flag of Suez Governorate.svg Suez		843,385		Suez
Total		106,668,704		Cairo

List of municipal divisions

File:Map of Markazes of Egypt.png

Map of Egypt's municipal divisions.

As of 2013, there were 351 subdivisions, of which 177 were qisms, 162 marakiz, 9 new cities, and 3 police-administered areas. There are also unorganized areas in the Alexandria, Aswan, Asyut, Beheira, Beni Suef, Cairo, Dakahlia, Damietta, Faiyum, Giza, Ismailia, Kafr El Sheikh, Luxor, Minya, Port Said, Qalyubia, Qena, Sharqia, Sohag, and Suez governorates.

Municipal divisions

Qism	Markaz	New city	Police-administered
6th of October 1	Abnub	New Akhmim	Alexandria Port Police Dept.
6th of October 2	Abu El Matamir	New Aswan	Port Said Police Dept.
10th of Ramadan 1	Abu Hammad	New Asyut	Suez Port Police Dept.
10th of Ramadan 2	Abu Hummus	New Borg El Arab
15th of May	Abu Kebir	New Faiyum
Abdeen	Abu Qirqas	New Minya
Abu Radis	Abu Simbel	New Qena
Abu Zenima	Abu Tig	New Sohag
Agouza	Abu Tisht	New Toshka
Ain Shams	Aga
Amreya	Akhmim
Arish 1	Armant
Arish 2	Ashmoun
Arish 3	Aswan
Arish 4	Asyut
Aswan	Atfih
Asyut 1	Awlad Saqr
Asyut 2	Awsim
Ataka	Badr
Azbakeya	Banha
Bab El Sharia	Baris Shurta
Bab Sharq	Basyoun
Badr	Beni Ebeid
Banha	Beni Mazar
Beni Suef	Beni Suef
Bir El Abd	Biba
Borg El Arab	Bilbeis
Bulaq	Bilqas
Bulaq El Dakrur	Birket El Sab
Dahab	Biyala
Damanhur	Burullus
Damietta 1	Dairut
Damietta 2	Damanhur
Dekhela	Damietta
Desouk	Dar El Salam
Dokki	Daraw
El Ahram	Deir Mawas
El Arab	Dekernes
El Arbein	Desouk
El Atareen	Dishna
El Basal Port	Diyarb Negm
El Basatin	Edfu
El Dabaa	Edku
El Darb El Ahmar	El Ayyat
El Dawahy	El Badari
El Gamaliya	El Badrashein
El Ganayin	El Bagour
El Gomrok	El Balyana
El Hamam	El Delengat
El Hassana	El Fashn
El Hawamdiya	El Fath
El Kawsar	El Gamaliya
El Khalifa	El Ghanayem
El Labban	El Hamool
El Manakh	El Husseiniya
El Manasra	El Ibrahimiya
El Mansheya	El Idwa
El Marg	El Mahalla El Kubra
El Matareya	El Mahmoudia
El Muski	El Mansha
El Nozha	El Manzala
El Omraniya	El Maragha
El Qanayat	El Matareya
El Qantara El Sharqiya	El Qanater El Khayreya
El Qoseir	El Qantara
El Qurein	El Qusiya
El Raml 1	El Rahmaniya
El Raml 2	El Reyad
El Salam	El Saff
El Sayeda Zeinab	El Santa
El Segil	El Senbellawein
El Sharabiya	El Shohada
El Sharq	El Usayrat
El Shorouk	El Waqf
El Tebbin	El Wasta
El Tor	El Zarqa
El Wahat El Bahariya	Esna
El Wahat El Khariga	Faiyum
El Warraq	Faqous
El Weili	Faraskur
El Zaher	Farshut
El Zawya El Hamra	Fayed
El Zohur	Fuwa
Faisal	Girga
Faiyum	Giza
Faqous	Hihya
Gamasa	Hosh Essa
Ganoubi 1	Ibsheway
Ganoubi 2	Ihnasiya
Gharb Nubariya	Imbaba
Girga	Ismailia
Giza	Itay El Barud
Hada'iq El Qobbah	Itsa
Hala'ib	Juhayna El Gharbiyah
Heliopolis	Kafr El Dawwar
Helwan	Kafr El Sheikh
Hurghada	Kafr El Zayat
Hurghada 2	Kafr Saad
Imbaba	Kafr Saqr
Ismailia 1	Kafr Saad
Ismailia 2	Kerdasa
Ismailia 3	Khanka
Kafr El Dawwar	Kom Hamada
Kafr El Sheikh	Kom Ombo
Karmoz	Kotoor
Khusus	Luxor
Luxor	Maghaghah
Maadi	Mahallat Dimna
Mallawi	Mallawi
Mansoura 1	Manfalut
Mansoura 2	Mansoura
Marina El Alamein	Mashtool El Souk
Marsa Alam	Matay
Menouf	Menouf
Mersa Matruh	Metoubes
Minya	Minya
Mit Ghamr	Minya El Qamh
Moharam Bek	Minyet El Nasr
Monshat El Nasr	Mit Ghamr
Montaza	Mit Salsil
Mubarak Sharq El Tafrea	Nabaroh
Nasr City 1	Nag Hammadi
Nasr City 2	Naqada
New Beni Suef	Nasir Bush
New Cairo 1	Nasr
New Cairo 2	Qena
New Cairo 3	Qift
New Damietta	Quesna
New Salhia	Qus
North Coast	Rosetta
North Coast	Sadat City
Nuweiba	Sahil Salim
Obour	Samalut
Old Cairo	Samanoud
Port Fuad	Saqultah
Port Fuad 2	Shibin El Kom
Qaha	Shibin El Qanatir
Qalyub	Shirbin
Qasr El Nil	Shubrakhit
Qena	Shurtet El Dakhla
Rafah	Shurtet Farafra
Ras El Bar	Sidfa
Ras Gharib	Sidi Salem
Ras Sidr	Sinnuris
Rod El Farag	Sohag
Safaga	Sumusta El Waqf
Saint Catherine	Tahta
Sallum	Tala
Sers El Lyan	Talkha
Shalateen	Tamiya
Sharm El Sheikh	Tanta
Sheikh Zayed	Tell El Kebir
Sheikh Zuweid	Tima
Shibin El Kom	Timay El Imdid
Shubra	Tukh
Shubra El Kheima 1	Wadi El Natrun
Shubra El Kheima 2	Yousef El Seddik
Shurtet El Qasima	Zagazig
Shurtet Rumana	Zefta
Siwa
Sohag 1
Sohag 2
Suez
Taba
Tahta
Tanta 1
Tanta 2
Tura
Zagazig 1
Zagazig 2
Zamalek
Zeitoun

Demographics

Urbanization

CAPMAS
Governorate	% Urban	Population (2016)	Rural	Urban
Alexandria	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Aswan	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Asyut	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Beheira	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Beni Suef	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Cairo	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Dakahlia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Damietta	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Faiyum	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Gharbia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Giza	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Ismailia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Kafr El Sheikh	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Luxor	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Matruh	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Minya	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Monufia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
New Valley	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
North Sinai	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Port Said	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Qalyubia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Qena	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Red Sea	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Sharqia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Sohag	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
South Sinai	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Suez	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Total	42.7	87,963,276	50,384,188	37,579,088

Population density

Information for population is in thousands, pop density - persons/km² and area is in km².

CAPMAS
Governorate	Population in thousands (2014-07-01)	Pop. Density (Inhabited Area)	Pop. Density (Total Area)	% Inhabited to Total	Inhabited Area	Total Area
Alexandria	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Aswan	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Asyut	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Beheira	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Beni Suef	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Cairo	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Dakahlia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Damietta	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Faiyum	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Gharbia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Giza	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Ismailia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Kafr El Sheikh	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Luxor	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Matruh	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Minya	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Monufia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
New Valley	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
North Sinai	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Port Said	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Qalyubia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Qena	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Red Sea	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Sharqia	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Sohag	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
South Sinai	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Suez	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts	Template:Nts
Total	86,814	1109.1	85.9	7.8	78272.98	1010407.87

See also

• List of cities and towns in Egypt
• Economic Regions of Egypt
• List of governorates of Egypt by GDP
• List of governorates of Egypt by Human Development Index
• List of Egyptian cities
• Lists of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• ISO 3166-2:EG

External links

• Ministry of Local Development
• Ministry of Local Development (Archived defunct website 2006-2017)
• "Know Your Government", Tadamun Initiative
• Census Data and Maps (1996, 2006, 2017)
• Egypt Administrative Divisions Map, The University of Texas at Austin Library
• History of administrative divisions in Egypt since the French Invasion Template:Webarchive (in Arabic)