Ariana Governorate

Ariana Governorate (Arabic: ولاية أريانة Wilāyat Aryānah pronounced [ærˈjæːnæ]; French: Gouvernorat de l'Ariana) is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately triangular, having as one of its sides part of the Gulf of Tunis, it covers an area of 482 km^2[1] and has a population of 668,552 (2024 census).^[3] The capital is Ariana.

Ariana Governorate ولاية أريانة
Governorate
Map of Tunisia with Ariana highlighted
Subdivisions of Ariana Governorate
Coordinates: 36°51′45″N 10°11′44″E
Country	Tunisia
Created	March 1983[1]
Capital	Ariana
Government
• Governor	Walid Sandid (since 2024) [2]
Area
• Total	482 km2 (186 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 23rd of 24
Population  (2024)
• Total	668,552
• Rank	Ranked 6th of 24
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix	xx
ISO 3166 code	TN-12

Geography

The governorate borders the governorates of Tunis, Bizerte and Manouba.

The average temperature is 18.7 °C, and annual rainfall is 450 millimeters.^[1]

Administrative divisions

Administrative divisions Ariana

Administratively, the governorate is divided into seven delegations (mutamadiyat), six municipalities, four rural councils, and 42 sectors (imadas).^[1] The delegations and their populations from the 2004 and 2014 censuses,^[3] are listed below:

Delegation	Population in 2004	Population in 2014
Ariana Medina	97,687	114,486
Ettadhamen	78,311	84,312
Kalaat el Andalous	23,045	26,796
Mnihla	53,752	89,884
Raoued	60,896	106,414
Sidi Thabet	19,404	24,503
Soukra	89,151	129,693

The following six municipalities are located in Ariana Governorate:

Code	Municipality	Population (2014)[4]
1211	Ariana	114,486
1212	La Soukra	129,693
1213	Raoued	94,961
1214	Kalâat el-Andalous	18,211
1215	Sidi Thabet	11,351
1216	Ettadhamen-Mnihla	142,953

Politics

Governors

• Ahmed Ben Jemiaâ (March 1983-July 1984)
• Kamel Haj Sassi (July 1984-February 1988)
• Abdallah Kaâbi (February 1988-October 1990)
• Abderrahman Bouhrizi (October 1990-July 1991)
• Mohamed Néjib Drissi (July 1991-May 1994)
• Mohamed Lahbib Braham (May 1994-September 1996)
• Mondher Friji (September 1996-25 July 2000)
• Ali Trabelsi (25 July 2000 – 2002)
• Faiez Ayed (2002-July 2006)
• Abdejlil Zaddem (July 2006-September 2008)
• Mahmoud Méhiri (September 2008-2 February 2011)
• Nizar Kharbeche (2 February 2011 – 22 February 2012)
• Baheddine Bakari (22 February 2012^[5]-22 August 2015)
• Omar Mansour (22 August 2015^[6]-19 January 2016)
• Mehdi Zaoui (19 January 2016^[7]-16 September 2016)
• Saloua Khiari (16 September 2016^[8]-29 October 2017)
• Mokthar Nefzi (29 October 2017 – 22 November 2019)
• Samir Abdeljaoued (22 November 2019 – 6 June 2022)
• Khaled Nouri (6 June 2022- 25 May 2024^[9])