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.^[1]

Overview

Egyptian law delineates the units of local governance as governorates, centers, cities, districts, and villages, each possessing legal personality.^[2] 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.^[3]

At the top of the hierarchy are 27 governorates (singular: محافظة muḥāfẓa, plural: محافظات muḥāfẓat).^[4] 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.^[5][6] The Ministry of Local Development is responsible for coordinating the governors and managing their governorates' budgets.^[7]

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: حي ḥay, plural: أحياء aḥya'),^[3] 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: مركز markaz, plural: مراكز marakiz). The lowest level of administration is determined by the rural or urban character of the settlement, classified as either a city or a village.^[3]

Matruh

2

3

4

5

6

9

12

10

11

16

Giza

7

13

Suez

North
Sinai

South
Sinai

Faiyum

Beni Suef

Minya

Asyut

Sohag

Qena

Luxor

Aswan

Red Sea

New Valley

Sub-districts and special administrative units

There are additional subdivisions into smaller units and non-administrative census blocks.^[8]

In city governorates, districts are further subdivided into non-administrative units called sheyakha (lit. sheikhdom, شياخة). 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.^[9]
• Agricultural villages, built by the Ministry of Agriculture in its desert land reclamation schemes.^[10]

Economic regions

Further information: Economic regions of Egypt

Separate from administrative divisions, seven economic regions exist for planning purposes, as defined by the General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP).^[11]

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.^[12]

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 Arabic: مركز markaz  "center", plural: مراكز marākiz), each of which was further subdivided into towns or villages.^[12] 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.^[12]

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.^[12]

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,^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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.^[6]

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.^[15][14]

List of governorates

Map of Egyptian Governorates

Egypt is divided into 27 governorates (muhāfazāt) and each has a capital and at least one city.^[16] 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.^[17]

Governorates[18][19]
Name	Area		Population (November 2023 estimate)	Density (November 2023)		Capital
	km2	sq mi		per km2	per sq mi
Alexandria	2,300	890	5,703,824	2,480	6,400	Alexandria
Aswan	62,726	24,219	1,698,201	27	70	Aswan
Asyut	25,926	10,010	5,071,485	196	510	Asyut
Beheira	9,826	3,794	6,940,234	706	1,830	Damanhur
Beni Suef	10,954	4,229	3,618,395	330	850	Beni Suef
Cairo	3,085	1,191	10,456,284	3,389	8,780	Cairo
Dakahlia	3,538	1,366	7,058,212	1,995	5,170	Mansoura
Damietta	910	350	2,023,380	2,223	5,760	Damietta
Faiyum	6,068	2,343	4,141,222	682	1,770	Faiyum
Gharbia	1,942	750	5,483,000	2,823	7,310	Tanta
Giza	13,184	5,090	9,534,283	723	1,870	Giza
Ismailia	5,067	1,956	1,482,999	293	760	Ismailia
Kafr El Sheikh	3,467	1,339	3,731,540	1,076	2,790	Kafr El Sheikh
Luxor	460	180	1,429,385	3,107	8,050	Luxor
Matrouh	166,563	64,310	580,304	3	7.8	Marsa Matruh
Minya	32,279	12,463	6,332,918	196	510	Minya
Monufia	2,499	965	4,743,341	1,898	4,920	Shibin El Kom
New Valley	440,098	169,923	324,600	0.7	1.8	Kharga
North Sinai	28,992	11,194	544,494	19	49	Arish
Port Said[20]	1,345	519	835,193	621	1,610	Port Said
Qalyubia	1,124	434	6,137,896	5,461	14,140	Banha
Qena	10,798	4,169	3,651,215	338	880	Qena
Red Sea	119,099	45,984	409,394	3	7.8	Hurghada
Sharqia	4,911	1,896	8,032,683	1,636	4,240	Zagazig
Sohag	11,022	4,256	5,714,903	518	1,340	Sohag
South Sinai	31,272	12,074	145,934	5	13	El Tor
Suez	9,002	3,476	843,385	94	240	Suez
Total	1,010,407	390,120	106,668,704	106	270	Cairo

List of municipal divisions

Map of Egypt's municipal divisions.

As of 2013, there were 351 subdivisions, of which 177 were aqsam, 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.^[21]

Municipal divisions^[22]

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

Main article: Demographics of Egypt

Urbanization

CAPMAS[18]
Governorate	% Urban	Population (2016)	Rural	Urban
Alexandria	98.8	4,812,186	56,698	4,755,488
Aswan	42.3	1,431,488	826,543	604,945
Asyut	26.5	4,245,215	3,119,112	1,126,103
Beheira	19.5	5,804,262	4,674,346	1,129,916
Beni Suef	23.2	2,856,812	2,193,871	662,941
Cairo	100.0	9,278,441	0	9,278,441
Dakahlia	28.2	5,949,001	4,271,428	1,677,573
Damietta	38.7	1,330,843	815,244	515,599
Faiyum	22.5	3,170,150	2,456,368	713,782
Gharbia	30.0	4,751,865	3,324,630	1,427,235
Giza	58.6	7,585,115	3,138,310	4,446,805
Ismailia	45.4	1,178,641	643,778	534,863
Kafr El Sheikh	23.1	3,172,753	2,441,246	731,507
Luxor	37.8	1,147,058	713,422	433,636
Matruh	70.6	447,846	131,841	316,005
Minya	18.9	5,156,702	4,183,284	973,418
Monufia	20.6	3,941,293	3,128,460	812,833
New Valley	48.0	225,416	117,180	108,236
North Sinai	60.2	434,781	173,095	261,686
Port Said	100.0	666,599	0	666,599
Qalyubia	44.7	5,105,972	2,825,045	2,280,927
Qena	19.7	3,045,504	2,445,051	600,453
Red Sea	95.1	345,775	17,062	328,713
Sharqia	23.1	6,485,412	4,987,707	1,497,705
Sohag	21.4	4,603,861	3,618,543	985,318
South Sinai	51.1	167,426	81,924	85,502
Suez	100.0	622,859	0	622,859
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[18]
Governorate	Population in thousands (2014-07-01)	Pop. Density (Inhabited Area)	Pop. Density (Total Area)	% Inhabited to Total	Inhabited Area	Total Area
Alexandria	4,761	2,841.5	2,070.0	72.8	1,675.50	2,300.00
Aswan	1,412	13,477.1	22.5	0.2	104.77	62,726.00
Asyut	4,181	2,656.3	161.3	6.1	1,574.00	25,926.00
Beheira	5,720	806.3	582.1	72.2	7,093.84	9,826.00
Beni Suef	2,812	2,053.4	256.7	12.5	1,369.41	10,954.00
Cairo	9,184	48,235.3	2,976.8	6.2	190.40	3,085.12
Dakahlia	5,881	1,662.1	1,662.1	100.0	3,538.23	3,538.23
Damietta	1,316	1,968.7	1,445.7	73.4	668.47	910.26
Faiyum	3,118	1,680.0	513.8	30.6	1,856.00	6,068.00
Gharbia	4,698	2,418.7	2,418.7	100.0	1,942.34	1,942.34
Giza	7,487	6,286.3	567.9	9.0	1,191.00	13,184.00
Ismailia	1,162	229.3	229.3	100.0	5,066.97	5,066.97
Kafr El Sheikh	3,132	903.5	903.5	100.0	3,466.69	3,466.69
Luxor	1,132	4,992.7	469.8	9.4	226.73	2,409.68
Matruh	437	111.4	2.6	2.4	3,921.40	166,563.00
Minya	5,076	2,104.8	157.3	7.5	2,411.65	32,279.00
Monufia	3,890	1,596.9	1,556.6	97.5	2,435.93	2,499.00
New Valley	222	205.1	0.5	0.2	1,082.24	440,098.00
North Sinai	428	203.7	14.8	7.2	2,100.84	28,992.00
Port Said	660	499.7	490.7	98.2	1,320.68	1,344.96
Qalyubia	5,044	4,702.1	4,486.4	95.4	1,072.72	1,124.28
Qena	3,001	1,724.1	277.9	16.1	1,740.63	10,798.00
Red Sea	341	4,794.0	2.9	0.1	71.13	119,099.13
Sharqia	6,402	1,343.7	1,303.6	97.0	4,764.28	4,911.00
Sohag	4,536	2,845.8	411.5	14.5	1,593.92	11,022.00
South Sinai	166	9.9	5.3	53.7	16,791.00	31,272.00
Suez	615	68.3	68.3	100.0	9,002.21	9,002.21
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
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• ISO 3166-2:EG