Governorates of Egypt

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Updates: 

Two new governorates have been created: Helwan and Sixth of October. Al-Ahram Weekly On-line  has a story about it. Thanks to Andrew Leonard for writing me about it.

ISO 3166-2 has come out in a second edition, dated 2007-12-15. This contains the ISO code for Luxor, as shown below.

Jose Gavinha brought it to my attention that Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has released census figures  for 2006. I have used them to replace the 2004 estimates. This site has figures for the 1996 population which differ slightly from those shown in the table below; the total population of Egypt differs by 4,290, less than 0.1%.

There is a new Luxor (Al Uqsur) governorate. Some evidence indicates that it was created before 1998. Alan Pritchard, of the Global Gazetteer , provided a key to Egypt's postal codes.

Country overview: 

Egypt had been part of the Ottoman Empire before 1879. The British military occupied it in 1882, setting up a government subservient to British interests, although it remained technically a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. On 1914-11-18, Great Britain declared Egypt to be its protectorate. After World War I, with Turkey defeated, Egypt was granted a large measure of independence, effective as of 1922-02-28. A constitutional monarchy was established. In 1952, the monarchy fell to a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser's government formed a union with Syria, the United Arab Republic (U.A.R.), on 1958-02-01. Egypt and Syria became regions of the U.A.R. Syria withdrew from the union on 1961-09-29. Egypt continued to call itself the U.A.R. until 1971-09-01. On that date, a loose federation was formed, the Federation of Arab Republics, comprising Egypt, Syria, and Libya. Egypt's official name became the Arab Republic of Egypt. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula up to the banks of the Suez Canal, later withdrawing to a cease-fire line a few kilometers to the east. The canal remained closed from 1967 to 1975. The Sinai was restored to Egypt in stages by the terms of the peace treaty negotiated at Camp David and signed on 1979-03-26.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: Misr, Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiya (formal)
2. Danish: Egypten, Ægypten, Egypten
3. Dutch: Egypte, Arabische Republiek Egypte (formal)
4. English: Arab Republic of Egypt (formal), United Arab Republic (obsolete)
5. Finnish: Egypti
6. French: Égypte f
7. German: Ägypten n
8. Icelandic: Egiptaland
9. Italian: Egitto m
10. Norwegian: Den arabiske republikk Egypt (formal) (Bokmål), Den arabiske republikken Egypt (formal) (Nynorsk), Egypt
11. Portuguese: Egipto, Egito (Brazil), República f Árabe do Egipto m (formal)
12. Spanish: Egipto, República f Árabe de Egipto m (formal)
13. Swedish: Egypten

Origin of name: 

Ancient Greek Aigyptios, from Egyptian hut-ka-ptah: castle of the soul of Ptah

Primary subdivisions: 

Egypt is divided into 29 muhāfazāt (governorates).

Territorial extent: 

Egypt ceded two sparsely inhabited areas to Libya in 1919 and 1926. These cessions left the border in its modern position, following the meridian of 25° East quite closely.

The legal boundary between Egypt and Sudan follows the parallel of 22° North, except for a small jog where the Nile crosses it. At the Nile, Sudan owns territory north of that parallel, mostly inundated by Lake Nasser. However, near the Red Sea, the administrative boundary deviates from the legal boundary. There is a small region in Sudan, south of 22°, administered by Egypt, and a larger area in Egypt, north of the parallel, administered by Sudan.

Egypt owns some islands in the Red Sea. They belong to Al Bahr al Ahmar governorate. The largest of them include Jazīrat Shākir and Jazīrat Zabarjad.

Origins of names: 

1. Al Fayyūm: from Coptic Fiom: the lake
2. Al Gharbīyah: Arabic for Western
3. Al Iskandarīyah: founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.
4. Al Ismā`īlīyah: named for Ismail Pasha (1830-1895), viceroy of Egypt during the building of the Suez Canal
5. Al Jīzah: Egyptian er-ges-her: beside the great pyramid
6. Al Qāhirah: Arabic for the victorious one, an epithet of the planet Mars, which was in the ascendant when construction began on 969-07-06
7. Ash Sharqīyah: Arabic for Eastern
8. As Suways: after a nearby spring, Bīr Suweis
9. Aswān: Ancient Egyptian suanit: market
10. Asyūt: Ancient Egyptian syawt: guardian
11. Būr Sa`īd: Arabic for Port Said, which was named for Mohammed Said Pasha, viceroy of Egypt when work began on the Suez Canal

Change history: 

There have been numerous border adjustments. Typically, one of the smaller governorates annexes adjacent territory from a frontier governorate.

1. ~1952: Kafr ash Shaykh governorate split from Al Gharbīyah.
2. ~1960: Capital of Girga governorate moved from Girga to Sūhāj, and name changed to match.
3. ~1963: Al Ismā`īlīyah governorate split from Būr Sa`īd.
4. 1980s: Several sources show a governorate named At Tahrīr (Liberation), capital Nasr. This governorate was apparently swallowed up by the growth of the governorates of Al Iskandarīyah and Al Buhayrah.
5. ~1984: Sīnā' governorate split into Janūb Sīnā' (South) and Shamal Sīnā' (North).
6. ~1987: Name of Marsā Matrūh governorate, and its capital, changed to Matrūh.
7. ~1995: Luxor governorate split from Qina.
8. 2008-04-17: By decree of President Hosni Mubarak, Helwan governorate split from Al Qāhirah (EG.QH); Sixth of October governorate split from Al Jīzah (former HASC code EG.JZ). There have been protests over the disposition of some territories by the decree. According to Al-Ahram, "The final borders of Helwan, Fayoum, Beni Sweif, Minya, and Sixth of October governorates will be fixed by the beginning of May [2008]...."

Other names of subdivisions: 

Spelling notes:
Place names are officially written in Arabic script. Some names may be translated, but most are transliterated or transcribed into the Roman alphabet. There are many possible methods of transliteration. Some of this variety is shown in the table of variant names.
The initial elements Ad, Al, As, Ash, At, and Az are articles. Sometimes, especially in older sources, they are spelled Ed, El, Es, and so on. Sometimes they are connected to the following word with hyphens. Some sources omit them entirely.
I have not attempted to reproduce the "dot below" diacritical mark that modifies some h's, s's, and t's. The ayn is shown as a back apostrophe (`), and the hamza as an apostrophe (').

1. Ad Daqahlīyah: Dacahlia, Dagahlia, Dakahlieh, Dakahliya, Dakalieh, Daqahlīya (variant); Dakahlia, Dekahlia (Anglicized)
2. Al Bahr al Ahmar: Mar Rojo (Spanish); Mar Rosso (Italian); Mar Vermelho (Portuguese); Mer Rouge (French); Red Sea (Anglicized); Röda havet (Swedish); Rødehavet (Norwegian); Rotes Meer (German)
3. Al Buhayrah: Beheira, Behera (Anglicized); El Buhayra (variant); Béhéra (French)
4. Al Fayyūm: El Faiyum, el Fayoum, Faium, Faiyūm, Fayum (variant); Fayoum, Fayyum (Anglicized)
5. Al Gharbīyah: al-Garbīyah, El Gharbiya, Garbia, Gharbieh, Gharbīya (variant); Gharbia (Anglicized)
6. Al Iskandarīyah: Alejandría (Spanish); Alessandria (Italian); Alexandria (Anglicized); Alexandrie (French); El Iskandariya (variant)
7. Al Ismā`īlīyah: Ismailia (Anglicized); Ismaïlia (French); Isma'iliya (variant)
8. Al Jīzah: El Giza, El Gīzah, Gizeh (variant); Giza (Anglicized); Guizèh (French)
9. Al Minūfīyah: Menoufieh, Menufia, Menūfīya, Minūfīya, Munufia (variant); Menoufia, Minufia (Anglicized)
10. Al Minyā: Minia, Minieh (variant); Menia, Minya (Anglicized)
11. Al Qāhirah: Cairo (Anglicized, Portuguese); El Cairo (Spanish); El Qahira (variant); Il Cairo (Italian); Kairo (Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish); Le Caire (French)
12. Al Qalyūbīyah: Caliubia, Kalioubieh, Kalioubiya, Qaliyubia, Qalyubiya (variant); Kalyoubia, Kalyubia (Anglicized)
13. Al Uqsur: Al-Qusur, Al-Uqsor (variant); Luxor, Luxur City (Anglicized)
14. Al Wādī al Jadīd: El-Wadi El-Gidid (variant); New Valley (Anglicized); Novo Vale (Portuguese); Ouādi El Guedīd (French); Southern Desert (obsolete)
15. Ash Sharqīyah: Charkieh, Sharqia, Sharqīya, Sharquia (variant); Sharkia (Anglicized)
16. As Suways: El Suweiz, Es Suweis (variant); Suez (Anglicized)
17. Aswān: Assouan (French); Assuã (Portuguese); Assuan (Italian, Norwegian); Assuán (Spanish); Aswan (Anglicized); Syene (ancient)
18. Asyūt: Assiout (French); Assiut, Assyut (variant); Asyout, Asyut (Anglicized)
19. Banī Suwayf: Beni Souef (French); Beni Suef (Anglicized)
20. Būr Sa`īd: Canal (obsolete); Port Said (Anglicized); Port-Saïd (French)
21. Dumyāt: Damietta (Anglicized, Italian); Damiette (French); Dumiāt (variant)
22. Janūb Sīnā': Sina al-Janubiyah, Sina' al-Janūbīyah, Sinai al Janūbīa (variant); South Sinai (Anglicized); Sud Sinaï (French)
23. Kafr ash Shaykh: Kafr ash Shaikh, Kafr ash-Shayk, Kafr el Sheik (variant); Kafr el Sheikh (Anglicized)
24. Matrūh: Marsā Matrūh, Mersa Matruh, Western Desert (obsolete); Matrouh (Anglicized, French)
25. Qinā: Kena, Qena (Anglicized); Quena (variant)
26. Shamal Sīnā': Nord Sinaï (French); North Sinai (Anglicized); Sina ash-Shamālīyah, Sinai ash Shamālīya (variant)
27. Sūhāj: Girga, Girgeh (obsolete); Sawhāj, Sohag (variant); Suhag (Anglicized)

Population history: