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Subdivisions of Egypt

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Egypt is administratively divided into a three-layer hierarchy, with some districts further subdivided, occasionally creating a fourth 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

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Egypt comprises 27 governorates as part of its administrative structure. Each governorate has a capital and is further subdivided into administrative sections (singular: قسم qism, plural: أقسام aqsam) and centers (singular: مركز markaz, plural: مراكز marakiz) depending on whether it is an urban area or rural area respectively.

In governorates with rural areas, marakiz govern multiple local units. The capital of a markaz is typically its largest city, while each local unit is centered around a main village or city. Main villages oversee several smaller villages, which may in turn include farms, hamlets, or satellite villages. If the capital of a markaz is a large city, it is designated as a qism, or it may be divided into multiple aqsam, each managed by a qism head. If the markaz consists of only one qism, the city head oversees its various districts (singular: حي ḥay, plural: أحياء aḥya')' and sub-districts called sheyakha (lit. sheikhdom, شياخة) and appoints their respective leaders.[2]

In urban governorates, which lack rural areas, the entire governorate is considered a city governorate, directly administered by the governor. These governorates are divided into aqsam, each managed by a qism head. This is the case for Cairo, Port Said and Suez. Alexandria operates as a quasi-city governorate, with most of its territory forming a single urban entity, except for one markaz.

Similarly, border and desert governorates are also divided into aqsam, each with a capital in one of the governorate's cities. These aqsam may include small villages, and their administration is headed by a city head, who is appointed directly by the governor.[3]


1. Governorates

[edit]
Further information: Governorates of Egypt

At the top of the hierarchy are 27 governorates (singular: محافظة muḥāfẓa, plural: محافظات muḥāfẓat).[4] Each governorate 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]

A map displaying all levels of Egypt's administrative divisions.
A map displaying all levels of Egypt's administrative divisions.

2. Marakiz and aqsam

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Below the governorates, local administration is divided into:

  • Urban: Aqsam (singular: قسم qism, plural: أقسام aqsam)
  • Rural: Marakiz (singular: مركز markaz, plural: مراكز marakiz)

Each unit in this tier functions as a county and typically contains a main city or village as its capital. In some cases, large cities inside a markaz (e.g., Giza and Shubra El Kheima) are administered separately as a qism or several aqsam.

3. Districts and villages

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  • Urban: Districts (singular: حي ḥay, plural: أحياء aḥya')
  • Rural: Villages (singular: قرية qarya, plural: قرى qura)

The village is the smallest local unit in rural communities, and is the equivalent of a district in urban areas. The heads of villages or districts are appointed by the respective governors.[8]

Each district has a governing structure, and for policing and census purposes, districts are covered by qisms (police wards).[9][10]

Sub-districts and special administrative units

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Urban districts are occasionally further divided into sub-district neighborhoods called sheyakha (شياخة) and non-administrative census blocks.[11]

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

Economic regions

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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).[14]

History

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Centralization after the 1952 revolution

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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.[15]

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.[15] 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.[15]

Decentralization under Sadat

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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.[15]

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

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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.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17]

Post-2011 revolution

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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.[18][17]

List of governorates

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Egypt is divided into 27 governorates (muhāfazāt) and each has a capital and at least one city.[19] 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.[20]

Governorates[21][22]
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[23] 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

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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.[24]

Municipal divisions[25]
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

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Main article: Demographics of Egypt

Urbanization

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CAPMAS[21]
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

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

CAPMAS[21]
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

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Law 43/1979". The Official Gazette. 1979.
  2. ^ محافظات مصر. الهيئة العامة للاستعلامات. تاريخ الوصول 6 نوفمبر 2014. Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ نظام الإدارة المحلية. الهيئة العامة للاستعلامات. تاريخ الوصول 6 نوفمبر 2014. Archived 2016-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Governorates of Egypt". ARE Presidency. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  5. ^ "The Cabinet - Governors' Meetings". 2020-02-28. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  6. ^ a b "Local Administration". State Information Service (SIS).
  7. ^ "About the Ministry". Ministry of Local Development. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  8. ^ "Governor appoints first woman to head municipality in Egypt's Alexandria". Ahram Online. June 20, 2015. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Egypt: The Basic Village Services Program" (PDF). USAID. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  10. ^ Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. (1990). Egypt: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1990. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  11. ^ Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa: Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access. World Bank Publication. February 11, 2014. p. 33. ISBN 9781464801136. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  12. ^ "The New Urban Communities Authority - Tadamun". Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  13. ^ "محافظة الإسكندرية توافق على نقل ولاية 37 قرية إلى التنمية المحلية". المصري اليوم (in Arabic). 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  14. ^ "Presidential Decree 495/1977". The Official Gazette. 1977.
  15. ^ a b c d e Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. (1990). Egypt: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  16. ^ Ben Nefissa, Sara (2009). "6 Cairo's City Government the Crisis of Local Administration and the Refusal of Urban Citizenship". Cairo Contested: Governance, Urban Space, and Global Modernity Cairo Contested: Governance, Urban Space, and Global Modernity.
  17. ^ a b Khazbak, Rana (2016-04-28). "In Egypt, there is no local government". Mada Masr. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  18. ^ ""المحليات.. 11 سنة غياب"". برلمانى. 2022-10-30. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  19. ^ "Governorates of Egypt". Statoids. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Inhabited Population Density By Governorate 1/7/2014" (PDF). CAPMAS Egyptian Figures 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  21. ^ a b c "Egypt in Figures 2015" (PDF). CAPMAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  22. ^ "Egypt in Figures-Census 2019 - 201937112036_2019 سكان.pdf".
  23. ^ "Seat of a first-order administrative division". Geonames. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  24. ^ Law, Gwillim (November 23, 1999). Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 Through 1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6097-7. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  25. ^ "Egypt Markazes". Statoids. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
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