Subdivisions of Egypt

Egypt is has a "dual system" for organizing their administrative divisions. Egypt can either have 2 or 3 subdivisions. There can also sometimes be more subdivisions in some areas. Egypt has a centralized local government. This local government is called the "local administration". The local administrative is part of Egypt's executive branch of the government.^[1]

Egyptian has governorates, centers, cities, districts, and villages. Each of these divisions can make their own administrative decisions.^[2] Some governorates are split into 2 divisions. Other governorates are split into 3 divisions.^[3]

There are 27 governorates (singular: محافظة muḥāfẓa, plural: محافظات muḥāfẓat) in Egypt.^[4] Each governorate has a capital. This capital is led by a governor. The President of Egypt chooses the governors.

Governors report to the prime minister. The prime minister leads the Council of Governors (maglis al-muhafzin).^[5]^[6] The Ministry of Local Development makes the budgets for governorates and coordinates the governors.^[7]

List of governorates

Egypt is divided into 27 governorates (muhāfazāt).^[8] Each governorate is run by a governor. Most governorates have a population density of more than one thousand per km². The 3 largest governorates have a population density of less than 2 people per km².^[9]

Governorates^[10]^[11]
Name	Area		Population (November 2023 estimate)	Density (November 2023)		Capital
Name	km²	sq mi	Population (November 2023 estimate)	per km²	per sq mi	Capital
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^[12]	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

As of 2013, there were 351 subdivisions. There are 177 qisms, 162 marakiz, 9 new cities, and 3 police-administered areas. There are also some unorganized areas.^[13]

Municipal divisions^[14]
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^[10]
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

CAPMAS^[10]
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

Related pages

List of cities and towns in Egypt

References

↑ "Law 43/1979". The Official Gazette. 1979. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
↑ "نظام الإدارة المحلية". State Information Service. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2025-06-01. |access date=12 March 2025}
↑ "The LA Structure in Egypt". Retrieved 3 March 2025.
↑ "Governorates of Egypt". ARE Presidency. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
↑ "The Cabinet - Governors' Meetings". 2020-02-28. Archived from the original on 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
↑ "Local Administration". State Information Service (SIS). Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
↑ "About the Ministry". Ministry of Local Development. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
↑ "Governorates of Egypt". Statoids. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
↑ "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.
1 2 3 "Egypt in Figures 2015" (PDF). CAPMAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
↑ "Egypt in Figures-Census 2019 - 201937112036_2019 سكان.pdf".
↑ "Seat of a first-order administrative division". Geonames. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
↑ 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.
↑ "Egypt Markazes". Statoids. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

Other websites

[:1-1] "Law 43/1979". The Official Gazette. 1979. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2025-06-01.

[2] "نظام الإدارة المحلية". State Information Service. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2025-06-01. |access date=12 March 2025}

[hierarchymap-3] "The LA Structure in Egypt". Retrieved 3 March 2025.

[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.

[:32-6] "Local Administration". State Information Service (SIS). Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-06-01.

[7] "About the Ministry". Ministry of Local Development. Retrieved 2022-12-23.

[Statoids-8] "Governorates of Egypt". Statoids. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.

[CAPMAS-9] "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.

[:0-10] 1 2 3 "Egypt in Figures 2015" (PDF). CAPMAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2015-08-01.

[11] "Egypt in Figures-Census 2019 - 201937112036_2019 سكان.pdf".

[12] "Seat of a first-order administrative division". Geonames. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2016.

[13] 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.

[14] "Egypt Markazes". Statoids. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

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v t e Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries
Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia² Azerbaijan¹ Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus² East Timor Egypt¹ Georgia¹ India Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan¹ North Korea province special city South Korea province provincial-level city Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia¹ Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey¹ Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen¹
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia² Northern Cyprus² Palestine South Ossetia² Taiwan
Table of administrative divisions by country ¹ Spans the conventional boundary between Asia and another continent. ² Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.