Local Government in Egypt

See also: Subdivisions of Egypt and Economic Regions of Egypt

For administrative purposes, Egypt is divided into twenty-seven governorates (محافظة muḥāfaẓah  Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [moˈħɑfzˤɑ]; genitive case: muḥāfaẓat  [moˈħɑfzˤet]; plural محافظات muḥāfaẓāt  [moħɑfˈzˤɑːt]). Egyptian governorates are the top tier of the country's jurisdiction hierarchy. A 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.

Overview

Governorates are either fully "urban" or else a mixture of "urban" and "rural". The official distinction between "urban" and "rural" is reflected in the lower tiers: i.e. fully urban governorates have no regions (markaz), as the markaz is, natively, a conglomeration of villages. Moreover, governorates may comprise just one city, as in the case of Cairo Governorate or Alexandria Governorate. Hence, these one-city governorates are only divided into districts (urban neighborhoods). Cairo Governorate consists of 41 districts; Alexandria Governorate consists of 7.

Two new governorates were created in April 2008: Helwan and 6th of October. In April 2011, however, the 6th of October and Helwan governorates were again incorporated into the Cairo and Giza Governorates, respectively. Luxor was created in December 2009, to be the 29th governorate of Egypt, but with the abolition of the 6th of October and Helwan governorates, the number of governorates has decreased to 27.

History

Before the 1952 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.

State penetration did not retreat under Sadat and Mubarak. The earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the local party and cooperative withered, but 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.

Until 1979, local government enjoyed limited power in Egypt's highly centralized state. Under the central government, there were twenty-six governorates, which were subdivided into regions (conglomeration of villages; named in Template:Lang-ar markaz  "center", plural: مراكز marākiz), each of which was further subdivided into towns or villages. 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.

Sadat took several measures to decentralize power to the provinces and towns. Governors acquired more authority under Law Number 43 of 1979, 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. Under Mubarak decentralization and local autonomy became more of a reality, and 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."

List of Governorates of Egypt

Egyptian governorates

No. on map	Name	Area (km2)	Population (2015)	Capital
2	Alexandria	2,300	4,812,186	Alexandria
27	Aswan	62,726	1,431,488	Aswan
22	Asyut	25,926	4,245,215	Asyut
3	Beheira	9,826	5,804,262	Damanhur
19	Beni Suef	10,954	2,856,812	Beni Suef
16	Cairo	3,085	9,278,441	Cairo
5	Dakahlia	3,538	5,949,001	Mansoura
6	Damietta	910	1,330,843	Damietta
15	Faiyum	6,068	3,170,150	Faiyum
9	Gharbia	1,942	4,751,865	Tanta
14	Giza	13,184	7,585,115	Giza
13	Ismailia	5,067	1,178,641	Ismailia
4	Kafr El Sheikh	3,467	3,172,753	Kafr El Sheikh
26	Luxor	2,410	1,147,058	Luxor
1	Matruh	166,563	447,846	Marsa Matruh
20	Minya	32,279	5,156,702	Minya
10	Monufia	2,499	3,941,293	Shibin El Kom
21	New Valley	440,098	225,416	Kharga
8	North Sinai	28,992	434,781	Arish
7	Port Said	1,345	666,599	Port Said
11	Qalyubia	1,124	5,105,972	Banha
25	Qena	10,798	3,045,504	Qena
23	Red Sea	119,099	345,775	Hurghada
12	Sharqia	4,911	6,485,412	Zagazig
24	Sohag	11,022	4,603,861	Sohag
18	South Sinai	31,272	167,426	El Tor
17	Suez	9,002	622,859	Suez
Total		1,010,407	87,963,276

Demographics by Governorates

Main article: Demographics of Egypt

Urban and rural populations of Governorates

Data taken from CAPMAS:

Governorate	% Urban	Population (2015)	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 by Governorate

Egyptian Population Density in pre-2013 administrative divisions

Data taken from CAPMAS:. Information for population is in thousands, pop density - persons/km² and area is in km².

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

• Subdivisions of Egypt
• Regions of Egypt
• List of Egyptian cities
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• ISO 3166-2:EG

External links

• Census 2006 area and population data
• Population and area data
• Egypt Administrative Divisions Map, The University of Texas at Austin Library
• Egyptian Government Services Portal, Arabic and English
• History of administrative divisions in Egypt since the French Invasion (in Arabic)