Egypt Governorates Map

Egypt has 27 governorates. This is the official count used by the government and by CAPMAS, and the Ultimaps map of Egypt shows the same 27. The number has changed more than once in recent years. Egypt created the Helwan and 6th of October governorates in April 2008, and Luxor became a governorate in December 2009, which raised the total to 29. In April 2011 Helwan went back to Cairo and 6th of October went back to Giza, so the count returned to 27. The President of Egypt appoints each governor.

Egypt has no states. Its first-level administrative divisions are the 27 governorates, called muhafazat in Arabic (محافظات, singular muhafazah). English texts often translate the word as "provinces," so "Egypt provinces" and "Egypt governorates" mean the same 27 units. Egypt is a unitary state. Its governorates carry out national policy and do not pass their own laws the way US states do. Each governorate is led by a governor appointed by the President. Governorates are divided into markaz (rural districts), qism (urban districts), cities and villages. In Arabic, a map of the governorates is called خريطة محافظات مصر.

New Valley (Al Wadi al Jadid) is Egypt's largest governorate by area. The governorate gives its area as 440,098 km² (169,923 sq mi), about 44% of Egypt. It lies in the Western Desert and borders both Libya and Sudan. It includes the Kharga, Dakhla and Farafra oases, and its capital is Kharga. New Valley is very large but has few people compared with the Nile Valley and Delta governorates. At the other end of the scale, Damietta covers about 910 km² (351 sq mi) at the mouth of the Damietta branch of the Nile. That makes New Valley more than 400 times the size of Egypt's smallest governorate.

Cairo Governorate is the most populated governorate in Egypt. The 2017 census by CAPMAS counted 9,539,673 residents there. It contains Cairo, the national capital, which is the seat of the presidency, parliament and most ministries. Downtown Cairo, the Egyptian Museum and the historic Islamic quarter are also in this governorate. Giza, on the west bank of the Nile, was the second most populous governorate in the 2017 census, with 8,632,021 people. The least populous was South Sinai, with 102,018 residents in the 2017 census. Most of its people live in El Tor, the capital, and in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt's 27 governorates are often grouped into five areas. Greater Cairo includes Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. The Nile Delta includes Alexandria, Beheira, Kafr el-Sheikh, Gharbia, Monufia, Dakahlia, Damietta and Sharqia. The Suez Canal and Sinai group includes Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai and South Sinai. Middle and Upper Egypt includes Faiyum, Beni Suef, Minya, Asyut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor and Aswan. The frontier governorates are Matrouh, New Valley and Red Sea. The groups contain 3, 8, 5, 8 and 3 governorates, for a total of 27. Sources group them differently. Some treat Alexandria separately from the Delta, and some place Faiyum in Upper Egypt.

Greater Cairo covers three governorates: Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. Cairo Governorate contains the national capital on the east bank of the Nile. Giza Governorate is on the west bank and includes the pyramid plateau and the satellite city of 6th of October. Qalyubia lies north of Cairo, where the Nile splits into its Delta branches. In the 2017 census CAPMAS counted 9,539,673 people in Cairo, 8,632,021 in Giza and 5,627,420 in Qalyubia, a combined 23,799,114. Between 2008 and 2011, parts of Cairo and Giza belonged to the Helwan and 6th of October governorates, so older datasets can split this area differently.

Egypt's governorate names come from Arabic, and English sources transliterate them in different ways. Faiyum also appears as Fayoum or Al Fayyum, Qalyubia as Qalioubiya, and Gharbia as Gharbiya. On the Ultimaps map, Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, Luxor and Aswan use their English names. The other governorates use transliterations, such as Al Wadi al Jadid for New Valley, Janub Sina' for South Sinai, Shamal Sina' for North Sinai, Al Bahr al Ahmar for Red Sea, Dumyat for Damietta, Suhaj for Sohag and Qina for Qena. Knowing both forms helps you match your data to the right governorate.

You can make a custom map of Egypt's 27 governorates in the Ultimaps editor on this page. It is free and does not require an account. For a category map, choose a color for each governorate, for example one color for the Nile Valley and Delta and another for the frontier governorates. For a data map, enter one number per governorate, such as 2017 census population. The editor then colors the governorates on a scale and adds a legend. You can also add markers for places like Hurghada or Aswan, and you can change the palette and label style. A free export is a standard PNG with a small Ultimaps credit. High-resolution PNG, SVG and PDF export are Pro features.