Beheira Governorate


Beheira is a coastal governorate in northern Egypt. Located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, its capital is Damanhur.

Overview

Beheira Governorate enjoys an important strategical place, west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. It comprises four important highways, namely the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, the Cairo agricultural road, the international road, and the circular road. Beheira Governorate is also home to a number of the most important Coptic monasteries in Wadi El Natrun.
Beheira consists of 13 marakez and 14 cities, and contains important industries such as cotton, chemicals, carpets, electricity, and fishing.
The governorate has a noteworthy number of archaeological sites, including at Abu El Matamir, Abu Hummus, Damanhour, Rosetta, and Kafr El Dawwar. Coins, lamps, animal bones, and pottery from Roman and later Eastern Roman eras are some of the archaeological finds discovered at Kom El Giza, and Kom El Hamam in Beheira.
In 2017, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi appointed the first female governor in the country's history, Nadia Ahmed Abdou, for Beheira Governorate.

Municipal divisions

The governorate is divided into the following municipal divisions for administrative purposes, with a total estimated population as of January 2024 of . In some instances there is a markaz and a kism with the same name.
Anglicized nameNative nameArabic transliterationPopulation
Type
Abu El Matamirمركز ابو المطامير603,640Markaz
Abu Hummusمركز أبو حمص581,820Markaz
El Delengatمركز الدلنجات400,570Markaz
Mahmoudiyahمركز المحمودية305,974Markaz
Rahmaniyaمركز الرحمانية176,315Markaz
Badrمركز بدر208,542Markaz
Damanhourقسم دمنهور327,352Kism
Damanhourمركز دمنهور586,244Markaz
West Nubariyahقسم غرب النوبارية 130,405Kism
Hosh Essaمركز حوش عيسى339,556Markaz
Edkuمركز إدكو257,873Markaz
Itay El Barudمركز إيتاى البارود476,197Markaz
Kafr El Dawwarقسم كفر الدوار344,133Kism
Kafr El Dawwarمركز كفر الدوار749,595Markaz
Kom Hamadaمركز كوم حمادة496,752Markaz
Rosettaمركز رشيد309,188Markaz
Shubrakhitمركز شبرا خيت302,429Markaz
Natrn Valleyمركز وادى النطرون90,576Markaz

Population

According to population estimates, in 2024 the majority of residents in the governorate lived in rural areas, with an urbanization rate of only 19.5%. Out of an estimated 6,992,742 people residing in the governorate, 5,629,157 people lived in rural areas as opposed to only 1,363,585 in urban areas.

Cities and towns

According to the Governing Authority for Investment and Free Zones, the following industrial zones are located in Beheira:

Projects and programs

In 1981, the Basic Village Service Program, under the auspices of USAID, had several water, road, and other projects, going on in several markazes in Beheira Governorate.
In 2018 the governorate council discussed a campaign of mosquito control and animal control to avert the spread of preventable diseases.