Beheira Governorate

Beheira (Arabic: محافظة البحيرة Moḥafzet el Beḥēra, IPA: [moˈħɑfzˤetelbeˈħeːɾæ], "the governorate of the Lake") 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 (Scetes).

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 (Rashid), and Kafr El Dawwar. Coins, lamps, animal bones, and pottery from Roman and later Eastern Roman (Byzantine) 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.

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.

Archaeology

IIn March 2026, archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced Ithe discovery of a 5th-century CE building at the Qalaye site in Hosh Issa, identified as a monastic guesthouse from the early period of Coptic monasticism. The structure, consisting of multiple rooms and functional spaces, was likely used to host visitors and monks, reflecting a transition from isolated ascetic practices to more organized, semi-communal religious life. Architectural features, including decorated elements and designated communal areas, provide valuable insights into the evolution of early monastic complexes and daily life within one of Egypt’s major monastic centers.

Cities and towns

• Abu Hummus
• Abu El Matamir
• Damanhur
• Edku
• El Delengat
• El Mahmoudiyah
• El Rahmaniya
• Itay El Barud
• Hosh Essa
• Kafr El Dawwar
• Kom Hamada
• Rosetta
• Shubrakhit
• Wadi El Natrun
• El Nubaria

Notable people

• Mahmud Shaltut, former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
• Pope Benjamin I of Alexandria, former Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
• Mohammed al-Ghazali, Islamic Scholar
• Hassan Shehata, football manager
• Karim Hafez, footballer

Industrial zones

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

Projects and programs

In 1981, the Basic Village Service Program (BVS), 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.

External links

• 2019-04-12 at the Wayback Machine