Economic regions of Egypt
Non-administrative regions for planning purposes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Egypt is divided into seven economic regions for economic and physical planning purposes. They were formally established by Presidential Decree 495/1977, which originally partitioned the country into seven economic regions, which were later reduced to seven after the Matrouh region merged with Alexandria. These regions do not have any new administrative representation in the local government hierarchy.[1]
Instead, each region is composed of a number of contiguous governorates, with one designated as the capital of the region (that governorate's capital city).
Art. 2 established a Higher Committee for Regional Planning in each region, headed by the governor of the region's capital governorate. The committee comprises the governors, the heads of the Local Executive Councils, and the head of the national-level General Organization for Physical Planning (GOPP) as secretary-general.
Art. 3 set out a Planning Administration for each region, originally affiliated with the Ministry of Planning. In 2008, this was changed to a Regional Center for Urban Planning and Development affiliated to the GOPP.[2] However, it was later believed that planning based on these units was unrealistic, thus decentralisation efforts were put in place.[3]
| Economic region | Area (km2) | Population (2015) | GDP (billion EGP)[4] | GDP (billion US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Cairo | 17,342 | 21,969,529 | 2,986.037 | 190.211 |
| Alexandria | 224,076 | 11,064,294 | 970.284 | 61.807 |
| Suez Canal | 90,020 | 9,555,718 | 902.566 | 57.493 |
| Delta | 12,357 | 19,145,755 | 886.439 | 56.467 |
| South Upper Egypt | 216,212 | 10,573,686 | 386.923 | 24.647 |
| North Upper Egypt | 47,970 | 11,183,684 | 351.674 | 22.402 |
| Central Upper Egypt | 402,431 | 4,470,631 | 143.106 | 9.116 |
 Egypt | 1,010,408 | 94,798.827 | 6,627.028 | 422.142 |
Economic regions
There are seven regional units, containing the following governorates.[5][1][2] In 2014, there were discussions to expand them to eleven regions, but those plans never happened.[6]
The current structure is as follows:
| Economic Region | Governorates | Capital |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Cairo[7] | Cairo, Giza, Qalyubiyya | Cairo |
| Alexandria[8] | Alexandria, Beheira, Matrouh | Alexandria |
| Delta[9] | Dakahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, Kafr El Sheikh, Monufia | Tanta |
| Suez Canal[10] | Ismailia, North Sinai, Port Said, Sharqia, Suez, South Sinai | Ismailia |
| North Upper Egypt[11] | Beni Suef, Faiyum, Minya | Minya |
| Central Upper Egypt[12] | Asyut, New Valley | Asyut |
| South Upper Egypt[13] | Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Red Sea, Sohag | Aswan |
Gallery
Greater Cairo Region
Alexandria Region
Delta Region
Suez Canal Region
North Upper Egypt Region
Central Upper Egypt Region
South Upper Egypt Region
