A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ;

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

" or occasionally as "

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...

". The word comes from the

Arabic root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowe ...

"''w-l-y''", "to govern": a ''

wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ar, والي ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim World (including the Caliphate and Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divisions. It is still in us ...

''—"governor"—governs a ''wālāya'' (or ''wilāya''), "that which is governed". Under the

Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, the term referred to any constituent near-sovereign state.

Use in specific countries

In Arabic, ''wilayah'' is used to refer to the states of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, and the United States of America as a whole is called ''al-Wilāyāt al-Muttaḥidah al-Amrīkīyah'', literally meaning "the American United States".

North Africa and Middle East

For

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, which is divided into provinces ''and'' wilāyas, the translation "province" would cause the distinction to cease. For

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...

, the term ''state'' and for

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامي� ...

, the term ''region'' is used. *

Provinces of Algeria Algeria, since December 18, 2019, is divided into 58 wilayas (provinces). Prior to December 18, 2019, there were 48 provinces. The 58 provinces are divided into 1,541 baladiyahs (municipalities). The name of a province is always that of its capi ...

Provinces of Oman The administrative division of Oman contains Eleven Governorates ('' muhafazah''): * Ad Dakhiliyah * Ad Dhahirah * Al Batinah North * Al Batinah South * Al Buraimi * Al Wusta * Ash Sharqiyah North * Ash Sharqiyah South * Dhofar * Muscat * Musand ...

Regions of Mauritania Mauritania is divided into 15 regions: During the Mauritanian occupation of Western Sahara (1975–79), its portion of the territory (roughly corresponding to the lower half of Río de Oro province) was named Tiris al-Gharbiyya. The regions ...

States of Sudan Below is a list of the 18 states of the Sudan (Arabic names are in parentheses). Prior to 9 July 2011, the Republic of the Sudan was composed of 25 states. The ten southern states now form part of the independent country of South Sudan. Two addi ...

Governorates of Tunisia Tunisia is divided into 24 governorates (''wilayat'', sing. ''wilayah''). This term in Arabic can also be translated as province or federated state (though the latter does not apply, as Tunisia is a unitary state). The governorates are divided ...

The

governorates of Iraq Iraq consists of 19 governorates ( ar, محافظة, muḥāfażah; ckb, پارێزگا , parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form an autonomous region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, ...

(

muhafazah A ' ( ; ) is a first-level administrative division of many Arab countries, and a second-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia. The term is usually translated to "governorate", and occasionally to "province". It comes from the Arabic roo ...

) are sometimes translated as provinces, in contrast to official Iraqi documents and the general use for other Arab countries. This conflicts somehow with the general translation for ''muhafazah'' (

) and ''wilāyah'' (province).

China

In the ethnically-diverse

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

region of Northwest China, the seven undifferentiated

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain internationa ...

proper (; that is, not prefecture-level cities, autonomous prefectures, etc.) are translated into the Uygur language as ''Vilayiti'' (). For the other, more numerous types of administrative divisions in Xinjiang, however, Uygur uses Russian loanwords like ''oblasti'' or ''rayoni'', in common with other Xinjiang languages like Kazakh.

Kenya and Tanzania

In Kenya, the term ''wilaya'' is a Swahili term which refers to the administrative districts into which provinces are divided. *

Districts of Kenya Sub-counties are the decentralised units through which county governments of Kenya will provide functions and services. Except for the parts which fall under urban areas, sub-counties will coincide with the constituencies created under article ...

Districts of Tanzania As of 2021,there are 31 regions of Tanzania which are divided into 184 districts (Swahili: wilaya). In 2016, Songwe Region was created from the western part of Mbeya Region. The districts are each administered by a district council. Cities a ...

Southeast Asia

In Malay (both in Malaysian and

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

standards) and Tausug, ''wilayah'' or ''wilāya'' is a general word meaning "territory", "area" or "region". In

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

, the term * ''Wilayah Persekutuan'', often shortened to "Wilayah" in colloquial speech, refers to the three

federal territories A federal territory is an administrative division under the direct and usually exclusive jurisdiction of a federation's national government. A federal territory is a part of a federation, but not a part of any federated state. The states constit ...

under direct control of the federal government:

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

and

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal governmen ...

. * ''Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur'', is translated as

East Coast Economic Region East Coast Economic Region (ECER) ( ms, Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur; Jawi: ولايه ايكونومي ڤنتاي تيمور) is an economic development region based on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which covers the states of Kelantan, T ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, the term * ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg'' refers to the province of

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu ( Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Its ca ...

, Philippines.

Ottoman Empire

Traditionally the provinces of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

were known as ''eyâlet''s, but beginning in 1864, they were gradually restructured as smaller ''vilâyet''s—the Turkish pronunciation of the Arabic word ''wilāyah''. Most were subdivided into sanjaks. The current

provinces of Turkey Turkey is divided into 81 provinces ( tr, il). Each province is divided into a number of districts (). Each provincial government is seated in the central district (). For non- metropolitan municipality designated provinces, the central distri ...

are called ''il'' in Turkish.

DAESH

The territory under the governance of the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...

(ISIS) is referred to them as officially being divided into ''wilayah'', often translated into English as "

". An example is

Islamic State – Khorasan Province The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (; ISKP) is an affiliate of the Islamic State militant group active in South Asia and Central Asia. Some media sources also use the terms ISK (or IS–K), ISISK (or ISIS–K), IS–KP, Daesh–Khorasan or D ...

Central Asia and Caucasus

The

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

word for ''province'' (''velâyat'') is still used in several similar forms in Central Asian countries: *

Provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages. Provincial governors played a cri ...

( ps, ولايت, ''wilāyat'', plural: ولايتونه, ''wilāyatuna''), subdivided into

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

( ps, ولسوالۍ, ''wuləswāləi'' or fa, ولسوالی, ''wolaswālī'') *

Regions of Tajikistan Administratively, Tajikistan is divided into: * one autonomous region (russian: автономная область; tg, вилояти мухтор, ''viloyati mukhtor'') * two regions ( tg, вилоятҳо, ''viloyatho'' fa, ولایته ...

(singular: viloyat, plural: viloyatho), subdivided into districts ( tg, ноҳия, ''

nohiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' or russian: район, ''raion'') *

Regions of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is divided into five regions or ''welaýatlar'' (singular '' welaýat'') and one capital city (''şäher'') with provincial legal status. They are Ahal, Balkan, Dashoguz, Lebap and Mary, plus the capital city of Ashgabat. Each prov ...

(singular: welaýat, plural: welaýatlar), subdivided into districts ( tk, etrap) *

Regions of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan is divided into 12 regions (''viloyatlar'', singular viloyat, ''viloyati'' in compound, e.g. Toshkent ''viloyati''), 1 autonomous republic (''respublika'', ''respublikasi'' in compound, e.g. Qaraqalpaqstan Avtonom ''Respublikasi''), ...

(singular: viloyat, plural: viloyatlar), subdivided into districts ( uz, tuman, script=Latn) During the

Soviet period The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

the divisions of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were called ''

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

s'' and ''

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...

s'', using

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

terminology. In the

Tsez language Tsez, also known as Dido (Tsez: () or ()), is a Northeast Caucasian language with about 15,000 speakers (15,354 in 2002) spoken by the Tsez, a Muslim people in the mountainous Tsunta District of southwestern Dagestan in Russia. The name is ...

, the districts of

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North Ca ...

are also referred to as "вилайат" (''wilayat''), plural "вилайатйоби" (''wilayatyobi''). But the term "район" (''

rayon Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose ...

''), plural "районйаби" (''rayonyabi'') is also used.

Caucasus Emirate The Caucasus Emirate ( ce, Имарат Кавказ, Imarat Kavkaz, IK; russian: Кавказский эмират, Kavkazskiy emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a Jihadist ...

, a self-proclaimed successor state to the unrecognized

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (; ce, Нохчийн Республик Ичкери, Nóxçiyn Respublik Içkeri; russian: Чеченская Республика Ичкерия; abbreviated as "ChRI" or "CRI") was a ''de facto'' state that ...

, is divided into vilayats.

South Asia

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Bengali and Assamese, the term is ''bilat'' and ''bilati'' (archaic ''bilaiti''), referring exclusively to Britain and British-made. The British slang term

blighty "Blighty" is a British English slang term for Great Britain, or often specifically England.

derives from this word, via the fact that the foreign British were referred to using this word during the time of the British Raj.

References

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions Arabic words and phrases Types of administrative division Malay language