Luxor () has been one of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

governorates A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions o ...

since 7 December 2009, when former president

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

announced its separation from the

Qena Governorate Qena () is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is in Upper Egypt, the southern part of the country. It covers a stretch of the Nile valley. Its capital is the city of Qena. Overview The rate of poverty is more than 60% in this governorate but ...

.Luxor announced Egypt's 29th governorate
, report of Daily News Egypt of 7 December 2009. It is located 635 km south of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. It lies in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

along the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

is the capital of the Luxor governorate, other important cities and tourist centers include

Esna Esna ( , or ; ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato'') is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile some south of Luxor. The city was formerly part of the ...

and

Armant Armant (; or ''jwn.w-šmꜥ.w''; Coptic_language#Bohairic, Bohairic: ; Coptic_language#Sahidic, Sahidic: ), also known as Hermonthis (), is a town located about south of Thebes, Egypt, Thebes. It was an important Middle Kingdom of Egypt, Middle ...

Overview

Despite the governorate being one of the top destinations for

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

in Egypt, the poverty rate is more than 60% in this governorate but recently some social safety networks have been provided in the form of financial assistance and job opportunities. The funding has been coordinated by the country's Ministry of Finance and with assistance from international organizations.

Municipal divisions

The governorate is divided into the following municipal divisions with a total estimated population as of January 2023 of 1,388,666. In some instances, there is a markaz and a kism with the same name.

Emblem

The emblem of Luxor represents the bust of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

on board an

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian canoe boat, cruising in the

, with an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

and the sunlight in the background.

Geography

The governorate's total area is 2960 km², representing 0.24% of the country's area.

Population

At the 2012 census, the population of the area which in 2024 was formed into the new Luxor Governorate was 1,429,281 people. 47.4% of them lived in urban areas, while 52.6% lived in rural areas. The annual population growth rate is 18.2 per thousand. .

Industrial zones

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

References

External links

City of Luxor
Official website {{Authority control Governorates of Egypt 2009 establishments in Egypt