Qalyubia ( ' ) is one of the

governorates of Egypt Egypt is administratively organized under a dual system that may consist of either two or three tiers, with further subdivisions occasionally resulting in an additional layer. It follows a centralized system of local government, officially term ...

, located in

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...

. It is situated north 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 ...

in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

region. Its capital is

Banha Banha ( ) is the capital of the Qalyubiyya Governorate in north-eastern Egypt. Between the capital of Cairo and the city of Tanta, Banha is an important transport hub, as rail lines from Cairo to various cities in the Nile Delta pass through it ...

Name

''Qalyubia'' is derived from the city of Qalyub, whose name is an

arabization Arabization or Arabicization () is a sociology, sociological process of cultural change in which a non-Arab society becomes Arabs, Arab, meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Arabic, Arabic language, Arab cultu ...

Calliope In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; ) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". Mythology Calliope had two famous sons, OrpheusH ...

(

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: Καλλιόπη, romanized: ''Kalliópē''), the Muse of epic poetry in Greek mythology.

Geography

Banha and several other settlements blend into the neighboring

Cairo Governorate Cairo () is one of the 27 governorates of Egypt. It is formed of the city of Cairo, both the national capital of Egypt and the governorate's, in addition to six satellite cities: the New Administrative Capital - which became the official seat ...

; as a result, parts of Qalyubia (particularly

Shubra El Kheima Shubra El Kheima, (, ) is the fourth-largest city in Egypt after Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. It is located in the Qalyubia Governorate along the northern edge of the Cairo Governorate. It forms part of the Greater Cairo metropolitan area. Hi ...

) are generally considered to form part of the

Greater Cairo The Greater Cairo () is a metropolitan area centered around Cairo, Egypt. It comprises the entirety of the Cairo Governorate, the cities of Imbaba and Giza in the Giza Governorate, and the city Shubra El Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate. Its def ...

metropolitan area (along with Cairo governorate,

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

city and

6 October city 6th of October ( ; ) is a city in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. It is a satellite city, located adjacent to Giza, and is part of the Greater Cairo region.

Municipal divisions

The governorate is divided into the following municipal divisions for administrative purposes, with a total estimated population as of January 2024 o
6,217,766
In some instances there is a markaz and a kism with the same name.

Population

According to population estimates, in 2015 the majority of residents in the governorate lived in rural areas, with an urbanization rate of only 44.7%. Out of an estimated 5,105,972 people residing in the governorate, 2,825,045 people lived in rural areas as opposed to only 2,280,927 in urban areas.

Cities

The cities in the Qalyubia Governorate are: *

* El-Khankah *

Qaha Qaha ( , from ) is a city in northeastern Egypt, located 25 km (18 mins) north of Cairo. It is located in the rich farmland of the southern part of the Nile Delta, and is well-irrigated by canals leading off the Delta Barrage. Histo ...

* Qalyub *

Shibin El Qanater Shibin El Qanater (), previously known as Shaybin al-Qasr () and Scenae Veteranorum is a region (''markaz'') in Egypt situated in the center of the Qalyubia Governorate. Its population was 423,783 at the 2006 Census and comprises 36 villages. ...

Tukh Toukh (, ) is a city located in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. It is located on the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural road. Toukh is also a county that consists of many small towns. These towns include Tant al Gazirah and Berhoum. Toukh County is a ...

El Qanater El Khayreya El Qanater El Khayreya ( , "the Benevolent Bridges") is a List of cities and towns in Egypt, city and a markaz in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. It is the location of the Delta Barrages, the first modern irrigation structure across the Nile, l ...

Kafr Shukr Kafr Shukr () is a markaz with a corresponding eponymous capital town in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western A ...

Obour City Obour ( , meaning "The Crossing") is a city in the Qalyubia Governorate, about 35 kilometers north-east of Cairo. The city has approximately 700,000 residents. It is named to honor the crossing ("obour") of the Bar Lev Line by the Egypti ...

Khusus Khusus (, ) is a city in the Qalyubiyya Governorate, Egypt. The city lies north 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 p ...

Industrial zones

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

Economy

Qalyubia is known for its agricultural production of crops,

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s and

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

. The most important of these crops include

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruits,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s, oranges and apricots. Qalyubia is also the leading Egyptian governorate in the production of poultry and eggs.

Programs and projects

In 1981, the ''Basic Village Service Program'' (BVS) had several water projects going on in the Qalyubia Governorate. In a program that began on August 28, 2012 (through 2018), the European Union invested 40 million Euros on upgrading the infrastructure of informal areas in Qalyubia Governorate.

References

External links

Qalyubia Governorate on Facebook

Qalyubia Now Newspaper

El Wattan News of Qalyubia Governorate
{{Authority control Governorates of Egypt Nile Delta