Monufia Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the northern part of the country in the Nile Delta, to the south of Gharbia Governorate and the north of Cairo. The governorate is named after Menouf, an ancient city that was the governorate’s capital until 1826. The current governor (as of 2018) is Said Mohammed Mohammed Abbas.
Municipal divisions
The governorate is divided into municipal divisions, with a total estimated population as of July 2017 of 4,319,082. There is a markaz and a kism with the same name.
Population
According to population estimates in 2015, most residents in the governorate lived in rural areas, with an urbanisation rate of only 20.6%. Out of an estimated 3,941,293 people residing in the governorate, 3,128,460 people lived in rural areas instead of only 812,833 in urban areas.
Cities
The capital of the Monufia Governorate is the city of Shibin El Kom. It is mainly an agricultural governorate. The main towns of the governorate are Quesna, Tala, Bagour, Menouf, Ashmoun and Sers El Lyan.
- Shibin El Kom
- Menouf
- Ashmoun
- Sers El Lyan
- Tala
- El Bagour
- El Shohada
- Sadat City
- Quesna
- Birket El Sab
- Shanawan
Industrial zones
According to the Egyptian Governing Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), in affiliation with the Ministry of Investment (MOI), the following industrial zones are located in this governorate:
- Mubarak Industrial Zone and its expansion.
- Industrial Zones In Kafr Dawod.
- (New urban community industrial zone) El Sadat.
- Industrial area El lawy stud.
History
In 1826, Mohammed Ali transferred the capital of Monufia from Menouf to Shibin El Kom as the latter fell precisely in the centre of the governorate. Besides Shibin El Kom, the governorate had four other administrative divisions: Quesna, Tala, Menouf and Talawy. In 1942, El Shohada became a new administrative division and included parts from Shibin El Kom and Tala. In 1947, Bagour was created to encompass regions from Menouf, Talawy, Quesna and Shibin El Kom. In 1955, five villages were taken from Tala and redistributed to Tanta. In 1960, Berket El Sabe’e (Lake of the Lion) was established and consisted of the former towns and villages of Tala, Quesna and Shibin El Kom. In 1975, Sers El Lyan became a city rather than a village after being separated from Menouf. In 1991, Sadat City was annexed to Monufia, its only region west of the Rosetta branch. In the final round of the 2012 Egyptian presidential election, Monufia had the highest voter turnout rate of all governorates (61.5%) and the most overwhelming support for candidate Ahmed Shafik (71.5%).
Agriculture
Agriculture is generally the main activity of the population due to the fertile land in the Nile Delta. Agricultural land is irrigated with water from the Rosetta and Damietta branches of the Nile. The governorate is famous for producing crops like cotton, maise and wheat and vegetable crops such as potatoes and green beans, of which a large part is exported.
Notable residents
Monufia Governorate is mainly known for being the birthplace of St. Pishoy, born in the village of Shansa (Shensha or Shesna) and of two Egyptian presidents – Anwar Sadat (1918–1981), born in Mit Abu El Kom and Hosni Mubarak (1928-2020), born in Kafr El Meselha.
Projects
In 1981, the Basic Village Service Program (BVS), under the auspices of USAID, had several water-related, route-related and other projects going on in several markazes in the Monufia Governorate.
In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture formed the National Agricultural Animal Health Services (NAAHS) to care for the rising number of infected horses and donkeys in the Shibin El-Kom area. The tragedy sparked this.