Zaghouan Governorate Explained

Zaghouan
Native Name:ولاية زغوان
Native Name Lang:ar
Type:Governorate
Image Map1:Tunisie Gouvernorat de Zaghouan.svg
Map Caption1:Subdivisions of Zaghouan Governorate
Coordinates:36.4°N 19°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Established Title:Created
Established Date:November 1976
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Zaghouan
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:Mohamed El Euch (since 2022)
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Total Km2:2768
Area Rank:Ranked 18th of 24
Population Total:176945
Population As Of:2014
Population Rank:Ranked 21st of 24
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:CET
Utc Offset1:+01
Postal Code Type:Postal prefix
Postal Code:xx
Area Code Type:Calling code
Iso Code:TN-22

Zaghouan Governorate (Arabic: ولاية زغوان pronounced as /ar/; French: Gouvernorat de Zaghouan) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia and is in north-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 2768km2 and its population was 176,945 at the 2014 census.[1] The capital is the town of Zaghouan.

Geography

The area is roughly circular and lies above the low coastal plains; it has a summit of 1295m (4,249feet) close to its centrally-located capital on the west side of the founding city. The summit sits on one of two north-east to south-west escarpments forming part of the dorsal Atlas Mountains commencing here close to the east coast and Tunisia's capital city, Tunis. The Oued Mellane drains the west and north of the province, having risen in the province to the south-west Siliana and then discharging into the Gulf of Tunis in the southern contiguous districts to the capital city, in particular flowing through Ben Arous the governorate of which takes in land immediately due south of the city centre. As such Zaghouan has no coastline, however its climate remains warm Mediterranean, with significant winter and early spring rainfall. The main road from Tunis to the city of Kairouan, inland from Sousse, passes through the town of El Fahs in the west of the province. A railway passes through the same city leading to the mid-west of the country, which is in turn is connected back to the east coast.

Administrative divisions

The governorate is divided into six delegations (mutamadiyat), listed below with their populations at the 2004 and 2014 Censuses:[2]

Delegation Area
in km2
Population
2004 Census
Population
2014 Census
536 21,508 24,387
936 43,678 46,449
357 28,550 30,366
253 12,095 12,681
409 34,367 38,445
348 20,765 24,617

Six municipalities are in Zaghouan Governorate:

Notes and References

  1. Census 2014 (National Institute of Statistics)
  2. Institut National de la Statistique Tunisie (web).