A governorate is an administrative division of a country. 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 non-English-speaking administrations. The most common usage is as a translation of the ArabicMuhafazah. It may also refer to the guberniya and general-gubernatorstvo of Imperial Russia or the 34 :es:Categoría:Gobernaciones indianas|gobernaciones of Imperial Spain.
The term governorate is widely used in Arab countries to describe an administrative unit. Some governorates combine more than one Muhafazah; others closely follow traditional boundaries inherited from the Ottoman Empire's vilayet system. With the exception of Tunisia, all translations into the term governorate originate in the Arabic word muhafazah.
Governorates of Bahrain
Governorates of Egypt
Governorates of Iraq
Governorates of Jordan
Governorates of Kuwait
Governorates of Lebanon
Governorates of Oman
Governorates of Palestine
Governorates of Saudi Arabia
Governorates of Syria
Governorates of Tunisia
Governorates of Yemen
Russian Empire
History of the administrative division of Russia
Guberniya and :Category:Governorates of the Russian Empire
In the Portuguese Empire, a governorate general were a colonial administration. They usually were created in order to be a centralized government over smaller colonies or territories of the Portuguese Empire. Governorate Generals of the Portuguese Empire:
In the Spanish Empire, the gobernaciones were an administrative division, roughly analogous to a province directly beneath the level of the audiencia or captaincy general, and the viceroy in areas directly under the viceroy's administration. The powers and duties of a governor were identical to a corregidor but a governor managed a larger or more prosperous area than the former.
In today's German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia, there are - and earlier in many more German states there were - sub-state administrative regions called Regierungsbezirk, which is sometimes translated into English as governorate. During the time of the Third Reich, a "General Government for the Occupied Polish Areas" existed. The German is sometimes translated as General Governorate.