North Sinai Governorate (Arabic: شمال سيناء) covers the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula, between the Mediterranean coast and the central Sinai plateau. Its capital is El Arish, the largest city on the peninsula. CAPMAS estimated the population at 504,201 in January 2023, across 27,564 km², a density of 18 people per km².
| Capital | El Arish (العريش) |
|---|---|
| Population (Jan 2023 est.) | 504,201 |
| Population (2017 census) | 450,328 |
| Area | 27,564 km² |
| Density | 18 per km² |
| Administrative divisions | 11 kisms (municipal divisions) |
| Telephone code | 068 |
Towns and Villages in North Sinai Governorate
Settlement follows the coast road and the wells. Four fifths of the population lives on the strip between Bir El Abd and Rafah, where sand dunes give way to date palms and olive groves. South of the coast the land is open plateau, and villages sit at wadis and water points. Populations below are CAPMAS January 2023 estimates for each kism. Bedouin quarters carry the name of the tribal section that settled them, which is why so many begin with Hayy.
El Arish (208,119 across four kisms)
The capital and the peninsula’s main market, port and university town.
- El Arish (Al ‘Arīsh)
- Ar Rīsah
- As Salāyimah
- Aş Şafā
- Ar Rumaylī
- Hayy az Zuhūr
- Hayy al Arba‘īn
- Hayy al ‘Ishrīn
Rafah (82,793)
The border kism on the Gaza frontier, 45 km east of El Arish.
- Rafah (Rafaḩ)
- Al Wifāq
- Al Kharbah
Sheikh Zuweid (65,964)
An olive and date district between El Arish and Rafah.
- Sheikh Zuweid (Ash Shaykh Zuwayd)
- Ash Shallāq
- Al Mahdīyah
- Abū Ţawīlah
- Al Maqḑabah
Bir El Abd (60,827)
The western coastal kism, on the road in from the Suez Canal.
- Bir El Abd (Bi’r al ‘Abd)
- Al Kharrūbah
- Qatia (Ḩawḑ Qāţīyah)
- Madīnat al Jumayzah
- Al Jahāmāt
- Al Muqāţa‘ah
Rumana (45,292)
A fully rural kism of salt flats and fishing hamlets behind Lake Bardawil.
- Rumana (Rumānah)
- Baluza
- Gilbana
- Būghāz Raqmān
El Hassana (21,213)
Central Sinai, on the plateau road south of El Arish.
- El Hassana (Al Ḩasanah)
- Jawz Abū Ra‘d
- Al Ḩathānah
- Wadi al Jameel
El Qasima (13,331)
The eastern plateau kism, around the Quseima oasis and the Israeli border.
- El Qasima (Al Quşaymah)
- Umm Qatef (Um Qataf)
- Qaryat as Sādāt
- Qaryat ar Rawḑah
Nakhl (6,662)
The old pilgrim halt in the middle of the peninsula, on the road from Suez to Aqaba.
- Nakhl (Qal‘at an Nakhl)
- Nakhl Abu Saqal
- Al Kuntillah
- At Tamad
Other mapped villages and Bedouin quarters
These places appear in the national gazetteer without a kism assignment. Most are small quarters, wells or seasonal camps.
- Abu Forag
- Abu Halo
- Abu Saht
- Abu Zamat
- Abī Şuql
- Abū Jurayyān
- Abū Tarāfī
- Abū al Fītah
- Abū ‘Uwayqīyah
- Agalin
- Al Khushūm
- Al Maţallah
- Al Mulayz
- Al Wasabīyah
- At Tūmah
- As Sakāsikah
- Az̧ Z̧uhayr
- Aţ Ţawīl
- Aţ Ţāsah
- Baghdad
- El Avoa
- El Fitat
- El Qawadis
- El-Qaṭâfîya
- El-Qushlâqât
- Garada
- Hayshah aḑ Ḑayzá
- Houseinat
- Kowthaf
- Manaka
- Mazār
- Maşāfiq al ‘Izz
- Melafi
- Minţaqat al Gharābāt
- Minţaqat az Za‘ābiţah
- Mişfaq
- Mowasi
- Naẖal Diqla
- Obeidot
- Qabr ‘Umayr
- Qaryat Abū Shannār al Kharāfīn
- Qaryat Abū Zar‘ī
- Qaryat Iblāl at Tarābīn
- Qaryat Salmānah
- Qaryat al Ma‘nīyah
- Qaryat al Ḩurrīyah
- Qaryat at Tulūl
- Sadat
- Sakan Abu Ragīa
- Salah a Deen
- Wahahee
- Wādī al Akisa
- Ḩayy Abū Khasāyir
- Ḩayy Abū Khawwār
- Ḩayy Abū Ḩāzim
- Ḩayy Ajuhaynah Abū Khirfān
- Ḩayy Aḩubbaynah
- Ḩayy Furayḩ Abū Nawfal
- Ḩayy Khalīl Abū Butūm
- Ḩayy al Muşābaḩah
- Ḩayy al Qawāsimah
- Ḩayy al Qāḑī al Kharāfīn
- Ḩayy al ‘Aqāyilah
- Ḩayy ar Rajjāwīn
- Ḩayy as Sakādirah
- Ḩayy as Sarrāḩīn
- Ḩayy ash Shaykh Zāyid al Hashshah
- Ḩayy aţ Ţāwinah
Geography
The governorate runs from the Mediterranean south across dunes, then the El Tih plateau. Lake Bardawil, a shallow salt lagoon 90 km long, separates the coast road from the sea between Rumana and Bir El Abd. Wadi El Arish drains most of central Sinai north to the sea at the capital. It borders South Sinai to the south, and Port Said, Ismailia and Suez across the canal to the west. Gaza and Israel lie to the east.
Demographics
The 2017 census counted 450,328 people; the January 2023 estimate is 504,201. El Arish alone holds about 41 percent of the total. The coastal kisms from Bir El Abd to Rafah hold roughly 90 percent between them. Most residents belong to Sinai Bedouin tribes, chiefly the Sawarka, Rumaylat, Tarabin, Bayyadiyin and Masaeed, alongside families of Palestinian and Nile Valley origin in El Arish. Population growth has been uneven since 2013 because of displacement from the eastern kisms.
Economy and Local Life
Farming works where the water table is shallow. Olives, dates, watermelon, barley and peaches come off the coastal strip, and El Arish olive oil sells across Egypt. Fishing runs from El Arish port and the Bardawil lagoon, which yields sea bass, bream and mullet. Bedouin herders keep sheep, goats and camels on the plateau. Marble and gypsum are quarried in the interior. Reconstruction after the 2013 to 2022 insurgency drives much of the current work, along with the new Bir El Abd and El Arish development schemes and the fish farms at Bardawil.
History
The northern coast road is the Way of Horus, the military route that linked Egypt to Canaan under the New Kingdom. Qatia was a caravan halt on that road and the site of a 1916 battle in the First World War. El Arish took its present shape around an Ottoman fort. Israel occupied the peninsula in 1967 and returned North Sinai to Egypt in stages after the 1979 peace treaty, with the final handover in April 1982. An insurgency in the eastern kisms from 2013 displaced tens of thousands of residents before large-scale operations ended in 2022.
Getting There
El Arish is about 350 km from Cairo, roughly five hours by road through Ismailia and the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel or the Martyr Ahmed Hamdi crossings. Buses run daily from Cairo’s Turgoman terminal. El Arish International Airport handles limited domestic flights. There is no passenger rail service into the governorate. The coastal highway continues east to Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, and the Nakhl road crosses the plateau south towards Taba and Nuweiba.
FAQ
What is the capital of North Sinai Governorate?
El Arish, on the Mediterranean coast. Its four kisms held 208,119 people in January 2023.
How many villages are in North Sinai?
The governorate has 11 kisms and no markaz system, unlike the Nile Valley. Around 100 named settlements are mapped, most of them small Bedouin quarters and wells rather than nucleated villages.
What is the population of North Sinai Governorate?
504,201 as of the CAPMAS estimate for January 2023. The 2017 census counted 450,328.
What is the telephone code for El Arish?
068, used across North Sinai. Dial 0068 within Egypt or +20 68 from abroad.
How far is El Arish from Cairo?
About 350 km by road, roughly five hours via Ismailia and the Suez Canal crossings.
Is North Sinai the same as the Sinai Peninsula?
No. The peninsula is split between North Sinai and South Sinai governorates. North Sinai holds the Mediterranean coast and the central plateau; South Sinai holds the mountains and the Gulf of Aqaba resorts.