Qena Governorate (Arabic: محافظة قنا) covers the stretch of Upper Egypt where the Nile swings sharply east before turning south again. Its capital is the city of Qena, on the east bank at the head of that bend. CAPMAS estimated the population at 3,640,916 in July 2023 across 9,565 km². Luxor was part of Qena until December 2009, when it was split off as a governorate of its own.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Capital | Qena city |
| Population | 3,640,916 (CAPMAS estimate, July 2023) |
| Area | 9,565 km² |
| Density | About 381 people per km² |
| Municipal divisions | 9 marakiz, 1 kism, 1 new city |
| Phone area code | 096 |
| Region | Upper Egypt |
| Distance from Cairo | About 600 km south |
Towns and Villages in Qena Governorate
Qena is divided into nine marakiz, one urban kism covering Qena city, and the new city of New Qena. The list below covers 252 named settlements. Names are grouped by markaz; valley boundaries are tight, so a few villages sit close to the line between two districts.
| Markaz | Population (July 2023) | Places listed below |
|---|---|---|
| Qena | 519,022 | 32 |
| Nag Hammadi | 667,183 | 35 |
| Dishna | 447,430 | 39 |
| Abu Tesht | 536,016 | 39 |
| Farshut | 216,489 | 18 |
| El Waqf | 93,045 | 13 |
| Qift | 164,032 | 31 |
| Qus | 534,523 | 32 |
| Naqada | 196,963 | 13 |
Qena
The markaz surrounds the capital on both banks. Dendera, with its Ptolemaic and Roman temple of Hathor, stands in its farmland on the west bank. The urban kism of Qena adds another 264,498 residents.
- ‘Arab al ‘Ababidah
- ‘Izbat al Jabalaw
- Abnud
- Ad Dayr ash Sharqi
- Al Ashraf al Bahriyah
- Al Ashraf al Gharbiyah
- Al Ashraf al Qibliyah
- Al Ashraf ash Sharqiyah
- Al Ghawasah
- Al Hamidat
- Al Hujayrat
- Al Khirbah
- Al Makhadmah
- Al Qinawiyah
- Ash Shaykh ‘Isa
- At Taramisah
- At Tawabiyah
- Awlad ‘Amr
- Dandarah
- Karm ‘Imran
- Nag Badran
- Nag Ghazali
- Nag Khalifah Nasr
- Nag al Kahrajallah
- Nag an Nawafilah
- Nag ash Shuwaykhat
- Nag ash Shuwaynah
- Nag el-Garfiya
- Nag el-Gaziya
- Nag el-Hibeil
- Nag el-Sharikhat
- Qina
Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammadi is the most populous markaz. The town holds the Egyptalum aluminium smelter and a sugar factory, and the Nag Hammadi codices, a library of Coptic Gnostic texts, were found in the cliffs nearby in 1945.
- Ad Dabbah
- Al Gharbi bis Salamiyah
- Al Halfawiyah Bahri
- Al Halfayah Qibli
- Al Qammanah
- Al Qasr
- Al Qasr wa as Sayyad
- Ar Ra’isiyah
- Ar Rahmaniyah Qibli
- As Salmiyah al Ha’it
- As Sayyad
- Ash Sharqi Bahjurah
- Ash Shawriyah
- Awlad Najm al Qibliyah
- Awlad Nijm Bahjurah
- Bahjurah
- Hamrat Dum
- Hawd ar Ra’isiyah
- Hiw
- Kawm Shafi’
- Nag Hammadi
- Nag Hawwarah
- Nag al ‘Aqulah
- Nag al Jazirah al Bahri
- Nag al Jazirah al Qibli
- Nag al Kilh
- Nag al Manasirah
- Nag al Najhiyah
- Nag al Qinawiyah
- Nag al Yasiniyah Qibli
- Nag as Samasiriyah
- Nag ash Sha’iniyah
- Nag at Turshi
- Nag el Busa
- Nag el-Ghaliz
Dishna
Dishna sits between Nag Hammadi and Qena. The Bodmer Papyri, a hoard of early Christian manuscripts, surfaced in its fields in the 1950s.
- Abu Dhi’ab
- Abu Diyab Sharq
- Abu Manna’ Bahri
- Abu Manna’ Gharb
- Abu Manna’ Sharq
- Al ‘Atiyat
- Al ‘Izab
- Al Marashidah
- As Sabriyat
- As Sama’inah
- As Samata
- Dishna
- Faw Bahri
- Faw Qibli
- Nag ‘Abd el-Qadir
- Nag ‘Azzuz
- Nag Abu Hizam
- Nag Awlad Jabir
- Nag Ma’alla
- Nag Sa’id
- Nag Samrah
- Nag Umm at Turayn
- Nag al ‘Aqulah
- Nag al Fawiyah
- Nag al Gharabwah al Bahri
- Nag al Hajariyah
- Nag al Hirajiyah
- Nag al Kasarinah
- Nag al Kharwa’ah
- Nag al Miyat
- Nag al Qunburah
- Nag ar Rasha’idah
- Nag as Sana’isah
- Nag ash Shaykh ‘Ali
- Nag el-Alfi
- Nag el-Fiheira
- Nag el-Ghawiya
- Nag el-Nagagra
- Nag el-Zineiqa el Qibli
Abu Tesht
Abu Tesht occupies the north-west corner of the governorate, on the Sohag border. Samhud and Bakhanis are its largest villages.
- ‘Izbat al Busah
- Abu Shushah
- Abu Tisht
- Al Awsat Samhud
- Al Baraghit
- Al Himran
- Al Hisanat
- Al Ka’mat
- Al Karnak
- Al Qarah
- An Najmah
- An Nawahid
- Ar Rafshah
- Ar Rawatib
- Ar Rizqah
- As Salimat
- Ash Sharqi Samhud
- Bakhanis
- Bilad al Mal Bahri
- Bilad al Mal Qibli
- Buhayrat al Qinn
- El-Nasirat
- Ezbet el-Busa
- Kawm Ya’qub
- Nag Abu Salim
- Nag Kawm Jabir
- Nag Kawm Majanin
- Nag ad Dayr al Gharbi
- Nag al ‘Amrah
- Nag al Khawalid
- Nag al Maharzah
- Nag ar Ramli
- Nag at Tud
- Nag az Zaydaniyah
- Nag el-Zarabi
- Nag el-Zarayib
- Naqnaq
- Qusayr Bakhanis
- Samhud
Farshut
Farshut is a market town in the far north-west, with a sugar mill and a Thursday market that draws farmers from Abu Tesht and Nag Hammadi.
- ‘Izbat Ahmad Mahmud Jum’ah
- Abu Umuri
- Ad Dahasah
- Al ‘Araki
- Al ‘Asirat
- Al Gharbi Bahjurah
- Al Kawm al Ahmar
- An Nuju’
- Farshut
- Kawm al Bijah
- Nag Abu Dahi
- Nag Radwan
- Nag Turki
- Nag Zileitim
- Nag al Qubibah
- Nag ash Sharqawi
- Nag el-Bat-ha
- Nag el-Qashaqsha
El Waqf
El Waqf is the smallest markaz by population, split off from Qena markaz. Its settlements are mostly small nagas on the east bank.
- ‘Izbat Jibril
- Al Ashraf al ‘Asaliyah
- Al Waqf
- Nag ‘Arab as Sabhah
- Nag ‘Urabi
- Nag Abu Radwan
- Nag Hamdu Lillah
- Nag Karam ‘Imran
- Nag ad Dawmah
- Nag al Bishariyah
- Nag al Hayy
- Nag al Jidd
- Nag al Kawm
Qift
Qift was ancient Coptos, the junction where the Nile met the desert road to the Red Sea. Al-Ballas, its largest village, gave its name to the ballas water jar made there for centuries.
- ‘Izbat Jad Mahmud
- Ad Dayr al Gharbi
- Al ‘Uwaydat
- Al Ballas
- Al Barahimah
- Al Jaziriyah
- Al Kallahin
- Al Qal’ah
- As Sawahliyah
- Ash Shaykhiyah
- El Deir
- Faruqiyat al Ashraf
- Nag ‘Asqalani
- Nag Abu ‘Azzuz
- Nag Abu Ghabah
- Nag Abu Yusuf
- Nag Jad Mu’awwad
- Nag Judah
- Nag Sa’d
- Nag ad Dab’
- Nag al ‘Akrami
- Nag al ‘Arab
- Nag al ‘Arj
- Nag al Barud
- Nag al Bashaynah
- Nag al Kallahin
- Nag as Sabil
- Nag el Faris
- Nag el-Kom
- Nag el-Zuqeim Muhafazet Abd Alla
- Qift
Qus
Qus was the second city of Egypt in the Middle Ages, handling the Red Sea trade to India. It now runs a sugar factory and serves a dense belt of cane villages.
- ‘Abbasah
- ‘Arab al ‘Ababidah
- Al ‘Ayayishah
- Al ‘Ulayqat
- Al ‘Uqb
- Al Harajiyah
- Al Hillah
- Al Jimaliyah
- Al Kharaniqah
- Al Masid
- Al Mi’arri
- Al Mufarrajiyah
- Ash Sha’rani
- Hijazah
- Hijazah Bahri
- Jarajus
- Jazirat Mutayrah
- Khuzam
- Nag Abu Sandal
- Nag Abu Zinad
- Nag Al Qasaqsah
- Nag Bishlaw
- Nag Himdan
- Nag Qamula Al Hayt
- Nag Yusuf ‘Abd Allah
- Nag al ‘Aqulah
- Nag al ‘Uwaydat
- Nag al Qaryah
- Nag el-Dib
- Nugu ‘Arab al ‘Ababidah
- Qus
- Shanhur
Naqada
Naqada lies on the west bank opposite Qus. The predynastic Naqada culture, dated to roughly 4400 to 3000 BC, is named after the cemeteries found here.
- Al Awsat Qamula
- Al Bahri Qamula
- Al Humr wa al Ja’afirah
- Al Khattarah
- Al Muqarrabiyah
- Az Zawayidah
- Danfiq
- Nag Kawm Bilal
- Nag Qurqutan
- Nag al Khatbah
- Nag al Manshiyah
- Naqadah
- Tukh
Geography
The Nile enters Qena flowing north-east, turns hard to the east at Qena city, then bends south again towards Luxor. That loop, the Qena bend, is the sharpest turn in the Egyptian Nile. Wadi Qena runs north from the bend deep into the Eastern Desert, and the Qift to Quseir road follows an older wadi route to the Red Sea. Most of the governorate’s 9,565 km² is desert; the farmed strip is rarely more than 15 km wide.
Qena borders Sohag Governorate to the north-west, Luxor Governorate to the south, the Red Sea Governorate to the east and the New Valley Governorate to the west.
Demographics
The population rose from 2,027,603 at the 1996 census to 3,164,281 in 2017 and an estimated 3,640,916 in July 2023, even after Luxor was subtracted in 2009. CAPMAS put 2,973,648 residents in rural areas and 667,268 in towns in 2023, so more than four in five people live in villages. Half the population is under 25.
Economy and Local Life
Qena is the centre of Egypt’s sugarcane belt. Factories at Nag Hammadi, Qus, Dishna and Farshut crush cane from October to May, and the harvest sets the working year for most villages. Egyptalum at Nag Hammadi is the country’s only primary aluminium smelter and its largest single industrial employer here. Qena city has a paper mill that runs on bagasse, the fibre left after cane is pressed. Pottery from Al-Ballas and Qift is sold across Upper Egypt, and phosphate mines in the Eastern Desert draw labour from Qift and Qus.
History
The cemeteries at Naqada gave archaeologists the sequence of predynastic Egypt. Coptos, now Qift, controlled the desert road to the Red Sea for three thousand years and grew rich on incense and spice caravans. Dendera’s temple of Hathor, finished under the Romans, keeps the best preserved painted ceiling in Egypt. In the Middle Ages Qus was the transit port for pilgrims and Indian Ocean goods, second only to Cairo in size. In December 1945 two brothers digging for fertiliser near Nag Hammadi uncovered thirteen leather bound codices, the earliest surviving Gnostic library.
Getting There
Qena is a railway junction: the Cairo to Aswan main line runs through it, and a branch crosses the Eastern Desert to Safaga on the Red Sea. Express trains reach Cairo in about eight hours. The Qift to Quseir road is the shortest link between the Nile and the Red Sea coast, about 180 km. Luxor International Airport, 60 km south, is the nearest airport.
FAQ
What is the capital of Qena Governorate?
Qena city, on the east bank of the Nile at the Qena bend.
How many districts does Qena have?
Nine marakiz and one kism, plus the new city of New Qena.
What is the population of Qena Governorate?
CAPMAS estimated 3,640,916 people in July 2023. The 2017 census counted 3,164,281.
How many villages are in Qena?
This page lists 252 named settlements across the nine marakiz. Smaller hamlets are counted with their parent village.
Is Luxor part of Qena Governorate?
No. Luxor was separated from Qena on 7 December 2009 and is now a governorate in its own right.
What is Qena known for?
Sugarcane, the temple of Hathor at Dendera, the Nag Hammadi codices and the Naqada predynastic culture.