Beni Suef Governorate

Beni Suef Governorate (Arabic: محافظة بني سويف) lies in northern Upper Egypt, on both banks of the Nile about 120 kilometres south of Cairo. Its capital, Beni Suef, stands on the west bank and anchors a governorate of 3,592,039 people (mid-2023 CAPMAS estimate) spread over 10,954 km². Seven marakiz and two fully urban kisms divide the governorate.

Towns and Villages in Beni Suef Governorate

This directory lists 208 mapped settlements in Beni Suef, grouped under the markaz they sit nearest to. A few villages on a markaz border may belong to the neighbouring markaz. Populations shown for each markaz are mid-2023 CAPMAS estimates.

Beni Suef

Beni Suef markaz holds 473,978 people and rings the capital. Beni Suef city itself is a separate kism with 294,125 residents, and the satellite of New Beni Suef adds 34,757. 32 settlements are mapped here.

• Aḑ Ḑabā‘inah
• Al Ḩakāminah
• Al Ḩalābīyah wa Nazlat Muşţafá Bey
• Al Janādilah
• Al Jazīrah al Gharbīyah
• Al Kawm al Aḩmar
• Banī ‘Affān
• Banī ‘Aţīyah
• Banī Bakhīt
• Banī Ḩamad
• Banī Hārūn
• Banī Riḑwān
• Banī Suwayf
• Bārūţ
• Bayāḑ an Naşārá
• Bilifyā
• Dimūshīyah
• ‘Ezbet el-Waqf
• ‘Izbat ash Shaykh ‘Alī al Yamanī
• ‘Izbat Sharīf
• ‘Izbat Tall Abū Nārūz
• Manqarīsh
• Minshāt ‘Āşim
• Naj‘ ‘Arab
• Naj‘ ‘Arab al Fawā’id
• Nazlat Abū Salīm
• Nazlat Ma‘ārik
• Nazlat Sa‘īd
• Nazlat Sharīf Bāshā
• Nazlat ‘Uways Shahmī
• New Bani Sewif City
• Tizmant ash Sharqīyah

Nasser

Nasser markaz counts 427,926 people on the west bank north of the capital. Bush, with about 136,000 residents, is its largest town and a stop on the Cairo–Aswan railway. Gazetteer coverage of its villages is thin; only 4 settlements carry a mapped record.

• Banī Mūsá
• Banī Zā’id
• Būsh
• Nazlat ar Ruhbān

El Wasta

El Wasta is the northernmost markaz, with 549,614 people. Its town is the junction where the Faiyum branch line leaves the main Cairo–Aswan railway. The Meidum pyramid stands at its northern edge. 11 settlements are mapped.

• Ad Diyābīyah
• Al Maşlūb
• Banī Ḩudayr
• Ibwīţ al Qadīmah
• Jazīrat al Masā‘idah
• Kawm Abū Rāḑī
• Ma‘şarat Abū Şīr
• Maydūm
• Nazlat adh Dhi’ābīyah
• Qiman al ‘Arūs
• Zāwiyat al Maşlūb

Ihnasia

Ihnasia markaz has 438,687 people west of the capital. Ihnasya el-Medina, the ancient Herakleopolis Magna, gives the markaz its name. 31 settlements are mapped.

• Al ‘Awāwinah
• Al Bahsamūn
• Al Masīd al Abyaḑ
• An Nuwayrah
• Ash Shawbak
• Bahnamūh
• Banī Aḩmad
• Barāwah al Waqf
• Dayr Barāwah
• ‘Ezbet Ṭutba ‘Eid
• Idrāsiyah
• Ihnāsīyah
• Ihnāsyā al Madīnah
• Ihwah
• Kafr Abū Shahbah
• Kawm al ‘Aşşārah
• Kawm ar Raml al Baḩrī
• Manharah
• Minshāt al Ḩājj
• Minshāt al Umarā’
• Minshāt Kassāb
• Miyānah
• Nazlat al Mashāriqah
• Nazlat Khalaf
• Nazlat Shāwīsh
• Ninā
• Qalhā
• Qillah
• Sharahī
• Shāţir Zādah
• Ţūwah

Biba

Biba markaz counts 528,065 people in the centre of the governorate. Biba town has about 95,000 residents and a railway station. 42 settlements are mapped.

• Abū Shiryān
• Al Barāniqah
• Al Fuqqā‘ī
• Al Malāḩīyah
• As Sulţānī
• Banī ‘Awaḑ
• Banī Māḑī
• Banī Muḩammad ash Sharqīyah
• Banī Qāsim
• Bibā
• ‘Ezbet el-Mailâhîya
• Fazārah
• Hillīyah
• ‘Izbat al Barāniqah
• ‘Izbat al Faqīrah
• ‘Izbat al Qarāminah
• ‘Izbat ash Sharīf
• ‘Izbat Ghayyāḑah
• ‘Izbat Ḩamad
• ‘Izbat Muḩammad Raḑwān
• ‘Izbat Umm al Janāzīr
• Jabal an Nūr
• Jazīrat Bibā
• Kafr Abū Dukhkhān
• Kafr al Manāshī
• Kafr Jum‘ah
• Kafr Manşūr
• Manshīyat Banī ‘Awaḑ
• Manyal Mūsá
• Minyat al Jīd
• Naj‘ ‘Uways
• Nazlat ‘Alī Kīlānī
• Nazlat al ‘Ujrah
• Nazlat ‘Arafah
• Qābrīqat Bibā
• Qunbush al Ḩamrā’
• Rizqat al Mashāriqah
• Sannūr
• Suds al Umarā’
• Ţaḩā al Bīshah
• Ţansā Banī Mālū
• Ţarshūb

Sumusta El Waqf

Sumusta El Waqf holds 312,983 people, the smallest markaz by population. Two adjoining towns, Sumusta al-Waqf and Sumusta al-Sultani, form its centre. 44 settlements are mapped.

• Absūj
• Al ‘Asākirah
• Al Maḩmūdīyah
• Al Qaryah al Qiblīyah
• Al Qaşabah
• ‘Arab Mūsá Yūsuf
• Ash Shunţūr
• Badahl
• Banī Ḩallah
• Banī Muḩammad Rāshid
• Banī Mu’minah
• Dashţūţ
• Dishāshah
• ‘Ezbet Hamad Muftaḥ
• ‘Ezbet Rushdî
• Hinidhfā
• ‘Izbat ash Shaykh Khaţţāb
• ‘Izbat Mathlá Jīhān
• ‘Izbat Nāşir
• ‘Izbat Talt
• Kafr ash Shaykh ‘Ābid
• Kafr Banī ‘alī
• Kafr Ţalā
• Kawm an Nūr
• Kawm ar Raml al Qiblī
• Kawm aş Şa‘āyidah
• Minshāt Abū Milīḩ
• Muzūrah
• Naj‘ ‘Abd Allāh ‘Abd al Jawwād
• Naj‘ al Kawm al Aḩmar
• Naj‘ ‘Arab al Jadādifah
• Naj‘ aş Şa‘āydah
• Naj‘ Muḩammad Ya‘qūb
• Naj‘ Shāfi‘ī
• Nazlat ad Dīb
• Nazlat az Zāwiyah
• Nazlat Qufţān
• Qaryah Raqam Ithnān
• Şafţ Rāshīn
• Sarabū
• Sumusţā al Waqf
• Sumusţā as Sulţānī
• Ţalā
• Talt wa al Qal‘ah

El Fashn

El Fashn is the southernmost markaz, with 531,904 people. El Fashn town has about 113,000 residents and sits on the west bank beside the Bahr Yusuf canal. 44 settlements are mapped.

• Al Barqī
• Al Fant
• Al Fashn
• Al Ḩībah al Gharbī
• Al Jafādūn
• Al Jamhūd
• Al Jazīrah ash Sharqīyah
• Al Kunayyisah
• Al Qaryah Raqam Arba‘ah
• Al Quḑḑābī
• Az Zāwiyah al Khaḑrā’
• Banī Minayn
• Banī Şāliḩ
• Bisfā
• Dilhānis
• ‘Ezbet Amin
• Harabshant
• Iqfahş
• ‘Izbah Arba‘ah al Baḩrīyah
• ‘Izbah Raqam Arba‘ah al Qiblīyah
• ‘Izbah Raqam Thalāthah
• ‘Izbat al Fant
• ‘Izbat ‘Alī Khalīfah
• ‘Izbat al ‘Uqr
• ‘Izbat ash Shuqr
• ‘Izbat Dayr al Ḩadīd
• ‘Izbat ‘Ilwānī Hilayyil
• ‘Izbat Kawm ar Raml
• ‘Izbat Sa‘dāwī
• ‘Izbat Şafţ
• Jazīrat al Waklīyah
• Kafr Darwīsh
• Kafr Minsābah
• Naj‘ ‘Arab Mahdī al Aḩzam
• Naj‘ Awlād Bahīj
• Nazlat an Naşārá
• Nazlat Ḩannā Ḩannā
• Nazlat Iqfahş
• Nuqţat ‘Arab Mu’min Shu‘aylah
• Qaryah Raqam Thalāthah
• Şafţ al Khirsah
• Şafţ al ‘Urafā
• Shinará
• Zāwiyat an Nāwiyah

Geography

Beni Suef city sits at 29°04′N 31°05′E. The governorate is a strip of Nile floodplain, roughly 15 to 25 kilometres wide, with desert on both sides. The Bahr Yusuf canal runs parallel to the Nile on the west bank and feeds most of the farmland. Beyond the cultivated land, the Eastern Desert climbs toward the limestone hills and the alabaster cave of Wadi Sannur.

Beni Suef borders Giza to the north, Faiyum to the north-west, Minya to the south, and Red Sea across the Eastern Desert.

Demographics

The 2017 census recorded 3,154,100 residents. The mid-2023 estimate of 3,592,039 is 14 per cent higher, an annual growth rate near 2.2 per cent. Beni Suef is mostly rural: the two fully urban kisms hold about 329,000 people, or roughly 9 per cent of the total. Everyone else lives in a markaz that mixes a market town with dozens of villages.

Density across the full 10,954 km² works out at 328 people per km². That figure understates daily life, because almost all residents live on the narrow cultivated strip. Measured against the farmed area alone, density passes 2,700 people per km².

Economy and Local Life

Cement is the industry Beni Suef is known for nationally. Plants at Bayad al-Arab and along the east bank supply a large share of Egypt’s output, and quarrying limestone employs thousands. Farming still carries most households. Wheat, maize, cotton, onions and potatoes are the main crops, and Beni Suef is one of Egypt’s leading onion-growing governorates.

Beni Suef University, founded in 2005, draws students from across Middle Egypt. New Beni Suef, laid out east of the river, adds housing and light industry. Weekly markets in Biba, El Fashn and El Wasta remain the main trading days for surrounding villages.

History

Ihnasya el-Medina was Herakleopolis Magna, capital of Egypt during the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties in the First Intermediate Period. The Meidum pyramid marks the governorate’s northern edge. Begun for Huni and finished for Sneferu around 2600 BC, it was the first attempt at a true pyramid. Coptic monastic communities settled the desert margins from the fourth century, and several churches at Barawa and Bayad still hold services. The modern governorate took its present shape in the 1960s.

Getting There

The drive from Cairo takes about two hours. Two routes run south. The Agricultural Road follows the west bank through El Wasta and Bush. The faster Eastern Desert Road runs on the east bank. The Cairo–Aswan railway stops at El Wasta, Bush, Beni Suef, Biba and El Fashn. At El Wasta the branch line turns west to Faiyum. Intercity buses and service taxis leave Cairo’s Moneib and Torgoman terminals through the day.

FAQ

What is the capital of Beni Suef Governorate?

Beni Suef city, on the west bank of the Nile. It had 294,125 residents in the mid-2023 estimate.

How many villages are in Beni Suef?

This page lists 208 mapped settlements across the seven marakiz. Official village councils number fewer, because each council covers several hamlets.

What is the population of Beni Suef Governorate?

3,592,039 in the mid-2023 CAPMAS estimate, up from 3,154,100 at the 2017 census.

How far is Beni Suef from Cairo?

About 120 kilometres south, roughly two hours by road and two and a half by train.

What is Beni Suef known for?

Cement production, onion farming, the Meidum pyramid and the ruins of Herakleopolis Magna at Ihnasya el-Medina.

What is the telephone area code for Beni Suef?

082, dialled as +20 82 from outside Egypt.