New Valley Governorate (Arabic: محافظة الوادي الجديد), also written El Wadi El Gedid, covers the whole of Egypt’s south-western desert. At 440,098 km² it is the largest governorate in Egypt, about 44 per cent of the country’s land area. It holds only 266,926 people (mid-2023 CAPMAS estimate). The capital is Kharga, and every settlement sits in one of four oases: Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra and the Baris district.
| Capital | Kharga |
|---|---|
| Population | 266,926 (mid-2023 CAPMAS estimate) |
| 2017 census | 241,247 |
| Area | 440,098 km² |
| Density | 0.6 people per km² |
| Divisions | 4 marakiz, 1 kism |
| Region | Western Desert, southern Egypt |
| Phone code | 092 |
Towns and Villages in New Valley Governorate
This directory lists 55 mapped settlements, grouped by oasis. New Valley has fewer places than any other governorate because farming is only possible where groundwater reaches the surface or can be pumped. Many villages carry the names of Arab cities and countries. That is a legacy of the 1960s resettlement schemes, which moved families here from the Nile valley. Populations are mid-2023 CAPMAS estimates.
Kharga
Kharga is the capital and the seat of the governorate’s only kism, Al-Wahat al-Kharija, with 105,796 people. Kharga town has about 83,000 residents. The depression runs roughly 150 kilometres north to south, and its villages string along the road between the wells. 26 settlements are mapped.
- Al Khārjah
- Al Maḩārīq
- Būlāq
- ‘Ezbet Algeir
- ‘Ezbet Muḩammad Tuleib
- ‘Ezbet Nasser
- ‘Ezbet Sanâ
- ‘Izbat al Bīr
- ‘Izbat ash Sha‘ābinah
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn al ‘Āl
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn al ‘Ishsh
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn aţ Ţawīl
- ‘Izbat Bīr ‘Ayn al Ghurāb al Qiblī
- ‘Izbat Dīb Wā‘ir
- ‘Izbat Ḩalfā
- ‘Izbat Jād al Karīm
- ‘Izbat Manşūr Bashīr
- ‘Izbat Muḩammad Khalīl
- ‘Izbat Muḩammad Wahbah
- ‘Izbat Qaşr Zayyān
- ‘Izbat Yūsuf Muḩammad Dabāshah
- Jināḩ
- Qaryat al Jazā’ir
- Qaryat Nāşir
- Qaryat Şan‘ā’
- Qaşr al Ghuwayţah
Dakhla
Dakhla markaz holds 95,500 people, second only to Kharga. Mut is its main town, with about 27,000 residents. Al-Qasr, north of Mut, keeps a mudbrick old town of Ayyubid and Ottoman date that is still partly lived in. 10 settlements are mapped.
- Al Hindāw
- Al Jadīdah
- Al Ma‘şarah
- Al Qalamūn
- Al Qaşr
- Ar Rāshidah
- Ismant
- ‘Izbat ash Shaykh Mawhūb
- ‘Izbat Fuţayyimah
- Mūţ
Balat
Balat markaz counts 13,094 people at the eastern end of the Dakhla depression, the smallest markaz in Egypt by population. Its mudbrick village core is medieval. Ain Asil, just outside, was the Old Kingdom governors’ town of the Sixth Dynasty. 3 settlements are mapped.
- Balāţ
- ‘Izbat Ţulayţilah
- Tunaydah
Farafra
Farafra markaz holds 37,669 people and is the most isolated of the four. Qasr al-Farafra, its only town of any size, has around 5,000 residents. The White Desert National Park and the springs at Ain Bishoi lie within the markaz. Gazetteer coverage here is minimal; only the town itself carries a mapped record.
- Qaşr al Farāfirah
Baris
Baris markaz counts 14,867 people in the southern arm of the Kharga depression, about 90 kilometres below the capital. The Roman fortress and temple at Dush, ancient Kysis, guard the old caravan route south. 15 settlements are mapped.
- Al Maks al Baḩrī
- Bārīs
- Būr Sa‘īd
- ‘Ezbet ‘Aîn Barqas
- Filasţīn
- ‘Izbat al Maks al Baḩrī
- ‘Izbat al Maks al Qiblī
- ‘Izbat aţ Ţarfāyah
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn aḑ Ḑab‘
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn al Qaşr
- ‘Izbat ‘Ayn Barqas
- ‘Izbat Badrān
- ‘Izbat Brām
- ‘Izbat Dūsh
- Jurmashīn
Geography
Kharga town sits at 25°27′N 30°33′E. The governorate is a plateau of limestone and sandstone broken by depressions where the rock has been stripped down to the water table. Those depressions are the oases. Kharga lies about 230 kilometres west of Asyut, Dakhla a further 190 kilometres west, and Farafra another 310 kilometres north-west of Dakhla.
New Valley reaches the Libyan border in the west and the Sudanese border in the south. Inside Egypt it meets Matrouh to the north and Giza to the north-east. Its long eastern boundary runs against Minya, Asyut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor and Aswan. The Gilf Kebir plateau and the Great Sand Sea occupy the empty south-west.
Demographics
The 2017 census recorded 241,247 residents. The mid-2023 estimate of 266,926 is 11 per cent higher. Growth trails the Nile valley because little land can be opened without new wells. Kharga and Dakhla together hold three quarters of the population. Density is 0.6 people per km², the lowest in Egypt by a wide margin. The figure means little, because outside the oases the desert is empty.
Many residents are descended from families resettled from Upper Egypt after 1959. Older oasis families in Dakhla and Farafra speak a distinct dialect with vocabulary not heard in the valley.
Economy and Local Life
Everything depends on groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer, drawn by deep wells. Dates are the signature crop, with olives, wheat, alfalfa and rice grown under pivot irrigation. Dakhla and Kharga both run date-packing plants.
Phosphate mining on the Abu Tartur plateau, between Kharga and Dakhla, is the main extractive industry and ships ore east by rail. The East Uweinat scheme in the far south-west is the largest reclamation project here. It farms deep groundwater a few hundred kilometres from any town. Tourism is small but steady: the White Desert, the hot springs, and the temples at Hibis and Dush.
History
The oases have been settled since prehistory. Rock art in the Gilf Kebir, including the Cave of Swimmers, was painted when the desert still held seasonal water. Balat was an Old Kingdom administrative centre by the Sixth Dynasty, around 2300 BC. The Temple of Hibis at Kharga, built under Darius I in the sixth century BC, is the best-preserved Persian-period temple in Egypt. The Bagawat necropolis beside it holds several hundred mudbrick chapels from the fourth to sixth centuries, among the oldest Christian cemeteries anywhere.
Kharga stood on the Darb al-Arbain, the forty-day caravan road from Darfur to Asyut. Roman forts along that route survive at Dush and Qasr al-Ghueita. The modern name dates to 1958, when the government launched the New Valley Project to open a second inhabited valley in the desert. The governorate was created in 1958 and settlers arrived through the 1960s.
Getting There
The usual approach is the paved desert road west from Asyut, about 230 kilometres and three hours to Kharga. From Cairo the drive is roughly 600 kilometres by way of Asyut, or a longer northern route through Bahariya to Farafra. Kharga Airport handles limited domestic service. Buses run daily from Cairo and Asyut to Kharga and Dakhla, and less often to Farafra. There is no passenger rail service; the line from Qena to Kharga carries phosphate.
FAQ
What is the capital of New Valley Governorate?
Kharga, in the Kharga depression. The town had about 83,000 residents in the mid-2023 estimate.
How many towns and villages are in New Valley?
This page lists 55 mapped settlements across the four oases. The number is small because habitation is limited to places with usable groundwater.
What is the population of New Valley Governorate?
266,926 in the mid-2023 CAPMAS estimate, up from 241,247 at the 2017 census.
Why is New Valley the largest governorate in Egypt?
Its boundaries take in the whole south-western desert to the Libyan and Sudanese borders, 440,098 km² in all, about 44 per cent of Egypt.
How far is Kharga from Asyut?
About 230 kilometres by the paved desert road, roughly three hours by car.
What is New Valley known for?
Date farming on deep groundwater, phosphate mining at Abu Tartur, the White Desert National Park, and the Temple of Hibis at Kharga.