Nahiyah

Nahiyah, also spelled nahiye or nahiyah, is an administrative division used in the Middle East and historically in the Ottoman Empire. The word derives from Arabic nāḥiyya, meaning region or side, and it is commonly translated as subdistrict. In many contemporary states, a nahiyah is a subdivision of a district and groups a number of villages or towns under a single local administration.

Historically, in the Ottoman provincial system, a nahiye was a subdivision of a kazā (district) within a vilayet (province). It was headed by a local official and served as an intermediate level for tax collection, civil registration, and local governance. The structure varied regionally, but the nahiyah generally bridged the rural municipality and the larger district.

In modern usage, nahiyahs remain a standard administrative unit in several Arab countries, notably where governorates are divided into districts that are themselves subdivided into nahiyahs. Each nahiyah typically comprises several villages and is administered by a local official under the supervision of the district authorities; responsibilities include local development, civil services, and record-keeping. The precise powers and boundaries of a nahiyah differ by country and law, and in some places the term appears mainly in statistical or historical contexts.

See also: administrative division, district, subdistrict.