wilayas

A wilaya is an administrative division used in several Arabic-speaking countries, most prominently in Algeria, where it is equivalent to a province or state. The term derives from wali, meaning governor or custodian, and signifies the territory governed by a wali.

In Algeria, there are 58 wilayas. Each wilaya has a capital city, known as the chef-lieu, which serves as the administrative center. The head of a wilaya is the wali, a government-appointed official who acts as the representative of the central authorities within the province and oversees state administration, security, and development policy. The wilaya also hosts an elected provincial assembly, the Assemblée populaire de wilaya (APW), which handles local legislation and budgetary matters.

Wilayas are subdivided into daïras (districts), which are further divided into communes (municipalities). The country has a large number of communes—around 1,500 in total—distributed across the wilayas and daïras, forming the basic units of local government and public service delivery.

Historically, the wilaya system was introduced after independence as a means to modernize and reorganize Algeria’s administrative structure, replacing former colonial divisions. The boundaries and the number of wilayas have been adjusted over time to reflect population changes and development needs, with the system designed to bring governance closer to residents.

Examples of well-known wilayas include Algiers (Alger), Oran, Constantine, Blida, Oran, Tamanrasset, and Tlemcen, among others. While the term is most closely associated with Algeria, the word wilaya or wilayah appears in other Arab and African contexts to denote province-like regions, reflecting a shared linguistic and administrative heritage.