About
From the sea to the Bahig canal
The markaz in brief
Borg El Arab Markaz and City, commonly called «حي برج العرب» (Borg El Arab District) in the press, is the western end of Alexandria Governorate. To the north it runs along the Mediterranean from kilometre 34.5 to kilometre 61.5 of the coast road; to the south it reaches the Bahig canal; and it stretches from the West Alexandria airport road in the east to the border of Matrouh Governorate in the west, as the boundary document published by Alexandria Governorate sets it.
Prime minister’s decree 1245 of 1990 created the local unit of Borg El Arab markaz in Alexandria Governorate, covering the town of Borg El Arab, the markaz capital, and the local units of the villages of Abu Sir, El Gharbaniyat and Bahig. The town has nine shiakhas, and the three village units hold 24 villages and the nagaas that belong to them.1
The markaz headquarters stands on Anwar El Sadat Street in old Borg El Arab town and houses the technology citizen service centre. In the village of Abu Sir are the Temple of Osiris at Taposiris Magna and the Tower of Abu Sir.
New Borg El Arab city, south of the markaz, is not part of it: it belongs to the New Urban Communities Authority and is run by the New Borg El Arab City Development Authority, which has its own technology centre. If you live there, file your requests with the city authority, not at the markaz headquarters; this site does not list its places.
The district in numbers
4
Local units
9
Shiakhas in the town
24
Villages
The units, shiakhas and villages as in the markaz’s administrative limits document on the governorate portal1
The district at a glance
Our vision for clearer services, protected heritage and a district that welcomes residents and visitors.
An orderly markaz and town where every resident, in the town, the villages and the nagaas, gets their service easily and clearly, and where the antiquities of Abu Sir are kept safe.
Local units
Four units: Borg El Arab town, the markaz capital, and the local units of the villages of Abu Sir, El Gharbaniyat and Bahig.
Borg El Arab town
مدينة برج العرب
The markaz capital. Its shiakhas: Borg El Arab (A), Borg El Arab (B), El Sanaqra, Hawara, Hamida, Shamikh, Ragab Taeb, Awlad Mansour, Seif El Nasr1
Abu Sir
أبو صير
Its villages: El Sharara, South Maraqia, El Shorouk, El Fanar, Wasat El Sahel, Abu Sir. Its nagaas: Fanoush, El Qanashat, Gharb, El Qarya El Om, Samalous, El Azayem, Haboush Sharq, El Qoreidat, Hamlis, El Shatour, El Bahouz1
El Gharbaniyat
الغربانيات
Its villages: El Gowaira, El Gharbaniyat. Its nagaas: El Asafra, El Nahda, El Gowaida, Hammouda, El Sahfaq, El Baradha, Mesbah1
Bahig
بهيج
Its villages: Bahig (A), El Baragna, El Shahid Abd Rabbo, Abd El Mawla Salem, El Sekka, El Tanmia, Khabboun, El Qasimiya, El Gazzan, Sakran, El Sheikh Gaballah, El Sheikh Sayed, Malsa, El Wehda, Karm Khedr, El Borg El Gedid. Its nagaas: El Sarahna, El Methaq, El Qasimiya, Hamida, El Qetaan1
CAPMAS counts people by police qism, not by local unit: on 1 July 2017 it estimated 92,175 people in qism Borg El Arab, and 2,963 in the Alexandria part of the North Coast police area. The qism’s lines do not match the markaz’s units exactly, so the site gives no figure per unit, and does not add the two together.2
The units’ lines on the map are approximate: they are drawn from the shiakha outlines OCHA/HDX publishes from CAPMAS, which do not draw the local units themselves.
Timeline
Taposiris Magna
3rd century BC
Ptolemy II Philadelphus founded the town of Taposiris Magna, dedicated to Osiris, as the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities records. The temple walls standing today date to the 1st century BC.
Borg El Arab markaz in Matrouh
1988
Prime minister’s decree 917 of 1988 created the local unit of Borg El Arab markaz in Matrouh Governorate, covering the town of Borg El Arab and the local units of the villages of Bahig and Abu Sir.
Into Alexandria Governorate
1990
After presidential decrees 101 and 359 of 1990 redrew Alexandria Governorate, prime minister’s decree 1245 of 1990 created the local unit of Borg El Arab markaz in Alexandria, adding the local unit of the village of El Gharbaniyat.
The administrative limits
2016
In January 2016 Alexandria Governorate published the administrative limits of Borg El Arab Markaz and City: its four limits, the town’s nine shiakhas, and the villages and nagaas of each unit.
A tunnel under Taposiris
2022
In November 2022 the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced a rock-cut tunnel about 13 metres below ground at Taposiris Magna, about 1,305 metres long.
Our priorities
Four commitments that govern the district’s day-to-day decisions.
Automated, understandable service
Residents should know the documents their service needs before they visit the technology centre, and find shop licences, requests and complaints handled in one place, for the town and the villages alike.
Clean, well-lit streets
Clearing waste and keeping the street lighting working every day across the markaz, and following up the weekly and one-day markets.
Villages that deserve a decent life
Following up sewerage and road paving in the markaz’s villages under the «حياة كريمة» (Decent Life) programme, and restoring streets once the works are done.
An open door for residents
The weekly public meeting, chaired by the head of the markaz, to hear requests and complaints, and the Governor of Alexandria’s public meetings for the western sector at the markaz headquarters.