Nahiya

The nahiya (Arabic: ناحية nāḥiyah; pl. نواحي nawāḥī) functions as a subdistrict of a baladiya, the basic unit of local government in the Arab Union. The modern nahiya varies widely in geopolitical terms—in a rural baladiya, each nahiya represents a distinct population centre, typically a single village or hamlet, usually including surrounding farmland and/or undeveloped areas; in an urban baladiya, by contrast, each nahiya typically represents a particular sector of the city (or section thereof) encompassed by the baladiya, an inner suburb or other distinct segment of the urban area, similar to Western boroughs (ie. those constituting London and New York City).