Administrative divisions of the Arab Union
The Union of Arab Republics (UAR; informally the Arab Union) is formally organised into four levels of administrative divisions, which constitute the lower three of the country's four tiers of government, below the federal level as the upper tier.
Because the Arab Union is a federation, the first tier below the federal government (officially termed union republics) consists of the 20 federated states which make up the union. Each republic has its own elected executive (officially termed a governorate) which is either directly responsible for or entrusted by federal ministries domestic administration at the individual republican level, with the federal government concerning itself primarily with foreign affairs, diplomacy, trade, aid, interstate cooperation and defence, as well as those matters affecting more than one republic or the union as a whole. Anything not concerning more than a single republic is under the purview of the republican level of government (governorates). For exxample, the National Police is officially a single federation wide entity, but is in fact divided into 22 strictly republic-level separate hierarchies, with a smaller all-union hierarchy responsible for multi-republic or all-union law enforcement affairs at the very top, ultimately controlled by the all-union Ministry of Interior.
Below the level of republics/governorates are the districts (the third administrative level), which each encompass multiple baladiyāt (singular baladiya; the fourth and lowest de jure level). For the most part districts function as simple arbitrators between the governorate and baladiya levels within their geographical area, and also exist to administer unpopulated areas which do not come under the jurisdiction of any baladiyāt. While district governments are appointed by the governorates, each baladiya has its own elected council (local government) known traditionally as a majlis, which is responsible for local public administration and basic services within its area of jurisdiction (comparable to a Western municipality), whereas district administrations are typically directly appointed by the respective governorate.
Therefore, the administrative hierarchy (from top to bottom) is as follows:
- Union of Arab Republics (federal government)
- Republics (governorates)
- Districts
- Baladiyāt (municipalities)
The two exceptions to the above are:
- Nasseria, the national capital, which constitutes its own federal district outside the jurisdiction of any republic, merging the three administrative levels found in the republics, and which serves as the seat of the federal government; and,
- the Kurdistan Autonomous Region, which is also separate from the republics, but otherwise functions identically with the same internal administrative hierarchy.