Kairouan Governorate

Kairouan قيروان
Governorate
Map of Tunisia with Kairouan highlighted
Subdivisions of Kairouan Governorate
Coordinates: 35°40′N 10°06′E / 35.667°N 10.100°E / 35.667; 10.100
Country	Tunisia
Created	21 June 1956
Capital	Kairouan
Government
• Governor	Dhaker Bargaoui (since 2024)[1]
Area
• Total	6,712 km2 (2,592 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 8th of 24
Population  (2014)
• Total	570,559
• Rank	Ranked 5th of 24
• Density	85/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01 (CET)
Postal prefix	xx
ISO 3166 code	TN-41

Kairouan Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية قيروان Wilāyat Qiyrwān; French: Gouvernorat de Kairouan) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is landlocked and in the centre-east of the country. It covers an area of 6,712 km² and has a population of 570,559 (2014 census). The narrower province of Sousse borders it to the east, the nearest coastline^[2] The capital is Kairouan. Lowland parts of the province are semi-arid, experiencing in most years light rains in the winter months and scant rainfall in other months but higher parts attract relief precipitation in and around the Djebel Zhagdoud and a large part of the Djebel Serj national parks, in the north-east of the province which are geologically outcrops of the Dorsal Atlas mountains in the province to the north.

The Kairouan Governorate is divided into eleven delegations (mutamadiyat), listed below with their populations at the 2004 and 2014 Censuses,^[3] and further sub-divided into sectors (imada).

Twelve municipalities are included within Kairouan Governorate:

• Aïn Chrichira^[5]

A historical list of Governors of Bizerte Governorate since the independence in 1956:

• 1956–1964: Amor Chachia
• 1964: Mohsen Bel Aljia
• 1964–1969: Mongi Fekih
• 1969–1970: Amor Msadek
• 1970–1972: Slim Aloulou
• 1972–1978: Tahar Boussemma
• 1978–1979: Hédi Alaya
• 1979–1981: Béchir Lahmidi
• 1981–1982: Abdessalem Ben Ammar
• 1982–1984: Chédli Neffati
• 1984–1987: Khaled Guezmir
• 1987–1988: Rafik Belhaj Kacem
• 1988–1991: Kamel Haj Sassi
• 1991–1992: Salem Mekki
• 1992–1993: Noureddine Hafsi
• 1993–1994: Salah Jouini
• 1994–2000: Jamel Bouslimi
• 2000–2001: Habib Ben Gamra
• 2001–2004: Habib Aoual
• 2004–2007: Néjib Barkallah
• 2007–2011: Yassine Barbouche
• 2011–2011: Abdeljelil Ben Hassen
• 2011–2012: Mohamed Sahraoui
• 2012–2013: Abdelmajid Laghouen
• 2013–2014: Abdennaser Ellafi
• 2014–2015: Mohsen Mansouri^[6]
• 2015–2016: Chokri Belhassen^[7]
• 2016–2017: Taoufik Ouertani^[8]
• 2017–2019: Mounir Hamdi^[9]
• 2019–2023: Mohamed Bourguiba^[10][11]
• Since 2024: Dhaker Bargaoui^[12]