Nahiyah

{{Short description|Type of administrative division in West and Central Asia}} {{redirect|Nahiyeh|the villages in Iran|Nahiyeh (disambiguation){{!}}Nahiyeh}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2021}}

A '''nahiyah''' or '''nahiya''' ({{langx|ar|نَاحِيَة|nāḥiya}} {{IPA|ar|ˈnaːħija|}}, plural {{lang|ar|نَوَاحِي}}, {{translit|ar|nawāḥī}} {{IPA|ar|naˈwaːħiː|}}), also spelled '''nahia''', '''nahiyeh''' or '''nahiye''', is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. The Ottoman ''nahiye'', also called a ''bucak'', was a third-level or lower administrative division, and remains as such in some successor states such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, with the Balkan states of Serbia and Montenegro having preserved the term for a while after liberation for the highest administrative unit as ''nahija''. In Tajikistan and the autonomous Chinese region of Xinjiang, both from the Turco-Persian or Turkic regions of Asia, it is a second- and third-level division, respectively. A ''nahiyah'' can constitute a division of a ''qada''', ''mintaqa'' or other such district-type division and is sometimes translated as "subdistrict".

== Ottoman Empire == The nahiye ({{langx|ota|ناحیه}}) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire, smaller than a {{lang|ota-Latn|kaza}}. The head was a {{lang|ota-Latn|mütesellim}} (governor) who was appointed by the Pasha.

The {{lang|ota-Latn|kaza}} was a subdivision of a {{lang|ota-Latn|sanjak}}<ref name=Somel151>Selçuk Akşin Somel. "Kazâ". ''The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire''. Volume 152 of A to Z Guides. Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. p. 151. {{ISBN|9780810875791}}</ref> and corresponded roughly to a city with its surrounding villages. {{lang|ota-Latn|Kaza}}s, in turn, were divided into {{lang|ota-Latn|nahiye}}s (each governed by a {{lang|ota-Latn|müdür}}) and villages ({{lang|ota-Latn|karye}}, each governed by a {{lang|ota-Latn|muhtar}}).<ref name=Cetinsaya>Gökhan Çetinsaya. ''The Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890–1908.'' SOAS/Routledge Studies on the Middle East. Routledge, 2006. p. 8-9. {{ISBN|9780203481325}}</ref> Revisions of 1871 to the administrative law established the {{lang|ota-Latn|nahiye}} (still governed by a {{lang|ota-Latn|müdür}}) as an intermediate level between the kaza and the village.<ref name=Cetinsaya/>

===Successor states in the Balkans=== After achieving national liberation, the Principality of Serbia (1817–1833) and Principality of Montenegro (1852–1910) preserved the term as {{lang|sr-Latn|nahija}} ({{lang-sr-cyr|нахија}}).

== Examples == ===Arabic-speaking countries===  {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Country ! Level above (Arabic) ! Level above (English) ! Main article |- | Syria | Mintaqa (formerly qadaa) | district | |- | Palestine | Liwa' | governorates | Districts of Palestine |- | Iraq | Qada' | district | Subdistricts of Iraq |- | Lebanon | | | |- | Jordan | Liwa' | governorate | Nahias of Jordan |}

===Turkic-speaking territories=== * Xinjiang, China: a subdivision of a prefectural. * Ottoman Empire: subdistrict, commune, parish; a subdivision of a {{lang|ota-Latn|kaza}} ({{lang|ota|قضاء}}).

===Other=== * Districts of Tajikistan: a subdivision of a province. * Nahiye (Ottoman)#Successor states in the Balkans

==Persian language== Persian has borrowed the Arabic word with the spelling ناحیه. Encyclopædia Iranica transliterates it mostly as ''nahia'' or, with diacritics, ''nāḥia/nāḥīa''.<ref>[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamkaran "Jamkarān"], Encyclopædia Iranica - online version. Quote: "... Jamkarān was the first village founded in the Qom district (''nāḥia'') by Jam. " Retrieved 15 Dec 2024.</ref> In modern contexts it may be used with the meaning of anything between 'census region',<ref>[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/census-i "Census: i. In Iran"], Encyclopædia Iranica - online version. Quote: "The country was divided into 25 census regions (''nāḥīa'')..." Retrieved 15 Dec 2024.</ref> and 'section' as in "Section (''nāḥia'') 2 of eleven local fishing stations".<ref>[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/astana-district-of-lahian-gilan "Āstāna"], Encyclopædia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 8, p. 837 - online version. Retrieved 15 Dec 2024.</ref>

==See also== *Nahia (disambiguation page)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{wiktionary|nahiye|ناحية|ناحیه|nahiya}}

{{Arabic terms for country subdivisions}} Category:Types of administrative division Category:Arabic words and phrases