Algeria, as of 2025, is divided into 69 wilayas (provinces). Prior to November 16, 2025, there were 58 provinces. The 69 provinces are divided into 1,541 baladiyahs (municipalities). The name of a province is always that of its capital city.
According to the Algerian constitution, a wilaya is a territorial collectivity enjoying economic and diplomatic freedom, the APW, or Popular Provincial Parliament/Provincial Popular Parliament (the Assemblée Populaire Wilayale, in French) is the political entity governing a province, directed by the Wali (Governor), who is chosen by the Algerian President to handle the APW's decisions, the APW also has a president, who is elected by the members of the APW, which Algerians elect.
On November 16, 2025, the announcement was made of 11 new provinces in the Hautes Plaines and the south of the country. These 11 new provinces are Aflou, Barika, Ksar Chellala, Messaad, Aïn Oussera, Boussaâda, El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh, El Kantara, Bir El Ater, Ksar El Boukhari, and El Aricha. Creating these new provinces made the provinces of Laghouat, Batna, Tiaret, Djelfa, M'sila, El Bayadh, Biskra, Médéa, and Tlemcen, smaller.
List
By 1984 the number of Algerian provinces was fixed at 48 and established the list of municipalities or "communes" attached to each province. In 2019, 10 new provinces were added.
The province numbers are the first 31 provinces (see the second section) in Arabic alphabetical order, after the adding of 17 more provinces in 1983 and 10 more in 2019, the old numbering was kept and the 27 provinces created since 1984 have been assigned codes from 32 to 58, in Arabic alphabetical order.
The following table presents the list of provinces, showing for each its numerical code, its name (which is in every case the same as the name of the capital city of the province), the number of districts ("dairas"), the number of municipalities, its area, and its population.
MapCodeProvinceArabic name 01Adrar 02Chlef() 03Laghouat 04Oum El Bouaghi 05Batna 06Béjaïa 07Biskra 08Béchar 09Blida 10Bouïra 11Tamanrasset() 12Tébessa 13Tlemcen 14Tiaret 15Tizi Ouzou 16Algiers 17Djelfa 18Jijel 19Sétif 20Saïda 21Skikda 22Sidi Bel Abbès 23Annaba 24Guelma 25Constantine 26Médéa 27Mostaganem 28M'Sila 29Mascara 30Ouargla 31Oran 32El Bayadh 33Illizi 34Bordj Bou Arréridj 35Boumerdès 36El Tarf 37Tindouf 38Tissemsilt 39El Oued 40Khenchela 41Souk Ahras 42Tipaza 43Mila 44Aïn Defla 45Naâma 46Aïn Témouchent 47Ghardaïa 48Relizane 49Timimoun 50Bordj Badji Mokhtar 51Ouled Djellal 52Béni Abbès 53In Salah 54In Guezzam 55Touggourt 56Djanet 57El M'Ghair 58El Menia 59Aflou60Barika61El Kantara62Bir El Ater63El Aricha64Ksar Chellala65Aïn Oussera66Messaad67Ksar El Boukhari68Bousaâda69El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh Total
Since 2025 In 2025, 11 new provinces were added. These provinces included: Aflou El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh El Aricha El Kantara Barika Bou Saâda Bir El Ater Ksar El Boukhari Ksar Chellala Aïn Oussera Messaad
2019–2025 On 26 November 2019, the Cabinet of Algeria passed a bill to add 10 more provinces, by splitting some of the larger provinces in the south of Algeria into smaller ones. Thus, the following provinces have been added on December 18, 2019: Bordj Badji Mokhtar Province In Salah Province Djanet Province In Guezzam Province El M'Ghair Province Touggourt Province Béni Abbès Province Timimoun Province Ouled Djellal Province El Menia Province 1984–2019
In 1984, 17 new provinces were added. These provinces included: El Bayadh Illizi Bordj Bou Arréridj Boumerdès El Taref Tindouf Tissemsilt El Oued Khenchela Souk Ahras Tipaza Mila Aïn Defla Naâma Aïn Témouchent Ghardaïa Relizane
1974–1983
The 15 departments were reorganized to form 31 provinces:
1957–1974
Immediately after independence, Algeria retained its 15 former French départements, which were renamed wilayas (provinces) in 1968, for the most part, with some name changes:
8A-El Wahat (Currently Ouargla, formerly Oasis) 8B-Saoura (Currently Béchar) 9A-Alger (Algiers) 9B-Batna 9C-Annaba (Formerly Bône, English: Bona) 9D-Constantine 9E-Médéa 9F-Mostaganem 9G-Oran 9H-Orléansville (Then El Asnam, now Chlef) 9J-Sétif 9K-Tiaret 9L-Tizi-Ouzou 9M-Tlemcen 9R-Saïda
1954–1962 During the Algerian War of Independence, the FLN adopted an organizational system divided by 6 numbered wilayas:
Aurès Constantine Kabylie Algiers Oran Sahara
See also Municipalities of Algeria List of Algerian Provinces by population List of Algerian Provinces by area List of Algerian regions by Human Development Index ISO 3166-2:DZ
References
External links National Statistics Office