different between muhafazah vs mintaqah

English

Arabic ??????????? (mu??fa?a), from ???????? (??fa?a, “to keep and guard”).

muhafazah (plural muhafazahs or muhafazat)

From Arabic ?????????? (min?aqa, “area”).

mintaqah (plural manatiq)

(Arabic term, politics administration) A first-level country subdivision used in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries.

The term mintaqah is often translated as region or, in Saudi Arabia, as province; however, the literal meaning is simply area. Translating mintaqah as province can cause confusion, due to the fact that the term wilayah — another Arabian first-level country subdivision — is usually translated as province.

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