A nāḥiyah ( , plural nawāḥī ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division while in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Xinjiang, and the former Ottoman Empire, where it was also called a bucak, it is a third-level or lower division. It can constitute a division of a qadaa, mintaqah or other such district-type division and is sometimes translated as "subdistrict". Ottoman Empire The nahiye () was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire, smaller than a . The head was a (governor) who was appointed by the Pasha. The was a subdivision of a and corresponded roughly to a city with its surrounding villages. s, in turn, were divided into s (each governed by a ) and villages (, each governed by a ). Revisions of 1871 to the administrative law established the (still governed a ) as an intermediate level between the kaza and the village. The term was adopted by the Principality of Serbia (1817–1833) and Principality of Montenegro (1852–1910), as (). Examples Arabic-speaking countries Turkic-speaking territories Xinjiang, China: a subdivision of a prefectural. Ottoman Empire: subdistrict, commune, parish; a subdivision of a (). Other Districts of Tajikistan: a subdivision of a province. References Types of administrative division Arabic words and phrases Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Former types of subdivisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina Former types of subdivisions of Serbia