A
wilayah ( in Arabic) or
velâyat ( in
Persian),
vilayet in
Turkish or
vilayat in
Urdu), is an administrative division, usually translated as "
province", or occasionally as "
governorate". The word comes from the Arabic "
w-l-y", "to govern": a
wali—"governor"—governs a
wilayah, "that which is governed". Under the
Caliphate, the term referred to any constituent near-sovereign state.