Wali (administrative title) in the context of "Umayyad conquest of Hispania"

During the Muslim rule on Sicily, the island was divided into three different administrative regions: the Val di Noto in the southeast, the Val Demone in the northeast and the Val di Mazara in the west. Each zone has a noticeably different agriculture and topography and they converged near Castrogiovanni (Enna). The term val or vallo (plural: valli) is derived from Arabic (Siculo Arabic: وَلاية, romanized: walāya; compare وَلِيّ, waliyy), with the administrative meaning of 'province', and was retained for various administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Sicily until the 19th century.

There are many Arab-derived names in the Val di Mazara (and more Christians converted to Islam from this region), are more mixed in the Val di Noto, while Christian (particularly Greek) identities survived strongest in the Val Demone (with the least Arab-derived names), which was the last to fall to the Muslims, where Christian refugees from other parts of Sicily had assembled, and which furthermore remained in contact with Byzantine southern Italy. Even in present-day Sicily, differences between the east and west of the island are often explained by locals as being due to the Greek and Arab descent of the populations, respectively. Later Christian Lombard settlements would split the remaining Muslims of Sicily in half, separating the Val di Mazara and the Val di Noto.

Mutasarrif, mutesarrif, mutasarriff, or mutesarriff (Ottoman Turkish: متصرّف, romanized: mutasarrıf, lit. 'plenipotentiary') was the title used in the Ottoman Empire and places like post-Ottoman Iraq for the governor of an administrative district in place of the usual sanjakbey. The Ottoman rank of mutasarrif was established as part of a 1864 reform, and its holder was appointed directly by the Sultan.

The administrative district under his authority, the mutasarrifate (mutasarriflık), was officially called a sanjak (سنجاق) in Turkish or liwa (لواء) in Arabic and Persian. A mutasarrif was subordinate to a wali or governor-general of a province, while being of superior rank to a kaymakam.

Regions are currently the highest administrative divisions in Morocco. Since 2015, Morocco officially administers 12 regions, including one (Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab) that lies completely within the disputed territory of Western Sahara and two (Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra and Guelmim-Oued Noun) that lie partially within it. The regions are subdivided into a total of 75 second-level administrative divisions, which are prefectures and provinces.

A region is governed by a directly elected regional council. The president of the council is responsible for carrying out the council's decisions. Prior to the 2011 constitutional reforms, this was the responsibility of the Wali, the representative of the central government appointed by the King, who now plays a supporting role in the administration of the region.

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 has also a president, who is elected by the members of the APW, which Algerians elect.

The Battle of Toulouse (721) was a victory of an Aquitanian Christian army led by Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine over an Umayyad Muslim army besieging the city of Toulouse, led by al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani, the Umayyad wāli (governor-general) of al-Andalus. The decisive Aquitanian victory checked the spread of Umayyad control westward from Narbonne into Aquitaine.