Daïra

A daïra or daerah (Arabic: دائرة circle; plural dawaïr) is an administrative division in Algeria and Western Sahara in West Africa, as well as Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. It is commonly translated in English as "district".

West Africa

"Daïra" is the primary spelling variant used in Algeria and Western Sahara. It is a subdivision of wilayah in both countries.

"Daerah" is an Arabic loanword in Malay and Indonesian, which is cognate with "daïra".

A daerah or district is the primary subdivision of Brunei. There are four daerah, namely Belait, Brunei-Muara, Temburong and Tutong. A daerah is subdivided into mukims (equivalent to subdistricts) and subsequently villages (kampung).

In Indonesia, "daerah" is used as in the term daerah istimewa, which refers to the Special Regions or provinces with special status. There are two Special Regions (Aceh and the Special Region of Yogyakarta), and there are seven Special Autonomous Regions or Daerah Otonomi Khusus (Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, West Papua and Jakarta).

A daerah or district is a type of state administrative divisions in Malaysia. It is the primary subdivision of the states in Peninsular Malaysia, where as in Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo, it is the secondary subdivision which is below divisions.^[1] Regardless, any daerah may be subdivided into mukims.