Actually, the answer is yes, and no Marie :) محافظة: means governorate (used in my country, and the head of a governorate is a governor, assigned by the king in Jordan for example, so he's not elected). مقاطعة: means province/ county/ district, (and the head of a province in the US for example is elected). While the meaning is different, I personally think that governorate and province represent the same meaning, but are used in different parts of the world. This is why I said the answer is yes, and no. Usually when I want to fill in an application from the US for example, I would give the name of my "governorate" in the blank specified for the "province".

Province=مقاطعة Préfecture=مركز المحافظة

محافظة = مقاطعة نفس المعنى = المعنى نفسه :)

Sure that it helps!! I thank you so much for your accurate explanation. I appreciate.

The difference between these two words is mainly the source they came from. In many Arab countries the term ( governorate ) is mostly used. It is the 1st level administrative division of most Arab countries ( like Egypt, Syria, Palestine) and it is the 2nd level administrative division in Saudi Arabia and Sudan. In foreign countries other than Arab countries like USA, Canada and Australia, the term ( governorate ) is usually used in case of translations as to show that is the main administrative division there . But the first level administrative division in most foreign countries is the state or the province which in turn is divided to countries . I hope this small explanation helps :)