Luxor Governorate has been one of Egypt's governorates since 7 December 2009, when Hosni Mubarak announced its separation from Qena Governorate. It is located 635 km south of Cairo. It is currently the smallest governorate in Egypt, spanning approximately 5 km from north to south, and 1.5 km from east to west, and lies in Upper Egypt along the Nile. The city of Luxor is the capital of the Luxor governorate. President Mubarak called on the same date for a study to be made with a view to extending the boundaries of the governorate to include the neighbouring towns of Armant and Esna.