Kairouan Governorate (Tunisian Arabic: ولاية قيروان Wilāyat Qiyrwān) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is landlocked and in the centre-east of the country. It covers an area of 6,712 km2 and has a population of 570,559 (2014 census). The narrower province of Sousse borders it to the east, the nearest coastline The capital is Kairouan. Lowland parts of the province are semi-arid, experiencing in most years light rains in the winter months and scant rainfall in other months but higher parts attract relief precipitation in and around the Djebel Zhagdoud and a large part of the Djebel Serj national parks, in the north-east of the province which are geologically outcrops of the Dorsal Atlas mountains in the province to the north.