Iqlīm and its plural aqālīm are transliterations of Arabic words, which used the meaning of climate or district to designate demarcations in which the heart was divided, the basic territorial structure of al-Andalus, especially during the Caliphate The Aqālīm were units of economic-administrative character, each with a village or castle as a head.
In the early days of the Muslim colonization, within each heart, the settlements settled around castles, called ḥiṣn (ḥuṣūn, plural), which acted as organizational centers and defenders of a certain territorial area, called ŷuz '(aŷzā', plural) .This administrative structure remains unchanged until the 10th century, when the districts change, increasing greatly in size, being called aqālīm (singular).
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