Maysan Governorate (ميسان) is a governorate in southeastern Iraq, bordering Iran. Its administrative centre is the city of Amarah, and it is composed of six districts. Before 1976, it was named Amara Province.
This region was called Messène (Μεσσήνη) by Ancient Greeks (Strabo), Mayšān (ܡܝܫܢ) in Syriac. Mēs̲h̲ān in Middle Persian and Parthian (???? myšn), Mēs̲h̲un in Armenian, Maysān (ميسان) in Arabic, and T’iao-tche (Chaldaea) in the Han sources. It's the Kurdish form of Parthian "mēθhan", Parsig "mēhan", and Persian "mihan/میهن", meaning "homeland".