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Governorates of Iraq

Iraqi Governorates
المحافظات العراقية (Arabic)
پارێزگاکانی عێراق (Kurdish)
  • Also known as:
  • Muḥāfażah
    محافظة (Arabic)
    پارێزگا
The original 19 governorates
CategoryFederated state
LocationRepublic of Iraq
Number18 governorates
Populations108,974 (Halabja) – 8,126,755 (Baghdad)
Areas529 km2 (204.2 sq mi) (Baghdad) – 138,500 km2 (53,476 sq mi) (Al Anbar)
Government
Subdivisions
Politics of Iraq
Coat of arms of Iraq.svg

Arab League Member State of the Arab League

Constitution
Government
Legislature
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
flag Iraq portal
Numbered Map of Iraqi Governorates

Iraq consists of 18 governorates (Arabic: محافظة, romanized: muḥāfażah; Sorani Kurdish: پارێزگا, romanized: parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form an autonomous region.[1] Baghdad and Basra are the oldest standing administrative regions of Iraq. In 2014, the decision was made to create the Halabja Governorate out of the Halabja District of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate.[2][3]

On 21 January 2014, the Council of Ministers of the government of Iraq approved in principle proposals to create more governorates.[4] The Council announced that two new governorates, Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu, would be formed from the current Ninawa Governorate and Saladin Governorate, respectively.[5] It was also announced that the city of Fallujah of the Al Anbar Governorate would become a separate governorate.[4]

Governorates[]

Governorates of Iraq
Governorate Postal
code		 ISO
code 		Total area
in miles2 		Total area
in km2 		Population
1 July 2018[6] 		Population
Density
in miles 		Population
Density
in km 		Capital
Al Anbar 31 AN 53,476 138,501 1,771,656 29.1 11.2 Ramadi
Babylon 51 BB 1,976 5,603 2,065,042 921.4 324.9 Hillah
Baghdad 10 BG 1,759 4,555 8,126,755 4,620.09 1,548.8 Baghdad
Basra 61 BA 7,360 19,070 2,908,491 344.0 132.7 Basra
Dhi Qar 64 DQ 5,000 12,900 2,095,172 367.2 142.3 Nasiriyah
Al-Qādisiyyah 58 QA 3,148 8,153 1,291,048 360.3 139.1 Al Diwaniyah
Diyala 32 DI 6,828 17,685 1,637,226 211.3 81.6 Baqubah
Duhok 42 DA 2,530 6,553 1,292,535 445.5 172.2 Duhok
Erbil 44 AR 5,820 15,074 1,854,778 277.0 106.9 Erbîl
Halabja 46 — 1,180 3,060 108,974 285.5 110.1 Helebce
Karbala 56 KA 1,944 5,034 1,218,732 548.6 211.8 Karbala
Kirkuk 36 KI 3,737 9,679 1,597,876 373.4 144.1 Kirkuk
Maysan 62 MA 6,205 16,072 1,112,673 156.5 60.4 Amarah
Muthanna 66 MU 19,980 51,740 814,371 35.9 13.8 Samawah
Najaf 54 NA 11,129 28,824 1,471,592 115.5 44.5 Najaf
Nineveh 41 NI 14,410 37,323 3,729,998 226.9 87.6 Mosul
Saladin 34 SD 9,556 24,751 1,595,235 147.3 56.8 Tikrit
Sulaymaniyah 46 SU 6,573 17,023 2,053,305 285.8 110.3 Slêmanî
Wasit 52 WA 6,623 17,153 1,378,723 182.7 70.5 Kut

Previous governorates[]

Governorate Now part of
Mosul Nineveh Governorate
Duhok Governorate
Diwaniya Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate
Muthanna Governorate
Najaf Governorate
Dulaim (–1962)
Ramadi (1962–1976) 		Al Anbar Governorate
Muntafiq (–1976) Dhi Qar Governorate
Amara (–1976) Maysan Governorate
Kut (–1976) Wasit Governorate
Baghdad Baghdad Governorate
Saladin Governorate
Kirkuk (–1976)
At-Ta'mim (1976–2006) 		Kirkuk Governorate

Formerly governorates[]

Iraqi governorates in 1990

Kuwait was annexed by Iraq in 1990 and then became Kuwait Governorate (1990–1991)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005.pdf?lang=en[bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ "KRG order turning Halabja into province sets off street celebrations". Rudaw. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Kurdistan Region President signs Halabja province directive". Kurdistan Region Presidency. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Resolutions of Council of Ministers For Session No. 3 on 21/1/2014". 21 January 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Iraqi Council of Ministers approved new provinces of Tuz Xurmatu and Tal Afar". Kurd Net. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Original PDF". dx.doi.org. doi:10.15438/rr.5.1.7. Retrieved 2021-05-10.