List of highways in Iraq


This is a list of Iraqi highways. Iraq has a network comprising nine motorways, twelve highways and 40 national roads. They connect Iraq with all neighbouring countries. When Saddam Hussein visited the United States in the 1980s, he was impressed by the size and infrastructure of the highway system. He ordered his engineers to build highways in the American form - wide lanes, shoulders and clover leaves.

Motorways

Motorways in Iraq can be classified into three categories: the M1, which traverses the country and links Baghdad with the Gulf and the Levant; the M31, M96, and M97, which primarily serve as connectors to the M1 and all other motorways, which act as short urban expressways in the Kurdistan Region.
The construction of the M1, M31, M96 and M97 was the "by far largest expressway project in the Middle East" of its time. The German firm DORSCH CONSULT carried out the feasibility study and the detailed design between 1975 and 1977 and commenced construction in 1979. The design was based on the latest German expressway standards.

Highways

Iraq's Highway Network consists of 12 Highways and is designed in a clockwise ring around Baghdad starting with Highway 1 to the northwest and ending with Highway 12 to the west.

National Roads

Iraq's National Roads form an unconnected system of roads, which generally act as feeders to the Highway Network. Their standards can vary a lot from single-carriageway unmarked roads to roads which resemble the Highways in usage and standard.

Statistics

  • Total:
  • Paved:
  • Unpaved:, 1996 est.