Governorates of Iraq


consists of 19 governorates, also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form a federal region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Duhok, constitute the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. Baghdad and Basra are the oldest governorates. The second most-populous one, Ninawa is in the upland region and has a cooler climate of the north-west.
There had been numerous calls to recognize Halabja Governorate since 1999. It was recognized as an official governorate of the Kurdistan Region in 2014, and the Council of Ministers approved a bill twice in 2013, and 2023. The Council of Representatives of Iraq officially approved Halabja as Iraq's 19th governorate on 14 April 2025. On 27 April 2025, Baghdad Today reported of an ongoing government initiative to convert Tel Afar District in Nineveh Governorate into the 20th governorate of Iraq. The proposed name of the new governorate is Jazira.

History

Throughout early 2014, the Council of Ministers of Iraq approved proposals to add the three newly proposed governorates:
In 2013, activists and political parties called for the conversion of Hawija from a District into a governorate, but the Kirkuk government blocked the proposal.
Shortly after the approval of the proposals, the Islamic State attacked the cities, towns and villages of the Nineveh Plains. Upon the eventual withdrawal of ISIS, the initial decision by the Council of Ministers was dishonored by Kurdistan, Baghdad and Iranian-connected political entities, as they began pushing security forces into different parts of the Nineveh Plains to try and lay claim to different parts of the territory, asserting that the demographics had changed due to ISIS and that the original inhabitants could no longer be representatives of their indigenous land. Part of the reason for the demographic shift was that squatters were encouraged to occupy Christian homes. Without enough paperwork to prove ownership, some of those homes became extremely challenging to reclaim. Initiatives are underway to help reclaim families' homes.
Another proposal exists to add a 19th governorate: Fallujah, from part of the Al Anbar. This largely did not occur due to the ISIS insurgency. Following the defeat of ISIS in the Battle of Fallujah, the proposal may resurface or Al-Anbar may remain undivided.

List of governorates

GovernoratePostal
code		ISO
code		Total area
in square miles		Total area
in km2		Population
1 July 2018		Population
Density
in square miles		Population
Density
in km2		Capital
Al-Anbar31AN53,476138,5011,771,65629.111.2Ramadi
Babil51BB1,9765,6032,065,042921.4324.9Hillah
Baghdad10BG78.8204.28,126,755103,131.439,798Baghdad
Basra61BA7,36019,0702,908,491344.0132.7Basra
Dhi Qar64DQ5,00012,9002,095,172367.2142.3Nasiriyah
Al-Qadisiyyah58QA3,1488,1531,291,048360.3139.1Al Diwaniyah
Diyala32DI6,82817,6851,637,226211.381.6Baqubah
Duhok42DA2,5306,5531,292,535445.5172.2Duhok
Erbil44AR5,82015,0741,854,778277.0106.9Erbil
Karbala56KA1,9445,0341,218,732548.6211.8Karbala
Kirkuk36KI3,7379,6791,597,876373.4144.1Kirkuk
Maysan62MA6,20516,0721,112,673156.560.4Amarah
Muthanna66MU19,98051,740814,37135.913.8Samawah
Najaf54NA11,12928,8241,471,592115.544.5Najaf
Nineveh41NI14,41037,3233,729,998226.987.6Mosul
Salah Al-Din34SD9,55624,7511,595,235147.356.8Tikrit
Sulaymaniyah46SU6,57317,0232,053,305285.8110.3Sulaymaniyah
Wasit52WA6,62317,1531,378,723182.770.5Kut
HalabjaHA343889140,000408.2157.5Halabja

Former governorates

GovernorateToday part of
MosulNinawa Governorate
Duhok Governorate
DiwaniyaAl-Qādisiyyah Governorate
Muthanna Governorate
Najaf Governorate
Dulaim
Ramadi 		Al Anbar Governorate
Muntafiq Dhi Qar Governorate
Amara Maysan Governorate
Kut Wasit Governorate
BaghdadBaghdad Governorate
Saladin Governorate
Kirkuk
At-Ta'mim 		Kirkuk Governorate
Kuwait Governorate
State of Kuwait

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