Iraq consists of 19

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

s ( ar, محافظة, muḥāfażah; ckb, پارێزگا , parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the

Iraqi constitution The Constitution of the Republic of Iraq ( ar, دستور جمهورية العراق Kurdish: دەستووری عێراق) is the fundamental law of Iraq. The first constitution came into force in 1925. The current constitution was adopted on Se ...

, governorates can form an autonomous region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja, constitute the autonomous

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

(which is the most populous) and

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

are the oldest standing provinces of Iraq. The second most-populous province,

Ninawa Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ba ...

(also called Nineveh) is in the upland and quite cool climate of the north-west. Through early 2014, the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

of the government of Iraq approved proposals to add the three newest governorates: *

Tal Afar Tal Afar ( ar, تَلْعَفَر, Talʿafar, ) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located 63 km (39 mi) west of Mosul, 52 km (32 mi) east of Sinjar Ninawa Governorate Nineveh Governorate ( ar, محافظة نينوى, syr, ܗܘܦܪܟܝܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ, Hoparkiya d’Ninwe, ckb, پارێزگای نەینەوا, Parêzgeha Neynewa), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an ...

Tuz Khurmatu Tuz Khurmatu ( ar, طوزخورماتو, tr, Tuzhurmatu, ku, دووزخورماتوو, translit=Duz Xurmatû, also spelled as Tuz Khurma and Tuz Khormato) is the central city of Tooz District in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, located 55 miles (88 ...

, from part of

Saladin Governorate The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with t ...

Halabja Halabja ( ku, هەڵەبجە, Helebce, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border. The city lies at the base of what is often referred to ...

from part of the

Sulaymaniyah Governorate Sulaymaniyah Governorate ( ku, پارێزگای سلێمانی, Parêzgeha Silêmaniyê, ar, محافظة السليمانية) or Sulaymaniyah Province is a mountainous Governorates of Iraq, governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its large ...

. Another proposal exists to add a 20th:

Fallujah Fallujah ( ar, ٱلْفَلُّوجَة, al-Fallūjah, Iraqi pronunciation: ) is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jew ...

, from the relevant part of the

Al Anbar Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

. This largely did not occur due to the ISIS insurgency. Following the defeat of

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

in the

Battle of Fallujah (2016) The Third Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Breaking Terrorism ( ar, عملية كسر الإرهاب) by the Iraqi government, was a military operation against ISIL launched to capture the city of Fallujah and its suburbs, located about ...

, the proposal may resurface or Al-Anbar may remain undivided.

Governorates

Former governorates

Kuwait was annexed by Iraq in 1990 and then became

Kuwait Governorate The Kuwait Governorate ( ar, محافظة الكويت) was the 19th governorate of Iraq established in the aftermath of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990. It was preceded by the brief puppet state of the Republic of Kuwait. The Kuwait G ...

(1990–1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Governorates Of Iraq Governorates, Iraq Iraq geography-related lists Iraq, Provinces Iraq 1 bg:Административно деление на Ирак pl:Podział administracyjny Iraku ru:Административное деление Ирака

Governorates

Former governorates

See also

References