Disputed territories of northern Iraq

The disputed territories of northern Iraq (Arabic: المناطق المتنازع عليها في العراق, Kurdish: ناوچە جێناکۆکەکانی عێراق) are regions defined by article 140 of the Constitution of Iraq as being Arabised during Ba'ath Party rule in Iraq. The article stipulates that the Iraqi government must "normalize" these areas; effectively reverse the actions of the previous regime and reimburse those affected. The Committee for Implementing Article 140 defines these territories as including the following areas: parts of Nineveh Governorate, Erbil Governorate, Diyala Governorate and the entirety of Kirkuk Governorate. Most of these regions are inhabited by non-Arabs, including Kurds, Assyrians, Yazidis, Turkmens, and Shabaks. Although article 140 includes a deadline, which is 31 December 2007, as of May 2026 it remains to be implemented.

The disputed areas have been a core concern for many Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds, and Turkmens, especially since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political restructuring. The Kurdistan Regional Government gained control of more territory after 2003, taking over land they claimed as part of "Iraqi Kurdistan", such as Aqrah District and Shaykhan District.

Kurdish officials in Iraq have alleged that in 2017 the Iraqi state began a new strategy of demographic engineering in the disputed territories, dubbed "Administrative Arabization", which includes "the replacement of Kurdish officials in senior administrative posts and changes related to land and agricultural contracts" as well as settling Arabs onto lands belonging to Kurdish farmers. They alleged in 2026 that the Iraqi government is conducting Arabisation through bureaucratic mechanisms instead of direct population transfers. The main Kurdish tribes in the region targeted by the Ba'athist government were the tribes of Zargush, Qaralus, Kaka'i, Karkesh, Suramiri, and Arkawazi.