Governorates of Iraq

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Iraq
Surname/tag: Iraq

Iraqi Governorates

المحافظات العراقية (Arabic) پارێزگاکانی عێراق (Kurdish) Also known as: Muḥāfażah محافظة (Arabic) پارێزگا‎ Parêzgeha

Current Governorates and Capital Cities

Iraq consists of 19 governorates (muḥāfażah in Arabic), also known as "provinces". Former President Saddam Hussein divided the country into eighteen governorates in the 1970s for reasons of ethnic manipulation. A portion of the Kurdish-inhabited area of the country was granted autonomy in 1970. In 2003, after opposition from Kurdish people regarding the division of Kurdistan into governorates, the autonomous standing of only three Iraqi Kurdish provinces was re-confirmed in 2005 in the constitution of Iraq, leaving out many other Kurdish majority regions, such as Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Sinjar and Mandali-Badra, outside the autonomous Kurdish region. In 2014 the decision was made to create the Halabja Governorate out of the Halabja District of Sulaymaniyah Governorate.

On 21 January 2014, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Iraq approved in principle proposals to create more governorates. The Council announced that two new governorates Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu would be formed from the current Nineveh Governorate and Saladin Governorate, respectively. It was also announced that the city of Fallujah of the Al Anbar Governorate would become a separate governorate, which was announced in response to a Sunni Islamist uprising in the city.

Governorate	Capital City
Al Anbar	Ramadi
Babil Governorate, Iraq	Hillah
Baghdad	Baghdad
Basra	Basra
Dhi Qar	Nasiriyah
Al-Qādisiyyah	Al Diwaniyah
Diyala	Baqubah
Duhok	Duhok
Erbil Governorate, Iraq	Erbil
Halabja	Halabja
Karbala	Karbala
Kirkuk	Kirkuk
Maysan	Amarah, Iraq
Muthanna	Samawah
Najaf	Najaf
Nineveh	Mosul
Saladin	Tikrit
Sulaymaniyah	Sulaymaniyah
Wasit	Kut

Previous Governorates

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

Sources

• Wikipedia:Governorates of Iraq