Provinces of Iraq

At present, there are 18 provinces of Iraq and one region. Baghdad Kabul, in Kabul Province, is the national capital. In formal Iraqi usage, what is called a province is properly a governorate ((muhafazat, singular - muhafazah)

The country, which was formed by Britain by merging three provinces of the Ottoman Empire, roughly splits into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish dominated areas. Saddam Hussein, a nominal Sunni, forced Arabization onto the Kurdish areas, so the population is more mixed there although there is a Kurdistan Regional Government. Kurdistan also has significant Turkmen and Christian minorities; the former a constant area of tension with Turkey.

Saddam's former stronghold is known as the Sunni Triangle.

Many have a formal prefix of al-, as in al-Anbar, but the root part is commonly used. Articles are named for the root (e.g., Anbar) although the table below shows prefixes; there are redirects with the prefix to the articles on the province.


 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Province || Capital|| Ethnicity|| notes
 * Al Anbar Province || Ramadi || Sunni || contains Fallujah
 * Arbil Province ||   ||  ||
 * Al Basrah Province ||   ||  ||
 * Baghdad Province || Baghdad ||  ||
 * Dahuk Province ||   ||   ||
 * Dhi Qar Province ||  || ||
 * Diyala Province ||   ||  ||
 * Karbala Province ||  ||  ||
 * Kurdistan Regional Government ||   ||  ||
 * Maysan Province ||   ||  ||
 * Al Muthanna Province ||  ||  ||
 * An Najaf Province ||  ||   ||
 * Ninawa Province ||  ||  ||
 * Al Qadisiyah Province ||  ||  ||
 * Salah ad Din Province ||  ||  ||
 * As Sulaymaniyah Province ||  || ||
 * At Ta'mim Province ||  ||  ||
 * Wasit Province ||   ||   ||
 * }
 * Maysan Province ||   ||  ||
 * Al Muthanna Province ||  ||  ||
 * An Najaf Province ||  ||   ||
 * Ninawa Province ||  ||  ||
 * Al Qadisiyah Province ||  ||  ||
 * Salah ad Din Province ||  ||  ||
 * As Sulaymaniyah Province ||  || ||
 * At Ta'mim Province ||  ||  ||
 * Wasit Province ||   ||   ||
 * }
 * Salah ad Din Province ||  ||  ||
 * As Sulaymaniyah Province ||  || ||
 * At Ta'mim Province ||  ||  ||
 * Wasit Province ||   ||   ||
 * }
 * Wasit Province ||   ||   ||
 * }
 * }
 * }