Provinces of Iraq

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

Provinces (Governorates) and capitals

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.

Province	Capital	Ethnicity	notes
Al Anbar Province	Ramadi	Sunni	contains Fallujah
Arbil Province	Arbil
Al Basrah Province	Basra
Baghdad Province	Baghdad
Dahuk Province	Dahuk	Mixed
Dhi Qar Province	Nasiriyah
Diyala Province	Baqubah
Karbala Province	Karbala	Shiite
Kurdistan Regional Government	[[ ]]
Maysan Province	Al Amarah
Al Muthanna Province	Samawa	Shiite
An Najaf Province	[[]]	Shiite
Ninawa Province	Mosul
Al Qadisiyah Province	Diwaniyah
Salah ad Din Province	Salahuddin	Kurdish
As Sulaymaniyah Province	As Sulaymaniyah
At Ta'mim Province	Kirkuk
Wasit Province	Al Kut	Shiite

Most, but not all provinces, have international boundaries.

Iraq with neighbors

Ethnic geography