Member State of the Arab League Iraq consists of 18 recognized governorates (Arabic: محافظة, romanized: muḥāfażah; Sorani Kurdish: پارێزگا, romanized: parêzgeh), also known as "provinces" and 1 partially recognized governorate (Halabja).

[1] Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Duhok, constitute the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

[2] It was recognized as an official governorate of the Kurdistan Region in 2014,[3][2] and the Council of Ministers approved a bill twice in 2013,[4][5] and 2023.

[15] Shortly after the approval of the proposals, the Islamic State attacked the cities, towns and villages of the Nineveh Plains.

Upon the eventual withdrawal of ISIS, the initial decision by the Council of Ministers was dishonored by Kurdistan, Baghdad and Iranian-connected political entities, as they began pushing security forces into different parts of the Nineveh Plains to try and lay claim to different parts of the territory, asserting that the demographics had changed due to ISIS and that the original inhabitants could no longer be representatives of their indigenous land.