Iraq Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice

On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.

Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.

You don’t need to login to read the below reviews. But do sign up or login to share your solo travel experiences, country safety rating and comments.

Iraq Country data

We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Iraq and have more context when thinking about travel safety.

Official country name: Republic of Iraq.

Etymology: The name probably derives from "Uruk" (Biblical "Erech"), the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian city on the Euphrates River.

Capital: Baghdad.

Independence / foundation: Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by the United Kingdom during World War I and was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration in 1920. Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932.

Population: 41 million.

Currency: Iraqi Dinar (IQD)
1 USD = 1,400 - 1,500 IQD
1 EUR = 1,407 - 1,433 IQD

Time zone: UTC+3

Languages spoken: Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Turkmen (a Turkish dialect), Syriac (Neo-Aramaic), and Armenian are official in areas where native speakers of these languages constitute a majority of the population.

Religions: Muslim (official) 95-98% (Shia 61-64%, Sunni 29-34%), Christian 1% (includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Assyrian Church of the East), other 1-4% .

Climate: Mostly desert. Mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq.

Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $409 billion.

Real GDP per capita (ppp): $9,200.

Main airports: Erbil International Airport, Baghdad International Airport, Al Najaf International Airport.

World heritage sites in Iraq

There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.

Number of UNESCO listed sites: 6.

Top world heritage sites:

- Babylon.
- Samarra Archaeological City.
- Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat).
- Erbil Citadel.
- The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities.
- Hatra.

Interesting facts about Iraq

- In ancient times, Iraq was known as Mesopotamia, which means the “Land Between the Rivers” due to its location in the fertile valleys between Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

- Mesopotamia was one of the birthplaces of writing. Nearly 5,500 years ago, the earliest form of writing appeared in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). The Cuneiform tablets are the oldest existing evidence of written texts.

- The ancient city of Babylon is located in Iraq. Babylon was home to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

- Iraq is among the most dangerous countries in the world according to the International SOS Travel Risk Map. It has been assessed as carrying an ‘extreme travel security risk’.

Further reading: N/A.

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Iraq Travel tips

More about Iraq on Solo Female Travelers

Coming soon.

Did you spot any errors? We do our best to keep this information updated and accurate, but things change. If you saw anything that is not right, let us know so we can fix it: [email protected].

About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index

Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.

We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.

How to use the Safety Index

On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.

You can sort the comments by:

• The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
• The age of the traveler.
• Whether they are a visitor or local.
• The date they were posted.

The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers. 

Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.

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Looking for more safety resources?

This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:

Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.

Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️