For obvious reasons, Iraq is regarded as one of the world’s most dangerous nations for the typical traveller to visit.

From the 1980 Iran-Iraq war to the Gulf War under Saddam Hussein, the US invasion that followed, and the more recent civil war involving the murderous Islamic State as the principal actor, the media has shown an unstable Iraq plagued by violence for almost thirty years.

Now, it is so uncommon to hear the terms Iraq and tourism discussed together. However, there are signs of much-needed stability today—the first since the 1970s—and Iraqis are cautiously looking forward to what they hope will be a better future, one in which tourism will play a significant economic role.

The negative reputation of Iraq will take years for the people to overcome, which is why we are here to tell you about the changes that have occurred in Iraq.

To inform you that, in spite of all the recent unrest, security in Iraq has much improved, making it a reasonably secure place to visit; it is a land populated by lovely Iraqis who simply go about their daily lives and extend nothing but hospitality to any visiting foreigner.

With 43 million people living in 438,000 square kilometres, Iraq is officially one country. Although Kurds make up about 15-20% of the population, Arabs make up the vast bulk of Iraq’s population. Known as Iraqi Kurdistan today, it is primarily concentrated in the far north of Iraq, close to the borders of Turkey, Iran, and Syria—all of which have sizable Kurdish communities of their own—in a region of rough mountains that are frequently blanketed in snow during the winter. It is, in many ways, a new country, operating mainly independently from the rest of Iraq, even though it is not acknowledged by the UN, nearly any government, or any significant international organisation. However, it has it’s own government, flag and military.

How Secure Is Iraq?
Firstly, Pope Francis visited areas of Iraq that were previously under ISIS control in March 2021, showing the rest of the world that the country is not as scary as the media portrays it to be.

Following his visit, the Iraqi government declared that up to 38 nationalities—including holders of EU passports, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and a few others—would henceforth be able to enter the country without a visa.

Prior to the Pope’s visit, it was always very expensive and difficult to enter Iraq with a tourist visa. Therefore, relaxing and liberalising their visa policies while promoting travel to Iraq can only have one effect- Iraq is a secure place to travel because the security situation has improved from the standpoint of tourists.

It’s totally different now, with hundreds of tour guides from Iraq. Additionally, there are a lot more foreign and Iraqi trip operators. There were perhaps just three or four businesses providing trips to the federal region of Iraq in 2017. Even though it’s still a small market today, several of the major international adventure travel operators are beginning to consider Iraq. Approximately ten percent of all the inquiries we get are from individuals who want to travel to Iraq, which is a significant rise from just a year or so ago. Because this country has so much to offer tourists, tourism will rise if the political climate continues to improve.

WHY IRAQ

• Iraq is home to the world’s oldest civilisation
• Six countries share borders with Iraq
• The name Iraq has been in use for centuries
• Iraq produced the world’s earliest system of writing
• Noah built his ark in Iraq- so the belief
• Iraq as the name of the country means fertile
• You will not leave Iraq on an empty stomach because of its rich , hearty yet healthy meals.