Is Ad Diwaniyah safe?
Iraq · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Ad Diwaniyah is a city in Iraq, home to about 894k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,227 of 6,168, with a safety score of 62.6 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency Ambulance 122 · Fire 115 · Police 911
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Iraq, updated 2026-08-28.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country24 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Elevated homicide rate9.46 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 3× the global city median.
- 2 airlines certified in Iraq are banned from EU airspaceThe EU Air Safety List (2026) names 2 carriers certified in Iraq as failing international safety standards; other carriers certified there are not listed. This covers flights operated by Iraq-certified airlines, typically domestic and regional routes; international carriers flying into Iraq are certified elsewhere and are not affected.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Federal Iraq
- Kurdistan Region of Iraq
- The parts of Anbar province which are west of, but not including Ramadi City
- Diyala province except for Baqubah City
- Kirkuk province
- Ninawa province
- Salah al-Din province
- Jurf al-Sakr town in Babil province
- Sadr City, part of Baghdad province
- Within 5km of areas that border Iran in Wasit, Maysan and Basra provinces
- Within 5km of Iraq’s borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
- The remainder of Al-Muthanna province
- Al-Qadasiyah province
- The remainder of Anbar province
- Babil province (except Jurf al-Sakr town)
- Baghdad province (except Sadr City)
- The remainder of Basra province, including Highways 1 and 8 and the Safwan-Kuwait border crossing
- Dhi Qar Province
- Karbala Province
- The remainder of Maysan province
- The remainder of Najaf province
- The remainder of Wasit province
- Baqubah City in Diyala province
- The road sections of Highway 34 between Baghdad and Baqubah, and Highway 2 between Baqubah and Erbil
Named in the official UK travel advice for Iraq (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Ad Diwaniyah.
How safe is Ad Diwaniyah really?
No published homicide figure exists for Ad Diwaniyah itself, so the national rate stands in: Iraq recorded 9.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2013 - roughly 3 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Iraq is also one of the more equal societies in the dataset (Gini 29.8), and low inequality is the strongest structural predictor of low city violence in this data.
Ad Diwaniyah also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Iraq at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-08-28). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 24 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Iraq
Terrorism in Iraq · UK prosecution for terrorism offences · Terrorist kidnap · Protests · Curfews · Crime · Personal ID · Lost and stolen passports · Ramadan · The Arba’-een · Child custody · Journalists · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · +8 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Iraq — country-level, not specific to Ad Diwaniyah. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 9.5 /100knational rate, 2013 · ~3× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 29.8country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.695country, 2023
- Income
- $14,290/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 894kurban centre · 11,926/km²
- Nearest airport
- 49 kmAl Najaf International Airport (NJF)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 27.3 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 31/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 34/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 28/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.51Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 49.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 60%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.0 doctors /1k1.1 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Iraq
- Flood
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 7.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 5.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Iraq as a whole, not Ad Diwaniyah specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Iraq (as of 2025).
The EU bars 2 airlines certified in Iraq from European airspace on safety grounds; other carriers certified there are not listed (EU Air Safety List, 2026). This concerns flights operated by Iraq-certified airlines, typically domestic and regional routes, not the international carriers most visitors arrive on. See the airlines listed
All country-level figures shared by every city in Iraq; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Ad Diwaniyah that gives 62.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Ad Diwaniyah compared with Al-Najaf
| Measure | Ad Diwaniyah | Al-Najaf | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 62.6 | 62.6 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 9.5 /100k | 9.5 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 1 | 1 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Iraq, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Al-Najaf →
Nearby cities
- Al Hamzah 64.5
- Ash Shamiya 64.5
- Al Qasim 59.6
- Al-Hirah 64.5
- Al Midhatiya 59.2
- Al-Najaf 62.6
- Al-Rumaitha 64.5
- Al Kifl 59.2
See Ad Diwaniyah on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →