Soran scores 47 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5403 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Soran safe?

Iraq · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

47.2Moderate · rank 5403 / 6,168
safer than 12% of ranked cities

Soran is a city in Iraq, home to about 149k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,403 of 6,168, with a safety score of 47.2 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.

US 4/4 Do not travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 122 · Fire 115 · Police 911

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 585 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (407 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
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.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Zap region102 deaths · 48 events
Al ‘Amādīyah district48 deaths · 20 events
Zap31 deaths · 19 events

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Soran, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

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 Soran.

How safe is Soran really?

No published homicide figure exists for Soran 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.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 585 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Soran across 407 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Zap region (102 deaths), Al ‘Amādīyah district (48 deaths), Zap (31 deaths).

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 Soran. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 9.5 /100knational rate, 2013 · ~3× the global city median
Conflict deaths: 585within 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: 149kurban centre · 7,831/km²

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 Soran specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Iraq (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Iraq; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%32

Peace25%31

Equality25%78

Development10%70

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 Soran that gives 47.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Soran compared with Erbil

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Soran, red favours Erbil.
Measure	Soran	Erbil	Difference
Safety score	47.2	47.9	−0.8 — better for Erbil
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	9.5 /100k	9.5 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	585	440	+145 — better for Erbil

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 Erbil →

Nearby cities

See Soran on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →