Iraq: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Iraq feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 69 written places.
Hospitality is a point of honour; strangers will insist on buying your tea within the hour.
✓ Considered polite
- Accept the small glasses of sweet istikan tea - they keep coming and that is the point
- Use your right hand to eat, pass and receive anything
- Dress modestly - long trousers for men, covered shoulders and knees for women, a headscarf at shrines
- Greet with salam alaikum and let the opposite sex offer a hand first
✗ Better avoided
- Show the soles of your feet or shoes when sitting
- Refuse food in someone's home - eat a little of everything instead
- Photograph people, especially women, without clear permission
- Rush greetings - enquiries about family and health come before any request
Worth knowing
- The weekend is Friday and Saturday, and Friday mornings are notably quiet
- Cash rules - dinars for small purchases, with US dollars widely accepted for bigger bills
- Alcohol is hard to find outside the Kurdistan region - shops around Erbil sell it openly, elsewhere assume none
- During Ramadan most cafes and restaurants close in daylight hours
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.