Arab tribes in Iraq


Most Iraqis identify strongly with a tribe. Thirty of the 150 or so identifiable tribes in Iraq are the most influential. Tribes are grouped into federations. Below the tribe, there are the clan, the house and the extended family. On its accession to power in the 17 July Revolution of 1968, the Ba'ath Party announced its opposition to tribalism, although for pragmatic reasons, especially during the war with Iran, tribalism was sometimes tolerated and even encouraged.

List of major tribes ('''ashira'')

These prefixes are ignored in the alphabetical ordering of the following list: Al, Al-Bu, Albu, Bani, Banu.
Partial source: , Humanitarian Information Centre for Iraq. 2003.