AI generatedn° 858, middle east
Sulaymaniyah, iraq.
For travellers interested in modern Kurdish history, archaeology, and a quieter base than Erbil. Skip if you can't tolerate political fragility, summer heat, or thin direct flight options.
- cost / mo
- $1,090
- internet
- 35 Mbps
- visa-free · eu
- 30 days
the scores
Four scores, seven components each.
Each ring is a weighted blend, click any of them to see the seven components that produce it.
your monthly budget
default $700–$4,500 range · drag to personalize
score priority
balanced weighting, cost 25%, infra 40%, lifestyle 35%
weighted blends of cost, internet, safety, climate, english, visa & social density. Default cost band: $700–$4,500/mo. 58% data coverage. Each ring is clickable, see exactly why a city scored what it did.
monthly cost · estimate
$1,090/mo
Component-level data not yet collected for this city.
in one sentence · curated
Hand-written by the ExpatWhy editorial team.
Sulaymaniyah is the intellectual capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, 878,000 people, the second-largest archaeology museum in Iraq, and a Saddam-era prison turned into a memorial museum.
editorial
The case & the friction.
ExpatWhy editorial
Rent in Salim Street or near the university runs $300-550/month for a one-bedroom, cheaper than Erbil. The Sulaymaniyah Museum holds 4500 BC Mesopotamian artifacts and a respected cuneiform tablet collection. Amna Suraka, the Red Security building Saddam's Mukhabarat used to torture Kurdish detainees, is now a museum: bullet-pocked walls left as they were, and the Hall of Mirrors lined with 182,000 shards of glass and 5,000 lights for the victims of the Anfal genocide. Azmar Mountain rises east of the city and locals hike it on Friday mornings.
Friction: the politics are real. Sulaymaniyah is PUK territory; Erbil is KDP. The two Kurdish parties don't always cooperate, occasionally close internal checkpoints, and the international airport (ISU) has had funding fights that ground flights. Always confirm flight status the day before. Climate-wise, summer hits 40°C+, winter drops to freezing with snow on Azmar, best windows are April-May and October.
Visa: same KRG 30-day visa-free on arrival as Erbil for most Western passports, stamped free at ISU. Federal Iraq eVisa does not apply. USD widely accepted alongside IQD. English is workable in cafes around the university and Salim Street.
verdict
For travellers interested in modern Kurdish history, archaeology, and a quieter base than Erbil. Skip if you can't tolerate political fragility, summer heat, or thin direct flight options.
work & connectivity
Getting work done.
work-friendly density · OSM
Workable for laptop work.
coworking spaces
0
wifi cafés
39
In practice: Workable but thin, 0 coworking spaces and 39 wifi cafés. A hotel-with-desk or one good coworking membership covers most days.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · Overpass API · ODbL 1.0 · 2026-07-09
when to visit
Twelve months of weather.
best month
Jun
Visit in June, 28°C, only 1mm of rain.
Off-season January–February, weather turns to 6°C and 152mm of rain, and hotel rates typically drop 20–40% from peak.
temperaturerainfallcurrent monthbest month
air quality · 12 months verified
When the air turns.
Hourly PM2.5 averaged by calendar month from Copernicus CAMS satellite data, window 2025-07-08 → 2026-07-07. WHO annual guideline is 5 µg/m³.
annual mean
23.1µg/m³
Moderate
worst month
May · 33 µg/m³
Unhealthy (sens.)
cleanest month
Dec · 18 µg/m³
Moderate
annual swing
15 µg/m³
Stable year-round
Cleanest air in December (18 µg/m³); worst in May (33 µg/m³).
Annual mean 23.1 µg/m³ is unhealthy for sensitive groups, pack a mask for the May spike, and consider an air purifier if you stay long-term.
Source: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) via Open-Meteo Air Quality API · CC-BY 4.0. Modelled, not measured at a station: near coasts CAMS counts sea salt as PM2.5 and reads high against ground networks. Read the curve, not the absolute.
natural risk
The numbers other sites don't show.
seismic risk · 50 yr · 200 km
Low seismic exposure.
M5+ events
33
M6+ events
3
largest
M7.3
Largest recorded: M7.3 in 2017.
In practice: Moderate seismic background (33 M5+ in 50 years), modern construction handles this well, but verify building era for older rentals.
Source: USGS Earthquake Catalog (public domain) · counted within 200 km, last 50 years.
tropical storms · 46 yr · 200 km
Outside the cyclone belt.
named storms
0
cat 1+ hurricanes
0
In practice: No tropical storms tracked within 200 km in 46 years, no storm-season window to plan around.
Source: NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 (public domain) · unique storm IDs within 200 km since 1980.
–Sulaymaniyah is the intellectual capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, 878,000 people, the second-largest archaeology museum in Iraq, and a Saddam-era prison turned into a memorial museum.
quality of life
LGBTQ+ legal protections rank in the bottom decile globally, verify your situation before settling.
2.3
/10
Velasco LGBT+ Policy Index (OWID), country-level, varies by neighborhood
Velasco LGBT+ Policy Index
Asher & Lyric Index 2024
ERA5 reanalysis · 12-mo derived
derived from monthly rainfall
vs Berlin 09–17 · Asia/Baghdad
–For travellers interested in modern Kurdish history, archaeology, and a quieter base than Erbil. Skip if you can't tolerate political fragility, summer heat, or thin direct flight options.
ExpatWhy editorial
what to know
Pros & cons.
pros
- Budget-friendly for solo nomads
cons
- Slow average internet speeds
- Short visa-free stay (<60 days for EU)
visa & stay
How long can you stay?
- digital nomad visa
- No, not yet
- visa-free for EU passport
- 30 days
- visa-free for US passport
- 30 days
visa figures as of August 2026 · verify with official immigration sources before traveling
before you go
What to plan around.
Drawn only from the verified figures on this page, the things worth knowing before you book.
US passport: short visa-free window, 30 days
US passports get 30 visa-free days. For a longer stay, plan an extension or a border run before day 30.
EU passport: short visa-free window, 30 days
EU passports get 30 visa-free days. For a longer stay, plan an extension or a border run before day 30.
Pronounced wet season
Rain peaks around Jan, Mar & May, up to 152 mm in the wettest month. Time a visit for the drier half of the year.
Seismically active region
3 quakes of M6+ within 200 km over 50 years (strongest M7.3). Know your building's earthquake rating before signing a lease.
compare side-by-side
Sulaymaniyah versus three popular alternatives.
you might also like
Where to go next.
Closer on the map, closer on the wallet, or closer on the way it feels.
closest on the wallet
Other budget cities, different continent.
Same band as Sulaymaniyah, budget (under $1,500/mo), outside middle east.
asia
8.4Osaka, japan.
A budget asia option with workable visa-free EU access.
asia
8.3Kyoto, japan.
A budget asia option with workable visa-free EU access.
asia
8.3Fukuoka, japan.
A budget asia option with workable visa-free EU access.
closest on the way it feels
Same wellbeing, different climate.
Cities that score like Sulaymaniyah on quality-of-life but trade mediterranean for something else.
middle east
7.7Doha, qatar.
A mid-tier middle east option with limited visa-free access.
asia
7.2Kanchanaburi, thailand.
A budget asia option with a nomad-visa pathway.
asia
7.0Bangalore, india.
A budget asia option with limited visa-free access.
where Sulaymaniyah ranks
Sulaymaniyah also makes these lists.
frequently asked
Sulaymaniyah, honest answers.
- How much does it cost to live in Sulaymaniyah per month?
- Solo monthly burn in Sulaymaniyah is estimated around $1,090, covering a central 1-bedroom, food, mobile, utilities, transit, and a small coworking allowance. This is a pipeline estimate; rent verified for cities marked with the ✓ badge.
- What visa do I need to live in Sulaymaniyah?
- EU passports get 30 days visa-free; US passports get 30 days. Longer stays require a residence permit or remote-worker visa, verify at the country's official immigration site.
- How is the air quality in Sulaymaniyah?
- Annual PM2.5 averages 23 µg/m³ (Copernicus CAMS satellite data), which elevated, sensitive groups should track monthly variation. The 12-month curve on this page shows the seasonal swing, many cities have a sharp burning season or winter inversion that doesn't show in the annual number.
- When is the best time to visit Sulaymaniyah?
- Jun typically scores best on our combined comfort index, average temperature 28°C, low rainfall, high sunshine. Each city's Climate Chart on this page shows the full 12-month picture.
- Are there earthquakes in Sulaymaniyah?
- Yes, the USGS catalog records 33 M5+ earthquakes and 3 M6+ within 200 km over the last 50 years. The largest was M7.3 in 2017. Modern buildings in major cities are engineered for this; factor it into long-stay decisions.
Every answer is built from this city's verified pipeline data, Copernicus CAMS, USGS, NOAA IBTrACS, country tax authorities, EF EPI, Asher & Lyric, OpenStreetMap. No marketing copy.
where it is
Sulaymaniyah on the map.
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, Middle East.
35.5560, 45.4378
Map tiles & data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
primary sources · click to verify
Every number on this page comes from somewhere.
- ppp-estimate:region-base-rent (Middle East)
- internet-speed:regional-fallback (Middle East)
- Copernicus CAMS· CC-BY 4.0Air quality: Copernicus CAMS via Open-Meteo Air Quality API (CC-BY 4.0)
- Open-Meteo (ERA5)· CC-BY 4.0open-meteo.com (current + 2024 archive)
- OpenStreetMap· ODbL 1.0OpenStreetMap contributors (Overpass API, ODbL)
We aggregate from public primary sources only. Composite scores (nomad / solo / family / wellbeing) are derived using our own formula, see methodology. Full license map at /LICENSES.md.
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