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Other than the USA, do any other countries have dry counties?

I understand that the term county may not exist in some counties, so one can adopt a different term that may be better suited for a particular countries.

What is a dry county?

A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, a majority of them in the South. A number of smaller jurisdictions also exist, such as cities, towns, and townships, which prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages. These are known as dry cities, dry towns, or dry townships.

Map showing  dry (red), wet (blue), and mixed (yellow) counties in the United States as of March 2012.

Map showing dry (red), wet (blue), and mixed (yellow) counties in the United States as of March 2012.

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  • Some Islamic countries are entirely dry, many are mostly dry, and there are other countries with dry areas such as India and Canada.
    – Xander
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:15

1 Answer 1

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Yes. Currently the list of Countries that have prohibition (and their counties) are:

 Afghanistan
 Bangladesh
 Brunei
 Iran
 Indonesia (prohibition in small business shops)
 India (prohibition in the states of Kerala, Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur and the union territory of Lakshwadeep)
 Libya
 Kuwait
 Maldives (excluding non-Muslims)
 Mauritania
 Pakistan (excluding non-Muslims)
 Saudi Arabia
 Sudan
 Somalia
 United Arab Emirates (prohibition in the emirate of Sharjah)
 Yemen

Most of these are in Muslim-majority countries while India only prohibits alcohol in some states and their residing counties.

I am interchanging county and country because not all countries that have counties or states that have been divided into counties.

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  • I've been to a lot of these places, and believe me THEY ARE NOT DRY! Apr 10, 2017 at 14:42
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    So - legal and dry are not synonymous with one another. The country/state/county can be listed as dry even when alcohol is abundant. See- The United States during the bootlegging and prohibition era of the 20s...
    – BryceH
    Apr 10, 2017 at 14:56
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    I have friends that lived and worked in Saudi and they have told me several times that it's pretty easy to find booze if you want. Many expats make some type of hooch at home... Apr 10, 2017 at 16:27
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    I believe you. I was just trying to clarify that there is a difference between readily available and legal and readily available under prohibition.
    – BryceH
    Apr 10, 2017 at 16:47

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