XML 169 R6.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.23.4
Label Element Value
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading iSHARES® FRONTIER AND SELECT EM ETFTicker: FMStock Exchange: NYSE Arca
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading Investment Objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock
The iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide exposure to frontier market equities along with select emerging market equities.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading Fees and Expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock
The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. The investment advisory agreement between iShares, Inc. (the “Company”) and BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”) (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) provides that BFA will pay all operating expenses of the Fund, except: (i) the management fees, (ii) interest expenses, (iii) taxes, (iv) expenses incurred with respect to the acquisition and disposition of portfolio securities and the execution of portfolio transactions, including brokerage commissions, (v) distribution fees or expenses, and (vi) litigation expenses and any extraordinary expenses.
You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption Annual Fund Operating Expenses (ongoing expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investments)1
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading Portfolio Turnover.
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock The Fund may pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 53% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate 53.00%
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading Example.
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning shares of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading Principal Investment Strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the value of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in equity securities of issuers economically tied to frontier markets and issuers economically tied to emerging markets, or in depositary receipts representing such securities.
Frontier markets are those markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid investable equity markets. Additionally, the emerging markets in which the Fund seeks to invest are those markets selected from the lower size spectrum of emerging markets (i.e., emerging market countries with lower gross national income per capita and total stock market capitalizations relative to those of the full spectrum of emerging market countries). For this purpose, frontier markets and select emerging markets include, but are not limited to, the markets included in the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select
Index (the “Benchmark”). As of August 31, 2023, the Benchmark consisted of large-, mid- and small-capitalization securities in the following countries or regions: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Estonia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. BFA determines that an issuer is economically tied to a frontier market or an emerging market if such investment satisfies one or more of the following conditions: (1) the issuer's primary trading market is in such market; (2) the issuer is organized under the laws of, derives at least 50% of its revenue from, or has at least 50% of its assets in such market; and (3) the issuer has been classified as being in such market by MSCI Inc., the Benchmark provider. To the extent that markets restrict or delay repatriation of the applicable local currency, the Fund may choose not to invest in, or limit their investments in, such markets. As of August 31, 2023, a significant portion of the Fund is invested in securities of companies in the financials industry or sector. The holdings of the Fund are likely to change over time.
The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. In selecting investments for the Fund, BFA uses optimization techniques relative to the Benchmark in order to provide exposure to frontier markets and select emerging markets while taking into account, among other things, regulatory requirements, market limitations, and repatriation restrictions as determined by BFA. As a result of the optimization techniques, the performance of the
Fund may materially differ from that of the Benchmark.
The Fund may also invest in other securities and instruments, including but not limited to, certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates. In certain situations or market conditions, the Fund may temporarily depart from its normal investment process, provided that the alternative, in the opinion of BFA, is consistent with the Fund’s investment objective and is in the best interest of the Fund.
The Fund may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the Fund’s total assets (including the value of any collateral received).
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading Summary of Principal Risks
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading Performance Information
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock
The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, and 10 years compare with the Bechmark. Both assume that all dividends and distributions have been reinvested in the Fund. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. Effective June 1, 2023, the Fund became actively managed. Prior to June 1, 2023, BFA used an indexing approach to try to track the investment results of an underlying index.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text] rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns The bar chart and table that follow show how the Fund has performed on a calendar year basis and provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for 1, 5, and 10 years compare with the Bechmark.
Performance Availability Phone [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityPhone 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free)
Performance Availability Website Address [Text] rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress www.iShares.com
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text] rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture Past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future.
Bar Chart [Heading] rr_BarChartHeading Calendar Year by Year Returns1 
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block] rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock
The best calendar quarter return during the periods shown above was 12.25% in the 2nd quarter of 2021; the worst was -26.85% in the 1st quarter of 2020.
Updated performance information, including the Fund’s current NAV, may be obtained by visiting our website at www.iShares.com or by calling 1-800-iShares (1-800-474-2737) (toll free).
Performance Table Heading rr_PerformanceTableHeading Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2022) 
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”).
Performance Table Explanation after Tax Higher rr_PerformanceTableExplanationAfterTaxHigher Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sale of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Risk Lose Money [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock As with any investment, you could lose all or part of your investment in the Fund, and the Fund's performance could trail that of other investments.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Equity Securities Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more
volatile than those of other asset classes. Holders of common stocks, which generally subject their holders to more risks than preferred stocks and debt securities because common stockholders’ claims are subordinated to those of holders of preferred stocks and debt securities upon the bankruptcy of the issuer.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Market Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Market Risk. The Fund could lose money over short periods due to short-term market movements and over longer periods during more prolonged market downturns. Local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, public health issues, recessions, the prospect or occurrence of a sovereign default or other financial crisis, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments and could result in increased premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Asset Class Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Asset Class Risk. Securities and other assets in the Fund's portfolio may underperform in comparison to the general financial markets, a particular financial market or other asset classes.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Authorized Participant Concentration Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. Only an Authorized Participant (as
defined in the Creations and Redemptions section of this prospectus (the “Prospectus”)) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund, and none of those Authorized Participants is obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that may act as Authorized Participants on an agency basis (i.e., on behalf of other market participants). To the extent that Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, Fund shares may be more likely to trade at a premium or discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts or delisting. Authorized Participant concentration risk may be heightened for exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), such as the Fund, that invest in securities issued by non-U.S. issuers or other securities or instruments that have lower trading volumes.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Commodity Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Commodity Risk. The Fund invests in companies that are susceptible to fluctuations in certain commodity markets and to price changes due to trade relations. Any negative changes in commodity markets that may be due to changes in supply and demand for commodities, market events, war, regulatory developments, other catastrophic events, or other factors that the Fund cannot control could have an adverse impact on those companies.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Concentration Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Concentration Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund's investments are
concentrated in the securities and/or other assets of a particular issuer or issuers, country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector, market segment or asset class.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Currency Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Currency Risk. Because the Fund's NAV is determined in U.S. dollars, the Fund's NAV could decline if the currency of a non-U.S. market in which the Fund invests depreciates against the U.S. dollar or if there are delays or limits on repatriation of such currency. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. As a result, the Fund's NAV may change quickly and without warning.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Cybersecurity Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Cybersecurity Risk. Failures or breaches of the electronic systems of the Fund, the Fund's adviser, distributor, the benchmark provider and other service providers, market makers, Authorized Participants or the issuers of securities in which the Fund invests have the ability to cause disruptions, negatively impact the Fund’s business operations and/or potentially result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders. While the Fund has established business continuity plans and risk management systems seeking to address system breaches or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems. Furthermore, the Fund cannot control the cybersecurity plans and systems of the Fund’s benchmark provider and other service providers, market makers, Authorized
Participants or issuers of securities in which the Fund invests.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Geographic Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Geographic Risk. A natural disaster could occur in a geographic region in which the Fund invests, which could adversely affect the economy or the business operations of companies in the specific geographic region, causing an adverse impact on the Fund's investments in, or which are exposed to, the affected region.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Infectious Illness Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Infectious Illness Risk. A widespread outbreak of an infectious illness, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in travel restrictions, disruption of healthcare services, prolonged quarantines, cancellations, supply chain disruptions, business closures, lower consumer demand, layoffs, ratings downgrades, defaults and other significant economic, social and political impacts. Markets may experience temporary closures, extreme volatility, severe losses, reduced liquidity and increased trading costs. Such events may adversely affect the Fund and its investments and may impact the Fund’s ability to purchase or sell securities or cause elevated tracking error and increased premiums or discounts to the Fund's NAV. Despite the development of vaccines, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects cannot be predicted with certainty.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Issuer Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of individual securities to which the Fund has exposure. Changes in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer of
those securities may cause the value of the securities to decline.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Large Capitalization Companies Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Large-Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may be less able than smaller capitalization companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Large-capitalization companies may be more mature and subject to more limited growth potential compared with smaller capitalization companies. During different market cycles, the performance of large-capitalization companies has trailed the overall performance of the broader securities markets.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Large Shareholder and Large Scale Redemption Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Large Shareholder and Large-Scale Redemption Risk. Certain shareholders, including an Authorized Participant, a third-party investor, the Fund’s adviser or an affiliate of the Fund’s adviser, a market maker, or another entity, may from time to time own or manage a substantial amount of Fund shares, or may invest in the Fund and hold their investment for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder or large group of shareholders would not redeem their investment. Redemptions of a large number of Fund shares could require the Fund to dispose of assets to meet the redemption requests, which can accelerate the realization of taxable income and/or capital gains and cause the Fund to make taxable distributions to its shareholders earlier than the Fund otherwise would have. In addition, under certain circumstances, non-redeeming shareholders may be treated as receiving a disproportionately large taxable distribution during or with respect to such year. In some circumstances, the Fund may hold a relatively large proportion of its assets in cash in anticipation of large redemptions, diluting its investment
returns. These large redemptions may also force the Fund to sell portfolio securities when it might not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV, increase the Fund’s brokerage costs and/or have a material effect on the market price of the Fund shares.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Management Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Management Risk. The Fund is subject to management risk, which is the risk that the investment process, techniques and risk analyses applied by BFA will not produce the desired results, and that securities selected by BFA may underperform the market or any relevant benchmark. In addition, legislative, regulatory, or tax developments may affect the investment techniques available to BFA in connection with managing the Fund and may also adversely affect the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Market Trading Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Market Trading Risk. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruptions in the creation/redemption process. ANY OF THESE FACTORS, AMONG OTHERS, MAY LEAD TO THE FUND'S SHARES TRADING AT A PREMIUM OR DISCOUNT TO NAV.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Mid Capitalization Companies Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Mid-Capitalization Companies Risk. Compared to large-capitalization companies, mid-capitalization companies may be less stable and more susceptible to adverse developments. In addition, the securities of mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid than those of large-capitalization companies.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | National Closed Market Trading Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
National Closed Market Trading Risk. To the extent that the underlying securities or other instruments held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges or in foreign markets that may be closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund’s shares trade is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of such an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security (i.e., the Fund’s quote from the closed foreign market). The impact of a closed foreign market on the Fund is likely to be greater where a large portion of the Fund’s underlying securities or other instruments trade on that closed foreign
market or when the foreign market is closed for unscheduled reasons. These deviations could result in premiums or discounts to the Fund’s NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Non US Securities Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Non-U.S. Securities Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to the risks associated with investing in those non-U.S. markets, such as heightened risks of inflation or nationalization. The Fund may lose money due to political, economic and geographic events affecting issuers of non-U.S. securities or non-U.S. markets. In addition, non-U.S. securities markets may trade a small number of securities and may be unable to respond effectively to changes in trading volume, potentially making prompt liquidation of holdings difficult or impossible at times. The Fund is specifically exposed to African Economic Risk and Asian Economic Risk.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Operational Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Operational Risk. The Fund is exposed to operational risks arising from a number of factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems failures. The Fund and BFA seek to reduce these operational risks through controls and procedures. However, these measures do not address every possible risk and may be inadequate to address significant operational risks.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Reliance on Trading Partners Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Reliance on Trading Partners Risk. The Fund invests in countries or regions whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund's investments. Through its holdings of securities of certain issuers, the Fund is specifically exposed to African Economic Risk, Asian Economic Risk, European Economic Risk and Middle Eastern Economic Risk.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Securities Lending Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Securities Lending Risk. The Fund may engage in securities lending. Securities lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of collateral provided for loaned securities or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral. These events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Security Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Security Risk. Some countries and regions in which the Fund invests have experienced security concerns, such as
war, terrorism and strained international relations. Incidents involving a country's or region's security may cause uncertainty in its markets and may adversely affect its economy and the Fund's investments.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Valuation Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Valuation Risk. The price the Fund could receive upon the sale of a security or other asset may differ from the Fund's valuation of the security or other asset, particularly for securities or other assets that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology as a result of trade suspensions or for other reasons. In addition, the value of the securities or other assets in the Fund's portfolio may change on days or during time periods when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the Fund's shares. Authorized Participants who purchase or redeem Fund shares on days when the Fund is holding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, or lower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received had the securities not been fair valued or been valued using a different methodology. The ability to value investments may be impacted by technological issues or errors by pricing services or other third-party service providers.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Risk of Investing in Frontier Markets [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Risk of Investing in Frontier Markets. Frontier markets are those emerging markets that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid, and as a result, may be more likely to experience inflation, political turmoil and rapid changes in
economic conditions than more developed and traditional emerging markets. Investments in frontier markets may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in more developed and traditional emerging markets. Frontier markets often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements, unreliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities. Economic, political, illiquidity and currency risks may be more pronounced with respect to investments in frontier markets than in emerging markets.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Risk of Investing in Emerging Markets. Investments in emerging market issuers may be subject to a greater risk of loss than investments in issuers located or operating in more developed markets. Emerging markets may be more likely to experience inflation, social instability, political turmoil or rapid changes in economic conditions than more developed markets. Companies in many emerging markets are not subject to the same degree of regulatory requirements, accounting standards or auditor oversight as companies in more developed countries, and as a result, information about the securities in which the Fund invests may be less reliable or complete. Emerging markets often have less reliable securities valuations and greater risk associated with custody of securities than developed markets. There may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies and shareholders may have limited legal remedies.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Custody Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Custody Risk. Less developed securities markets are more likely to experience problems with the clearing and settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Financials Sector Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Financials Sector Risk. The performance of companies in the financials sector may be adversely impacted by many factors, including, among others, changes in government regulations, economic conditions, and interest rates, credit rating downgrades, adverse public perception, exposure concentration and decreased liquidity in credit markets. The impact of changes in regulation of any individual financial company, or of the financials sector as a whole, cannot be predicted. Cybersecurity incidents and technology malfunctions and failures have become increasingly frequent and have caused significant losses to companies in this sector, which may negatively impact the Fund.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Illiquid Investments Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Illiquid Investments Risk. The Fund may not acquire any illiquid investment if, immediately after the acquisition, the Fund would have invested more than 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments. An illiquid investment is any investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without significantly changing the market value of the investment. To the extent the Fund holds illiquid investments, the illiquid investments may reduce the returns of the Fund
because the Fund may be unable to transact at advantageous times or prices. In addition, if the Fund is limited in its ability to sell illiquid investments during periods when shareholders are redeeming their shares, the Fund will need to sell liquid securities to meet redemption requests and illiquid securities will become a larger portion of the Fund’s holdings. During periods of market volatility, liquidity in the market for the Fund’s shares may be impacted by the liquidity in the market for the underlying securities or instruments held by the Fund, which could lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to the Fund’s NAV.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Privatization Risk [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Privatization Risk. Some countries in which the Fund invests have privatized, or have begun the process of privatizing, certain entities and industries. Privatized entities may lose money or be re-nationalized.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Risk of Investing in Vietnam [Member]  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk [Text Block] rr_RiskTextBlock
Risk of Investing in Vietnam. Investments in Vietnamese issuers involve risks that are specific to Vietnam, including legal, regulatory, political and economic risks.
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management Fees rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.79% [1]
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees rr_DistributionAndService12b1FeesOverAssets none [1]
Other Expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets none [1],[2]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.79% [1]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 81
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 252
5 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear05 439
10 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear10 $ 978
2013 rr_AnnualReturn2013 25.60%
2014 rr_AnnualReturn2014 4.04%
2015 rr_AnnualReturn2015 (15.32%)
2016 rr_AnnualReturn2016 3.46%
2017 rr_AnnualReturn2017 33.66%
2018 rr_AnnualReturn2018 (17.46%)
2019 rr_AnnualReturn2019 17.47%
2020 rr_AnnualReturn2020 (1.31%)
2021 rr_AnnualReturn2021 22.61%
2022 rr_AnnualReturn2022 (25.93%) [3]
Year to Date Return, Label rr_YearToDateReturnLabel The Fund’s year-to-date return
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return, Date rr_BarChartYearToDateReturnDate Sep. 30, 2023
Bar Chart, Year to Date Return rr_BarChartYearToDateReturn 6.75%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel best
Highest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate Jun. 30, 2021
Highest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn 12.25%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel worst
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate Mar. 31, 2020
Lowest Quarterly Return rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn (26.85%)
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (25.93%)
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.77%)
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 2.89%
Inception Date rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate Sep. 12, 2012
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Return After Taxes on Distributions | iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (26.20%) [4]
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (3.58%) [4]
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 1.92% [4]
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (14.83%) [4]
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (2.16%) [4]
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 2.13% [4]
iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF | MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index (Index returns do not reflect deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
One Year rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01 (23.39%) [5]
Five Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05 (0.74%) [5]
Ten Years rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear10 4.69% [5]
[1] Operating expenses paid by BFA under the Investment Advisory Agreement exclude acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.
[2] The amount rounded to 0.00%.
[3] The Fund’s year-to-date return as of September 30, 2023 was 6.75%.
[4] After-tax returns in the table above are calculated using the historical highest individual U.S. federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state or local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown, and after-tax returns shown are not relevant to tax-exempt investors or investors who hold shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”). Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares are calculated assuming that an investor has sufficient capital gains of the same character from other investments to offset any capital losses from the sale of Fund shares. As a result, Fund returns after taxes on distributions and sales of Fund shares may exceed Fund returns before taxes and/or returns after taxes on distributions.
[5] Index returns through February 28, 2021 reflect the performance of the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index. Index returns beginning on March 1, 2021 reflect the performance of the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index, which, effective as of March 1, 2021, replaced the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index as the underlying index of the Fund. Effective June 1, 2023, the Fund became actively managed and compares its performance to the MSCI Frontier and Emerging Markets Select Index.