Iraq

I

Introduction

Iraq, country in the Middle East that has been central to three wars since 1980. Some of the world’s greatest ancient civilizations—Assyria, Babylonia, and Sumer—developed in the area that now makes up Iraq. The modern state of Iraq was created in 1920 by the British government, whose forces had occupied it during World War I (1914-1918). The country is officially named the Republic of Iraq (Al Jumhūrīyah al-‘Iraqia in Arabic). Baghdād is the capital and largest city.

Iraq is situated at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf. Its coastline along the gulf is only 30 km (19 mi) long. Thus, the country is nearly landlocked. Its only port on the gulf, Umm Qaşr, is small and located on shallow water, and only small craft can dock there.

Iraq is potentially one of the richest countries in the world. It contains enormous deposits of petroleum and natural gas. It is endowed with large quantities of water, supplied by its two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and their tributaries. Iraq’s location between those two great rivers gave rise to its ancient Greek name, Mesopotamia (“the land between the rivers”).

Most of Iraq’s people are Arabs. Iraq has been politically active in the Arab world, with most of its regimes trying to advance pan-Arab or partial Arab political unification under Iraqi leadership. The country has had tense relations with its eastern neighbor, Iran, resulting in a costly war in the 1980s (see Iran-Iraq War). At times it has claimed neighboring Kuwait, most recently in 1990, leading to the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Iraq was involved in all the Arab-Israeli wars except the Suez Crisis of 1956 (see Arab-Israeli Conflict).

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Set up as a monarchy, Iraq became a republic in 1958. It became a dictatorship dominated by a single party in 1968. That dictatorship came under the control of Saddam Hussein in 1979. Under his leadership, Iraq’s regional and foreign policies were ambitious, often involving great risk. In the late 20th century Iraq attained a high international profile, unprecedented in the modern history of the Middle East, but at an exorbitant political price. The dictatorship failed in various attempts to topple Arab regimes and to achieve leadership status in the Arab world or even in the Persian Gulf region. It failed in eight years of war in the 1980s to bring down the regime of neighboring Iran. It conquered Kuwait in 1990 but was forced to relinquish it by a coalition of Western and Arab countries in the Persian Gulf War. Afterward, it found itself shackled by an oil embargo and other sanctions imposed by the United Nations (UN). A United States-led invasion overthrew Hussein’s regime in April 2003 (see U.S.-Iraq War). Hussein was captured and executed, and a new Iraqi government was formed. However, an insurgency developed in resistance to the U.S. occupation, and sectarian conflict resulted in what many observers called a civil war.

II

Land and Resources

Iraq has an area of 438,317 sq km (169,235 sq mi). It is bounded on the north by Turkey; on the east by Iran; on the south by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf; and on the west by Jordan and Syria.

A

Natural Regions

Iraq is a land of both barren desert and broad, mighty rivers; of both tall mountains and low-lying swamps. The country can be divided into four major regions: Mesopotamia, the upper river plains, the northeastern mountains, and the western and southern desert.

A

1

Mesopotamia

Between the lower stretches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers lies the great delta plain of Mesopotamia. This plain covers roughly 117,000 sq km (45,000 sq mi). The plain is flat and featureless and slopes very gently toward the south. Locally the flatness is broken by natural levees, abandoned channels, irrigation canals, and drainage ditches. The rivers have built up their beds slightly above the general level of the plain in many places. Above Baghdād the Euphrates is a few feet higher than the Tigris; below Baghdād the Tigris is slightly higher than the Euphrates. Even so, the slope of the riverbeds toward the Persian Gulf is very slight. Consequently, the plain is poorly drained, and there are extensive marshes in the southeast.

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