Article Outline
The plain of Al Jazīah (Arabic for “The Island”) lies between the upper Euphrates and Tigris rivers. This dry plateau region rises gradually to 300 to 500 m (1,000 to 1,500 ft) above sea level near the northwestern border with Turkey. The plain is undulating and rolling, and the rivers are too deeply incised below the general level of the land to be of much use for irrigation.
The mountains of northeastern Iraq are an extension of the Zagros Mountains, which lie mainly in western Iran. These peaks reach as high as 3,607 m (11,834 ft) at Mount Ebrāhīm (Kūh-e Ḩājī Ebrāhīm or Haji Ibrahim), the highest point in Iraq. The mountains of northern Iraq are intersected by deep valleys and fertile plains.
The desert that covers most of western Iraq is part of the Syrian Desert, which extends into Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia as well. Its surface is generally pebbly and rocky, broken in some places by flat-topped buttes and mesas and less frequently by areas of sand dunes. The region is crossed by numerous wadis, wide valleys that carry water only after the infrequent rains of the desert.
Since ancient times, the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers have been vitally important to the region, the eastern extent of the Fertile Crescent. However, much of the Tigris-Euphrates system lies in Syria and Turkey, which draw heavily on both rivers before they reach Iraq. The two rivers flow through Iraq from northwest to southeast. They meet at Al Qurnah in southeastern Iraq to form the 170-km- (110-mi)-long Shatt al Arab. The Iraqi port city of Al Başrah is located on the Shatt al Arab, about 110 km (about 70 mi) before the river empties into the Persian Gulf.
The Euphrates begins in Turkey, crosses Syria, and enters Iraq at Abū Kamāl. The flow of the Euphrates into Iraq has been greatly reduced by dams built by Turkey and Syria. The gradient of the Euphrates above the town of Hīt, in west central Iraq, is steep. In the 2,640 km (1,640 mi) from its source in Turkey to Hīt, the river falls from 3,000 m (10,000 ft) to a low water elevation of 50 m (170 ft) above sea level, an average drop of 1 m per km (6 ft per mi). In Iraq below Hīt the fall is very slight—about 8.9 cm per km (about 3.5 in per mi).
Hotmail
Messenger
My MSN
MSN Directory
