Al Başrah, also known as Basra, city in southeastern Iraq, capital of Al Başrah Governorate on the Shatt al Arab. The main port of Iraq, Al Başrah has an international airport and is connected by rail with Baghdād and the countries of Iran and Kuwait. It is the terminal point for oil pipelines, and petroleum refining is a major industry. Oceangoing oil tankers reach Al Başrah by means of the Rokā Channel. Petroleum products, grains, and dates are the chief exports. The University of Al Başrah (1964) is here.

The city was founded by the caliph Umar I in 636. It was called Basorah in the collection of Oriental folk tales known as the Arabian Nights. By the 8th century it had become an important trade and cultural center, but it declined with the fall of the Abbassid dynasty in 1258. Developed as a supply base by the British in World War I (1914-1918), Al Başrah became a major port once more. The city’s petroleum complex was damaged during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s; the population also declined greatly, as a result of the war, from more than 1.5 million in 1977 to less than 900,000 in the late 1980s. Al Başrah was a target of severe allied bombing during the Persian Gulf War (1991).

After the war, clashes increased between the Iraqi military and the city’s Shia Muslims, who opposed the rule of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In 2003, during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Al Başrah was the site of heavy fighting before the city came under the control of British forces. In December 2007 British forces withdrew from the city to a headquarters near the city’s airport, ostensibly ceding control to Iraq’s military; despite this, sporadic fighting continued to plague the city (see U.S.-Iraq War). Population 406,296 (1987).