Iraq
_Country|native_name = الجمهورية العراقية
Al-Jumhuriyah Al-Iraqiyah
كۆماری عێراق Komara Iraqê'Republic of Iraqcommon_name = Iraq | image_flag = Flag-of-Iraq.png | image_coat = Iraq-COA.png | image_map = LocationIraq.png | national_motto = Arabic: الله أكبر
(Transliteration: Allahu Akbar)
(Translation: "God is Great") | national_anthem = Mawtini (New);
Ardh Alforatain (Old) | capital = Baghdad | official_languages = Arabic & Kurdish . Syriac Aramaic , and Iraqi Turkmen | latm=20 |latNS=N |longd=44 |longm=26 |longEW=E |largest_city = Baghdad | government_type = Parliamentary democracy | leader_titles = President
Prime Minister | leader_names = Jalal Talabani
Nouri al-Maliki | area_rank = 58th | area_magnitude = 1 E11 | area= 437,072 | areami²=168,754 | percent_water = 1.1% | population_estimate = 26,783,383 | population_estimate_rank = 40th | population_estimate_year = 2006 | population_census = | population_census_year = | population_density = 66 | population_densitymi² = 153 | population_density_rank = 125th | GDP_PPP = $89,800,000,000 | GDP_PPP_rank = 58th | GDP_PPP_year= 2005 | GDP_PPP_per_capita = $3,500 | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 122nd | sovereignty_type = Independence | established_events = Fr. the Ottoman Empire
Fr. the United Kingdom
Fr. the CPA | established_dates =
October 1, 1919
October 3, 1932
October 26, 1947
June 28, 2004 | HDI = | HDI_rank = n/a | HDI_year = 2003 | HDI_category = unranked | currency = Iraqi dinar | currency_code = IQD | country_code = IRQ | time_zone = | utc_offset = +3 | time_zone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = +4 | cctld = .iq | calling_code = 964 | footnotes = 1The Kurds use Ey Reqîb
2The capital of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region is Arbil
3Official language in three Kurdish regions4According to Article 4, Section 4 of the Iraqi Constitution, the Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic) and Iraqi Turkmen (a dialect of Southern Azerbaijani) languages are official in areas where they form a majority.}}
The Republic of Iraq ( , Kurdish: عيَراق), is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing most of Mesopotamia as well as the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf.There are several suggestions for the origin of the name of Iraq; one dates back to the Sumerian city of Uruk (or Erech). Another suggestion is that Iraq comes from the Aramaic language, meaning "the land along the banks of the rivers."
Under the Sassanid dynasty, there was a region called "Erak Arabi" which referred to the southern part of modern Iraq. Al-Iraq was the name used by the Arabs themselves for the land since the 6th century.Ancient historyThe Republic of Iraq sits on land that is historically known as Mesopotamia, which means 'land between the rivers' in Greek. This land was home to some of the world's first civilizations, including the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, whose influence extended into neighboring regions as early as 5000 BC. These civilizations produced some of the first writing, science, mathematics, law and philosophy in the world, making the region the center of what is commonly called the "Cradle of Civilization". Ancient Mesopotamian civilization dominated other civilizations of its time.
Beginning in the seventh century AD, Islam spread to what is now Iraq. The prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law moved his capital to Kufa "fi al-Iraq" when he became the fourth caliph. The Umayyads ruling from Damascus in the 7th century ruled the province of Iraq.
Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, was the leading city of the Arab and Muslim world for five centuries. In 1258, Baghdad was devastated by the Mongols and was later occupied by the Ottoman Turks. Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted until the Great War (World War I) when the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers. During World War I, the Ottomans were driven from much of the area by the United Kingdom during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.Modern history | U.S. troops topple a giant statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, following the capture of the city in April 2003. |
At the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted the area to the United Kingdom as a mandate. It was formed out of three former Ottoman vilayets (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. However, for three out of four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule, the vilayets of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra were administered from Baghdad.
Iraq was granted independence in 1932, though the British retained military bases and transit rights for their forces in the country. Iraq was invaded by the United Kingdom in 1941, for fears that the government of Rashid Ali might cut oil supplies to Western nations and because of his strong leanings to Nazi Germany. A military occupation followed, and the occupation ended on October 26, 1947.
The reinstalled Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown through a coup d'etat by the Iraqi army, known as the 14 July Revolution. The coup brought Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim's government to power (which withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union) from 1958 till 1963, when he was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. Salam Arif died in 1966 and his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed the presidency. In 1968, Rahman Arif was overthrown by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath's key figure became Saddam Hussein who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, in July 1979, killing off many of his opponents in the process.
Saddam's dictatorial and particularly bloody rule lasted throughout the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), in which the United States, Soviet Union, and France backed Saddam after 1982, a war that ended in stalemate. During this long conventional war, Iraq attacked Iran with chemical weapons and deliberately killed many Iranian military personnel and civilians with such weapons. In the late 1980s, Saddam Hussein's regime launched the al-Anfal campaign, which led to the gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq[1]. In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait resulting in the Gulf War; and the United Nations economic sanctions imposed at the urging of the U.S. The economic sanctions were designed to compel Saddam to dispose of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). [2]. Critics estimate that between 400,000 and 800,000 Iraqi children died as a result of the sanctions [3]. The U.S. and the U.K. declared no-fly zones over Kurdish northern and Shiite southern Iraq to protect the Kurds and southern Shiites.
Iraq was invaded in March 2003 by the United States and allies, who established a Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq. The invasion met strong criticism from around the world, and its legality is still debated. (Cf. Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq) Government authority was transferred to an Iraqi Interim Government in 2004, but over 140,000 U.S. and allied troops remain in Iraq, and they continue to exert significant influence over the country. Insurgencies, frequent terrorist attacks and sectarian violence have plagued the country since then and led to harsh criticism of US Iraq policy. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule from 1968 to 2003; in 1979 Saddam Hussein took control and remained president until 2003, when he was unseated by a US-led invasion.
On October 15, 2005, more than 63% of eligible Iraqis came out across the country to vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution. On October 25, the vote was certified and the constitution passed with a 78% overall majority, with the percentage of support varying widely between the country's three ethnic territories. [9] The new constitution had overwhelming backing among the Shia and Ķurdish communities, but was overwhelmingly rejected by Sunnis. Three majority-Sunni provinces rejected it (Salah ad Din with 82% against, Ninawa with 55% against, and Al Anbar with 97% against).
Under the terms of the constitution, the country conducted fresh nationwide parliamentary elections on December 15 to elect a new government. The overwhelming majority of all three major ethnic groups in Iraq voted along ethnic lines, turning this vote into more of an ethnic census than a competitive election, and setting the stage for the division of the country along ethnic lines.
Iraqi politicians have been under significant threat by the various factions that have promoted violence as a political weapon. The ongoing violence in Iraq has been incited by an amalgam of religious extremists that believe an Islamic Caliphate should rule, old regime Sunnis that had ruled under Saddam that want back the power they had, and Iraqi nationalists that are fighting against what they view as a foreign occupation.Minority politicsThere are a number of ethnic minority groups in Iraq: Kurds (Muslim and Yezidi), Assyrians, Mandeans, Iraqi Turkmen and Roma. These groups have not enjoyed equal status with the majority Arab populations throughout Iraq's eighty-five year history. Since the establishment of the "no-fly zones" following the First Gulf War, the situation of the Kurds has changed as they have established their own autonomous region. The remainder of these ethnic groups continue to suffer discrimination on religious or ethnic grounds.Iraq is divided into eighteen governorates or provinces (Arabic: muhafadhat, singular - muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). Particularly in Iraqi government documents the term "governorate" is preferred: | A map of Iraq with Governates and Districts |
Large parts of Iraq consist of desert, but the area between the two major rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) is fertile, with the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic metres (78 million cu. yd) of silt annually to the delta. The north of the country is largely mountainous, with the highest point being a 3,611 metres (11,847 ft) point, unnamed on the map opposite, but known locally as Cheekah Dar (black tent). Iraq has a small coastline with the Persian Gulf. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab (known as arvandrūd: اروندرود among Iranians) there used to be marshlands, but many of these were drained in the 1990s. | Snowy mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan |
The local climate is mostly desert with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern mountainous regions experience cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding. The capital of Baghdad is situated in the centre of the country, on the banks of the Tigris. Other major cities include Basra in the south and Mosul in the north.Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the 1980s financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran led the government to implement austerity measures, borrow heavily, and later reschedule foreign debt payments. Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. A combination of low oil prices, repayment of war debts (estimated at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait.
On November 20 2004, the Paris Club of creditor nations agreed to write off 80% ($33 billion) of Iraq's $42 billion debt to Club members. Iraq's total external debt was around $120 billion at the time of the 2003 invasion, and had grown by $5 billion by 2004. The debt relief will be implemented in three stages: two of 30% each and one of 20%.[10] | Distribution of Religious and Ethnic Groups in Iraq |
Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq's population are Arabs; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds at 15-20%, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen and others (5%), who mostly live in the north and northeast of the country. The Kurds, Assyrians, and Turkmen differ from Arabs in many ways, including culture, history, clothing, and language. Other distinct groups are Persians and Armenians (possible descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian culture). About 20,000"50,000 Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq.
Arabic and Kurdish are official languages. Syriac Aramaic and Turkmen are official languages in areas where the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen are located respectively. Armenian and Persian are also spoken but to a lesser extent. English is the most commonly spoken Western language.
There are more Arab Iraqi Muslim members of the Shiite sect than there are Arab Iraqi Muslims of the Sunni sect; but there is a large Sunni population as well, made up of mostly Arabs and Kurds. (Shiites: 60-65% of total population made up of mostly Arabs). Ethnic Assyrians (are of the Chaldean rite) account for most of Iraq's sizable Christian population along with the Armenians. Bahá'ís, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
Demographic information from the 2006 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html#People]:
* Ethnic groups: Arab, 75"80%; Kurdish, 15-20%; Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%.
* Religions: Muslim, 97% (Shi'ite, 60-65%; Sunni 32-37%); Christian or other, 3%.In the most recent millennium, what is now Iraq has been made up of five cultural areas: Kurdish in the north centered on Arbil; Sunni Islamic Arabs in the center around Baghdad; Shi'a Islamic Arabs in the south centered on Basra; the Assyrians, a Christian people, living in various cities in the north; and the Marsh Arabs, a nomadic people, who live on the marshlands of the central river. Markets and bartering are the common form of trade.Iraq is known primarily for an instrument called the oud (similar to a lute) and a rebab (similar to a fiddle); its stars include Ahmed Mukhtar and the Assyrian Munir Bashir. Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, the most popular radio station was the Voice of Youth. It played a mix of western rock, hip hop and pop music, all of which had to be imported via Jordan due to international economic sanctions. Iraq has also produced a major pan-Arab pop star-in-exile in Kazem al Saher, whose songs include Ladghat E-Hayya, which was banned for its racy lyrical content.Image:Tigris river Mosul.jpg|Tigris River near MosulImage:Ihstar Gate RB.JPG|Ishtar Gate (Bab Ishtar) 604 to 562 B.C. Ancient BabylonImage:Minaret Samarra Iraq.jpg|An ancient Minaret in SamarraImage:Hatra ruins.jpg|Hatra ruinsImage:Meshed ali usnavy (PD).jpg|Shrine of Imam Ali (as), NajafImage:Boat on Euphrates.jpg|Boat on the Euphrates RiverImage:Geli Ali Beg.jpg|Geli Eli Beg Waterfall in Iraqi KurdistanImage:Kurdistan Canyon.jpg|A Canyon in Iraqi KurdistanImage:IRAQ map black nad white.jpg|Printable map* Economy: Iraq Stock Exchange, Iraqi Dinar, Economy of Iraq
* Events: 2005 in Iraq, 2004 in Iraq, 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Post-invasion Iraq, 2003-2006, Iraqi insurgency, Iraq War
* Geography: List of places in Iraq, Communications of Iraq, Transportation in Iraq
* Groups: Kurds, Shiites, Sunni, Assyrians, Arab Tribes in Iraq, Maslawi
* Politics: Politics of Iraq, New Iraqi Army, Foreign relations of Iraq, Human rights violations in Iraq, Iraqi insurgency, M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Religion and Politics in Iraq. Shiite Clerics between Quietism and Resistance, with a foreword by Professor Hamid Algar of the University of California at Berkeley. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2004 (ISBN 9971775131)
* History: List of Kings of Iraq, List of Presidents of Iraq, List of Prime Ministers of Iraq, British Mandate of Iraq, History of the Jews in Iraq, Iran-Iraq War, History of astrology, Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, Babylon
* Literature: Epic of Gilgamesh, Enuma Elish, Atra-Hasis
* Others: Postage stamps and postal history of Iraq, Gay rights in Iraq, Mesopotamian mythology The New York Times, March 14, 2003, "A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making " (free archived version); Hanna Batatu, "The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq", Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978; Peter and Marion Sluglett, "Iraq Since 1958" London, I.B. Taurus, 1990; regarding the work of the CIA's "Health Alteration Committee" in Iraq, see also, U.S. Senate's Church Committee Interim Report on Assassination, page 181, Note 1.
"A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making": "Again, this coup...came with C.I.A. backing". * Shadid, Anthony 2005. Night Draws Near. Henry Holt and Co., NY, USA. ISBN 0805076026
* Thompson, Dan 2006. American, Interrupted: 14 Months in Iraq. A U.S. Army corporal details American-Iraqi relationships from May 2003 until July 2004.[11]
*Hanna Batatu, "The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq", Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978
*Iraq was one of the major settings for the John J. Rust science fiction novel "Epsilon"
*A Dweller in Mesopotamia, being the adventures of an official artist in the garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921. (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)
*By Desert Ways to Baghdad, by Louisa Jebb (Mrs. Roland Wilkins) With illustrations and a map, 1908 (1909 ed). (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)Government
*Iraqi Interim Government official government site
*New Iraqi government structure (PDF) (As of July 17, 2006)
*Kurdistan Regional Government
*Ministry of Industry and Minerals
News
* News from Iraq: War, politics, economy
*Yahoo! News Full Coverage - Iraq
*News in Depth from the Financial Times
*Diplomacy Monitor-Iraq
*Dahr Jamail Iraq Dispatches News From Inside Iraq
*Schema-root.org: Iraq
Overviews
*Encarta Encyclopedia
*al-Bab - Iraq
*Encyclopaedia Britannica Iraq Country Page
*BBC News Country Profile - Iraq
*[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html CIA World Factbook - Iraq]
*LexicOrient - Iraq
*US State Department - Iraq includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
*Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Iraq
*Iraq Country Profile from Reuters AlertNet
*AME Info - Country Guide: Iraq
*Country Briefing: Iraq from The Economist
Tourism
Other
*Iraq's location on a 3D globe (Java)
*Lawk Salih News updates, Iraqi Music and Video Clips, Kurdish News, Kurdish Music and Video Clips
*H-Museum Iraq site
*Canadian Content - Iraq updated section on security issues
*Iraq: Relief and Recovery Development Gateway's knowledge sharing community on Iraq's development needs and efforts.
*Iraq Analysis Information on post-invasion Iraq
*Jubilee Iraq Campaign to eliminate Iraq's pre-war debt and reparations
*Amnesty International Report on Iraq
*Coalition Provisional Authority Now-defunct occupation authority; site is archived
*US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
*Iraq Law from the University of Pittsburgh's Jurist project
*1900 - 2000 a history of Iraq
*Pictures of Iraq (Mesopotamia) during World War One
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