Iraq
,
country
of southwestern
Asia
.
During ancient times, lands that now
constitute
Iraq were known as
Mesopotamia
(“Land Between the Rivers”), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, including those of
Sumer
,
Akkad
,
Babylon
, and
Assyria
. This wealthy region,
comprising
much of what is called the
Fertile Crescent
, later became a valuable part of larger imperial polities, including sundry
Persian
, Greek, and Roman
dynasties
, and after the 7th century it became a central and
integral
part of the
Islamic world
. Iraq’s capital,
Baghdad
, became the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate
in the 8th century. The modern nation-state of Iraq was created following
World War I
(1914?18) from the
Ottoman
provinces of
Baghdad
,
Basra
, and
Mosul
and derives its name from the Arabic term used in the premodern period to describe a region that roughly corresponded to
Mesopotamia
(
?Ir?q ?Arab?
, “Arabian Iraq”) and modern northwestern
Iran
(
?Ir?q ?Ajam?
, “foreign [i.e., Persian] Iraq”).
Iraq gained formal independence in 1932 but remained subject to British imperial influence during the next quarter century of turbulent monarchical rule. Political instability on an even greater scale followed the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, but the installation of an
Arab
nationalist and socialist regime?the
Ba?ath Party
?in a bloodless
coup
10 years later brought new stability. With proven
oil
reserves second in the world only to those of Saudi Arabia, the regime was able to finance ambitious projects and development plans throughout the 1970s and to build one of the largest and best-equipped armed forces in the Arab world. The party’s leadership, however, was quickly assumed by
Saddam Hussein
, a
flamboyant
and ruthless autocrat who led the country into disastrous military adventures?the
Iran-Iraq War
(1980?88) and the
Persian Gulf War
(1990?91). These conflicts left the country isolated from the international
community
and financially and socially drained, but?through unprecedented coercion directed at major sections of the population, particularly the country’s disfranchised Kurdish minority and the
Shi?i
majority?Saddam himself was able to maintain a firm hold on power into the 21st century. He and his regime were toppled in 2003 during the
Iraq War
.
Land
Iraq is one of the easternmost countries of the Arab world, located at about the same
latitude
as the southern
United States
. It is bordered to the north by
Turkey
, to the east by
Iran
, to the west by
Syria
and
Jordan
, and to the south by
Saudi Arabia
and
Kuwait
. Iraq has 36 miles (58 km) of coastline along the northern end of the
Persian Gulf
, giving it a tiny sliver of territorial sea. Followed by Jordan, it is thus the Middle Eastern state with the least access to the sea and offshore
sovereignty
.
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Relief
Iraq’s
topography
can be divided into four physiographic regions: the alluvial plains of the central and southeastern parts of the country; Al-Jaz?rah (Arabic: “the Island”), an upland region in the north between the
Tigris
and
Euphrates
rivers; deserts in the west and south; and the highlands in the northeast. Each of these regions extends into neighbouring countries, although the alluvial plains lie largely within Iraq.
The plains of lower Mesopotamia extend southward some 375 miles (600 km) from Balad on the Tigris and
Al-Ram?d?
on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. They cover more than 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), almost one-third of the country’s area, and are
characterized
by low elevation, below 300 feet (100 metres), and poor natural drainage. Large areas are subject to widespread seasonal flooding, and there are extensive marshlands, some of which dry up in the summer to become salty wastelands. Near Al-Qurnah, where the Tigris and Euphrates converge to form the
Sha?? al-?Arab
, there are still some inhabited marshes. The alluvial plains contain extensive lakes. The swampy Lake Al-?amm?r (
Hawr al-?amm?r
) extends 70 miles (110 km) from
Basra
(Al-Ba?rah) to S?q al-Shuy?kh; its width varies from 8 to 15 miles (13 to 25 km).
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North of the alluvial plains, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, is the arid Al-Jaz?rah
plateau
. Its most prominent hill range is the
Sinj?r Mountains, whose highest peak reaches an elevation of 4,448 feet (1,356 metres). The main watercourse is the
Wadi Al-Tharth?r
, which runs southward for 130 miles (210 km) from the Sinj?r Mountains to the Tharth?r (Salt) Depression. Mil?at Ashqar is the largest of several salt flats (or
sabkhah
s) in the region.
Deserts
Western and southern Iraq is a vast
desert
region covering some 64,900 square miles (168,000 square km), almost two-fifths of the country. The western desert, an extension of the
Syrian Desert
, rises to elevations above 1,600 feet (490 metres). The southern desert is known as
Al-?ajarah in the western part and as Al-Dibdibah in the east. Al-?ajarah has a complex
topography
of rocky desert, wadis, ridges, and depressions. Al-Dibdibah is a more sandy region with a covering of scrub vegetation. Elevation in the southern desert averages between 300 and 1,200 feet (100 to 400 metres). A height of 3,119 feet (951 metres) is reached at Mount ?Unayzah (?Un?zah) at the intersection of the borders of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The deep
Wadi Al-B??in runs 45 miles (75 km) in a northeast-southwest direction through Al-Dibdibah. It has been recognized since 1913 as the boundary between western Kuwait and Iraq.