Iraq

Guide Note

Located in Western Asia, Iraq, spans most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Iran. Iraq has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf and two major rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, flowing Northwest to Southeast through it.

Fast Facts

1. Capital: Baghdad
2. Government: Developing Parliamentary Democracy
3. Population: 26,783,383 (2006 est.)
4. Currency: Iraqi dinar (IQD)
5. Inflation Rate: 64.8%
6. Official Language: Arabic, Kurdish, Aramaic
7. Major Rivers: Tigris and Euphrates
8. Deserts: Syrian and Arabian

The site of ancient Mesopotamia, Iraq was the site of flourishing ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Muslims conquered the area in the 7th century. In the 8th century, the Abassid Caliphate established its capital in Baghdad. It was the largest multicultural city of the Middle Ages, and was the center of learning during the Islamic Golden Age.

Iraq was a part of the Ottoman Empire until WWI when the British drove the Turks from most of the area. After the war Britian was granted a mandate over the area by the League of Nations. The current borders of the state were formed by combining three former Ottoman vilayets, or regions: Baghdad, Basra and the northern region of Mosul.

After gaining independence from Britain in 1932, Iraq was ruled by a reinstated Hashemite Monarchy until 1958, when it was overthrown by a coup d'etat known as the July 14 Revolution. Several regimes traded power until 1968, when the Baath Party came to power in a bloodless coup. The party gradually came under the control of Saddam Hussein, who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council in July 1979, while killing many of his opponents.

Saddam Hussein remained in power until the second Iraq War which began in 2003. The war touched off an ongoing insurgency, now frequently referred to as a civil war between Iraq's Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.