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Republic of Iraqالجمهورية العراقية Aj-Jumhuriyah Al-'Iraqiyah كۆماری عێراق Komara Iraqê
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Arabic: الله أكبر (Transliteration: Allahu Akbar) (Translation: "God is Great")
Anthem: Mawtini
Capitaland largest city	Baghdad
Official languages	Arabic, Kurdish
Government	Republic
Independence
• Water (%)	1.1%
Population
• 2005 estimate	28,807,000 (40th)
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$89,800,000,000 (58th)
• Per capita	$3,500 (122nd)
Currency	Iraqi dinar (IQD)
Time zone	UTC+3
• Summer (DST)	UTC+4
Calling code	964
ISO 3166 code	IQ
Internet TLD	.iq

Iraq (Arabic: العراق (Listen) al-‘Irāq or al-Erāq, Kurdish: عيَراق), officially the Republic of Iraq, 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 a border with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran (Persia) to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. It is considered the place where a settled society to have manifested all the features needed to qualify fully as a "civilization" first appeared in the world - the civilization known as Sumeria.

Name

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 southern rivers."

Under the Sassanid dynasty, there was a region called "Iraq 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.

History

Ancient history

The Republic of Iraq sits on land that is historically known as Mesopotamia (Al-Rafidayn in Arabic and Beth Nahrain in Aramaic), which means 'land between the rivers' in Greek, also largely comprising the eastern and bigger arm of the Fertile Crescent. This land was home to some of the world's first civilizations, including the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian whose influence extended into neighboring regions as early as 5000 BC, and Median (Medes) cultures. 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. Ali, the prophet Muhammad'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.

Muhammad's grandson, Hussein ibn Ali, and all of his family, were slaughtered and taken prisoner in the infamous Battle of Karbala. For this reason, the city of Karbala to this day is a large center of pilgramage for many Shia Muslims.

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 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.

According to legend, Al-Qurnah, near the southern borders of Iraq at the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates is the location of the Garden of Eden, the original home of humanity in the Jewish/Christian/Islamic faiths. A dead tree in the town is said to be the original Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Modern history

At the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted the area to the United Kingdom as a British mandate. It was formed out of three former Ottoman vilayets (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra, under the control of King Faisal. 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. In response to a pro-Nazi coup d'etat by former Prime Minister Rashid Ali the British invaded Iraq in 1941 resulting in the Anglo-Iraqi War. A military occupation followed, ending on October 26, 1947.

The Hashemite monarchy was reinstalled by the British and 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. In 1963, 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 led by General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. The Ba'ath's ruling clique named Saddam Hussein vice-chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council and vice president of Iraq. After years of consolidating defacto control over the nation, Hussein formally acceded to the presidency in 1979 and took control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, executing many of his opponents in the process. Saddam Hussein would go on to serve nearly 25 years as president, and preside over a highly tumultuous period for the country, both domestically and internationally. Internally, Saddam implemented a harsh police state and personality cult with widespread torture and murder of dissident Iraqis.

Taking advantage of perceived Iranian disorder in the wake of their revolution, Iraq invaded Iran launching the Iran-Iraq War which lasted from 1980 to 1988. Throughout the conflict, world powers supplied Arms sales to Iraq 1973-1990. U.S. President Ronald Reagan sold Iraq $200 million (0.5% of total arms sales to Iraq) in weapons. In the end, Iran repelled Iraq to a standstill and the political boundary between both countries was restored.

The war also included the use of chemical weapons by Iraq, on Iran. Both the Iranian military and civilians were targetted, with those not killed suffering severe burns and health problems.

In 1988 the Saddam government launch the al-Anfal campaign, which led to the deaths of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq; an act that Human Rights Watch characterised as genocide. U.S. President Ronald Reagan failed to condemn the attacks on Kurds. However, the U.S. stopped selling arms to Iraq after that year.

In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait which triggered the Gulf War. In response to the invasion, a multi-national UN coalition, led by the United States, successfully drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

In the aftermath of the Gulf War, much of the international community isolated Iraq as a pariah state. The United Nations implemented economic sanctions against the country, designed as leverage to press for Iraqi disarmament. The sanctions achieved at best mixed results because UN Security Council permanent members China, France and Russia were selling weapons to Iraq in violation of the embargo. Some observers have blamed the sanctions for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi children during the period, while others have similarly argued that many of the targeted officials of the Iraqi regime actually benefited from them. Hundreds of individuals and firms were implicated in the UN Oil for Food Scandal and allegedly received bribes and payments from Iraq.

Citing UN Security Council Resolution 688, the U.S., U.K. and France declared no-fly zones over Iraq to protect Kurds in the north and Shia in the south. U.S. and U.K. aircraft would occasionally respond to Iraqi anti-aircraft attacks with retaliatory bombing raids and gunfire. While these zones were patrolled through the 1990's, Saddam Hussein's government was unable to attack the Kurdish north and the Shi'ite south as it had in the 1980's. Additionally, due to the totality of its loss during the Gulf War, Iraq's warfighting capacity was significantly diminished. Through 2002 however, companies from France, China and Russia helped rebuild Saddam's arsenal by supplying between 650,000 and 1,000,000 tons of weaponry to Iraq in violation of UN sanctions.

In 2004, Human Rights Watch reported no recent mass killings under Saddam Hussein . However, the United Nations Children's Fund reported that through the 1990's over a half million children died as a result of Saddam Hussein's manipulation of the Oil-for-Food program.

Over his twenty-four year rule, Saddam Hussein's government was directly linked to the deaths of between 600,000 and 1,000,000 Iraqis, and the deaths of over 700,000 Iranians and Kuwaitis. The monthly mortality rate during the insurgency that followed the regime change is a 90% decline from the mortality rate that Iraqis experienced under Saddam Hussein's Government.

Post-Saddam Iraq

In October 2002, US President George W. Bush argued that Iraq was an imminent threat based on Saddam's history of aggression, pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles and support for terrorist groups. Saddam Hussein's non-compliance with 13 different United Nations resolutions continued though early 2003. In March 2003, Iraq was invaded and occupied by the United States, the only other significant ally was the United Kingdom though a number of other countries composed the Coalition of the Willing without contributing significant forces. However, most of these countries did not possess significant armed forces.

Saddam Hussein was deposed, and captured in December 2003. He is being tried for war crimes by the Iraqi government at the Iraqi Special Tribunal. In Saddam Hussein's place, the US and its allies established a Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq. The United Nations approved of the interim arrangement and lifted all Iraqi sanctions in May 2003 . Occupation government authority was then transferred to an Iraqi Interim Government in 2004.

Elections were held in May 2005 for the Iraq Transitional Government, and then in December 2005 to elect a permanent government for 2006-2010. Insurgencies, US military assaults on militants operating in Sunni areas, frequent terrorist attacks, prison abuse and sectarian violence has plagued the country since the invasion. Over 140,000 U.S. and allied troops presently remain in the country as internal security is assumed by the Iraqi National Guard. Over 3 million Iraqi refugees who fled Saddam to camps in Saudi Arabia and Iran have returned to start new lives in Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Prior to the United States invasion, the UN and many western nations announced serious misgivings as to the accuracy of WMD claims. Following the invasion, the Pentagon and CIA organized the Iraq Survey Group. It conducted a six-month intensive search yet did not uncover well-hidden weapons of mass destruction. The survey did discover that Iraq procured basic ballistic missile technology from North Korea in 2002 and was designing longer range missiles - both actions in violation of United Nations resolutions. The Duelfer Report concluded that Iraq's main goal was to end sanctions while preserving the capability to reconstitute WMD production. Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent.

Iraq is still torn by an active, mainly homegrown Sunni insurgency with suicide attacks executed largely by foreign jihadists. Over 2,700 coaltion military personnel have been killed so far while Iraqi civilians have suffered far worse with approximately 40,000 killed..

It was hoped that the consequences of conflict in Iraq would trigger a Big Bang of widespread political, social, economic and security change in the Middle East. The repercussions of Operation Iraqi Freedom were felt as far away as Libya, where Muammar al-Gaddafi gave up his weapons of mass destruction program in 2003. However, in the wake of a recent Foreign Policy edition citing Iraq as the third most destabilised nation in the world, this may not have been realised.

Politics

Template:Morepolitics Iraq is a parliamentary democracy as of 2005. The current constitution of Iraq was approved by a referendum in October 2005. Under the terms of the constitution, the country conducted fresh nationwide parliamentary elections on December 15, 2005 to elect a new government. The election was boycotted by many Sunnis, although more participated in December than had in the January 2005 election. After the election, there were widespread allegations of election fraud. Sunni and secular groups demanded a new vote, threatening to boycott the new legislature. Shi'ite religious parties won the largest share of votes.

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 factional assassinations by Shia death squads associated with the government, by Sunni religious extremists that believe an Islamic caliphate should rule, old regime secular groups that had privileges under Saddam and want back the power they had, and Iraqi nationalists that are fighting against the foreign occupation.

The Prime Minister as of April 21, 2006, Nouri al-Maliki, was elected by his Shi'ite majority, the United Iraqi Alliance a day after former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari relinquished his post.

Minority politics

There are a number of ethnic minority groups in Iraq. The three largest of these groups are the Kurds (Muslim and Yezidi), Assyrians, and Turkomans. Other groups include Armenians, Mandeans, Roma, Persians, and Jews. These groups have not enjoyed equal status with the majority Arab populations throughout Iraq's eighty-five year history. Like the Shi'a Muslims, the Ba'ath party harshly oppressed these minorities during its rule of Iraq. However, since the establishment of the "no-fly zones" following the 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.

Governorates

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. During the Gulf War the Iraqi Government repeatedly referred to the occupied sovereign country of Kuwait as "the Nineteenth Governorate".

Baghdad Salah ad Din Diyala Wasit Maysan Al Basrah Dhi Qar Al Muthanna Al-Qādisiyyah

Babil Karbala An Najaf Al Anbar Ninawa Dahuk Arbil At Ta'mim (Kirkuk) As Sulaymaniyah

Geography

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. However, since roughly the beginning of the 2003 war, ecological restoration efforts have begun, with moderate success in conserving and regenerating the marshes.

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.

• List of cities in Iraq

Economy

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%.

After the period of economic sanctions many of Iraq's state-owned enterprises were next to collapse. In 2003 the US led Coalition Provisional Authority drew up a framework for largescale privatization and opened up state-owned services to foreign investors. As of 2005, 64% of Iraq's oil reserves are being developed by multinational corporations, based on contracts with the Oil Ministry known as Production Sharing Contracts. The insurgency campaign over recent years has hugely dampened US and British efforts to bring in such foreign investment and frequent attacks on the oil infrastructure have also had a major economic impact.

Iraqi economic indicators of inflation, unemployment and GDP have improved since Saddam was removed from power. The inflation rate of 70% in 2002 has fallen to 25.4% in 2006. The Iraqi unemployment rate of 60% in 2002 has been reduced to 30% in 2006. Gross domestic product in 2004 was $90 billion, more than double the output of Saddam's last year in power. Among Iraqis, an ABC poll from December 2005 found broad optimism.

Demographics

Around 73% percent of Iraq's population are Arabs; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds, at around 22%, Assyrians, Turkomans and others around 5%. The minority groups mostly live in the north and northeast of the country. The Assyrians, Kurds, and Turkomans differ from Arabs in many ways, including culture, history, clothing, and language. Other distinct groups are Persians and Armenians. About 100,000–150,000 Mandians live in the southern Iraqi marshlands.

Arabic and Kurdish are official languages; English is the most commonly spoken Western language. Assyrian is also used by the country's Assyrian population.

Religious information from the 2006 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook: There are more members of the Shiite sect (55-60%), mostly Arab, than there are of the Sunni sect (32 - 37%) which is made up of both Arabs and Kurds. Iraqi Christian comprise nearly 3% of the population, about 800,000 people. These are mostly ethnically Assyrian of the Chaldean rite. Bahá'ís, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. Iraq used to have a significant Jewish minority but emigration has reduced this to a very small number.

Demographic information from the 2006 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook:

• Ethnic groups: Arab, 70–75%; Kurdish, 22-24%; Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%.
• Religions: Muslim 97% (Shi'a 50%-55%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3%

Culture

In the most recent millennium, what is now Iraq has been made up of five cultural areas: Sunni Islamic Kurds in the north centered on Arbil; Sunni Islamic Arabs in the center around Baghdad; Shi'a Islamic Arabs in the south centered on Basrah; 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.

Music

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. The Corrs and Westlife are especially popular. 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.

View of Iraq

See also

• 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) The Law of Iraq
• 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, Scouting in Iraq, Assyrian Independence

Notes

1. Fekeiki, Omar (2005). "Iraqi Political Parties Threaten a Boycott - Coalition Demands New Elections". Washington Post: A18. Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
2. Oppel, Richard A. Jr. (April 21, 2006). "Shiites Agree on Pick for Prime Minister". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
3. "G7, Paris Club Agree on Iraq Debt Relief". Reuters. Nov 20, 2004.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link) (link goes to Internet Archive version)
4. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook -- Iraq". CIA. 16 May, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

http://www.999today.com/environment/news/story/3266.html

The capital of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region is Arbil

Further reading

• Shadid, Anthony 2005. Night Draws Near. Henry Holt and Co., NY, USA. ISBN 0805076026
• 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"

External links

Government

• Iraqi Interim Government official government site
• Kurdistan Regional Government

News

• Iraq Media Center
• Yahoo! News Full Coverage - Iraq news headline links
• Iraq - News and Rss-feed by NewsXS
• News in Depth from the Financial Times
• Iraq Updates Immediate & Comprehensive Access to the Situation in Iraq
• Diplomacy Monitor-Iraq

Overviews

• Encarta Encyclopedia
• al-Bab - Iraq
• al-Bab - Iraq
• BBC News Country Profile - Iraq
• CIA World Factbook - Iraq
• LexicOrient - Iraq
• Open Directory Project - Iraq directory category
• US State Department - Iraq includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Iraq
• Yahoo! - Iraq directory category
• Iraqi Truth Project

Tourism

• Template:Wikitravel

Food & Dining

• Breakfast In Iraq at Mr Breakfast.com

Other

• Encyclopaedia Britannica's Iraq Portal site
• Iraq's location on a 3D globe (Java)
• Lawk Salih News updates, Iraqi Music and Video Clips, Kurdish News, Kurdish Music and Video Clips
• ACTivist Magazine Iraq Article Archive
• H-Museum Iraq site
• Canadian Content - Iraq updated section on security issues
• Schema-root.org: Iraq 300 Iraq related topics, each with its own current news feed
• Dahr Jamail Iraq Dispatches News From Inside Iraq
• International Freedom of Expression eXchange monitors
• 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)
• Iraq: Relief and Recovery Development Gateway's knowledge sharing community on Iraq's development needs and efforts.
• Iraq Analysis Information Source Listings and analysis on post-invasion Iraq
• Jubilee Iraq Campaign to eliminate Iraq's pre-war debt and reparations
• Amnesty International Report on Iraq
• Iraq Theocracy Watch
• Coalition Provisional Authority Now-defunct occupation authority; site is archived
• Multimedia Operation Iraqi Freedom museum
• US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
• Air Bravura - Online eTicketing Services For Iraq Flights
• AME Info - Country Guide: Iraq
• Pictures of Iraq (Mesopotamia) during World War One, showing the peoples, Red Cross River Ambulances and British Army/Indian taken by Captain Weaver
• 1900 - 2000 a history of Iraq
• Iraq Country Profile from Reuters AlertNet
• Iraq Law from the University of Pittsburgh’s Jurist project
• Iraq Business Directory

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• Iraq