Iraq
Iraq is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. Around 99% of the country’s 38 million citizens are Muslims, with small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates, four of which make up the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
About Iraq in brief
Iraq is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. Around 99% of the country’s 38 million citizens are Muslims, with small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. The area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates, four of which make up the autonomous Kurdistan Region. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish. The country’s official religion is Islam and its name is derived from the Sumerian city of Uruk, from which the word Iraq is derived. Iraq was a region of the Ottoman Empire until the partition of the Ottomans in the 20th century. It was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party from 1968 until 2003. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking a protracted war which would last for almost eight years, and end in a stalemate with devastating losses for both countries. On 9 December 2017, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIL after the group lost its territory in Iraq.
The US presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian civil war spilled into the country. The name al-Irqāq has been in use in use since the Middle Ages and is ultimately from the Persian word for Middle Eastern. It is a founding member of the UN, the Arab League, OIC, Non-Aligned Movement and the IMF. It has a very rich heritage and celebrates the achievements of its past in both pre-Islamic as well as post-Islamic times and is known for its fine handicrafts, including carpets and rugs. Its artists are among the best in the Arab world, some of them being poets, painters, sculptors and sculptors. It also has a reputation for producing fine carpets, including rugs and carpets. The capital and largest city is Baghdad, with a population of around 38 million people. The city was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerians, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. The Iraqi Republic was created by the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations in April 1920. A British-backed monarchy joining these vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq.
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This page is based on the article Iraq published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
