Iraq
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/, /ɪˈrɑːk/ (About this soundlisten) or
/aɪˈræk/; Arabic: اَلْعِرَاق, al-ʿirāq; Kurdish: عێراق
Êraq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:
جُمْهُورِيَّة ٱلْعِرَاقِ About this soundJumhūriyyah
al-ʿIrāq; Kurdish: کۆماری عێراق Komarî Êraq), 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. The
capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. Iraq is home to
diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians,
Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans,
Circassians, Sabians and Kawliya.[6] Around 99% of the
country's 38 million citizens are Muslims,[7] with tiny
minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also
present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and
Kurdish.
Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) 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.[8] Two
major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through
Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These
rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile
land. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,
historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as
the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first
began to read, write, create laws and live in cities under
an organised government—notably Uruk, from which "Iraq" is
derived. The area has been home to successive civilisations
since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the
Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. It was
also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian,
Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid,
Seljuk, Mongol, Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid and Ottoman
empires.[9]
The country today known as Iraq was a region of the Ottoman
Empire until the partition of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th
century. It was made up of three provinces, called vilayets
in the Ottoman language: Mosul Vilayet, Baghdad Vilayet, and
Basra Vilayet. In April 1920 the British Mandate of
Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of
Nations. A British-backed monarchy joining these vilayets
into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of
Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from
the UK in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the
Iraqi Republic created. Iraq 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.
After an invasion by the United States and its allies in
2003, Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party was removed from power,
and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005.
The US presence in Iraq ended in 2011,[10] but the Iraqi
insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the
Syrian Civil War spilled into the country. Out of the
insurgency came a highly destructive group calling itself
ISIL, which took large parts of the north and west. It has
since been largely defeated. Disputes over the sovereignty
of Kurdistan Region continue. A referendum about the full
sovereignty of Kurdistan Region was held on 25 September
2017. On 9 December 2017, then-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi declared victory over ISIL after the group lost its
territory in Iraq.[11]
Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19
governorates (provinces) and one autonomous region
(Kurdistan Region). The country's official religion is
Islam. Culturally, Iraq 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 poets.
Its painters and sculptors are among the best in the Arab
world, some of them being world-class as well as producing
fine handicrafts, including rugs and carpets. Iraq is a
founding member of the UN as well as of the Arab League,
OIC, Non-Aligned Movement and the IMF.
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