Iraq (/rk/,

Iraq (Arabic:

/rk/, or /ark/; Arabic: al-Irq, Kurdish: raq), officially theRepublic of

( helpinfo) Jumhriyyat al-Irq;Kurdish: Komar-i raq), is a

country in Western Asia. The country bordersTurkey 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 southern
part of Iraq is within theArabian Peninsula. The capital, Baghdad, is in the center of the country and
its largest city. The largest ethnic groups in Iraq are Arabsand Kurds. Other ethnic groups
includeAssyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Armenians,Mandeans, Circassians and Kawliya. [6]Around
95% of the country's 36 million citizens are Shia or Sunni Muslims,
with Christianity,Yarsan, Yezidism and Mandeanism also present.
Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northernPersian Gulf and its
territory encompasses theMesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain
range, and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert.[7] Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run
south through the center of Iraq and flow into theShatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers
provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land.
The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as Mesopotamia is the
world's oldest civilization. It is here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, and live in
cities under an organized government. The area has been home to continuous successive
civilizations since the6th millennium BC. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the
indigenousAkkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonianempires. It was also part of
the Median,Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid,Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid,Mon
gol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottomanempires, and under British control as aLeague of Nations
mandate.[8]
Iraq's modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nationswhen the Ottoman
Empire was divided by theTreaty of Svres. Iraq was placed under the authority of the United
Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and
the Kingdom of Iraqgained independence from Britain in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was
overthrown and the Republic of Iraq was created. Iraq wascontrolled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath
Partyfrom 1968 until 2003. After an invasion by theUnited States and its allies, Saddam Hussein's
Ba'ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held.
The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011[9] but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as
fighters from the Syrian Civil Warspilled into the country.
Contents
[hide]

1 Name

2 History

2.1 Pre-historic era

2.2 Ancient Iraq

2.3 Middle Ages

2.4 Ottoman Iraq

2.5 British administration and independent Kingdom

2.6 Republic and Ba'athist Iraq

2.7 20032007

2.8 2008present

3 Geography
o

4 Government and politics

o

4.1 Law

4.2 Military

4.3 Foreign relations

4.4 Human rights

4.5 Administrative divisions

5 Economy
o

5.1 Oil and energy

5.2 Infrastructure

3.1 Climate

6 Demographics
o

6.1 Religion

6.2 Languages

6.3 Diaspora and refugees

7 Culture

7.1 Music

7.2 Art and architecture

7.3 Media

7.4 Cuisine

7.5 Sport

8 Technology
o

8.1 Mobile phones

8.2 Satellite

8.3 Undersea cable

9 Health

10 Education

11 See also

12 References

13 Bibliography

14 External links

Name
The Arabic name al-Irq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several
suggested origins for the name. One dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk (Biblical Hebrew Erech) and
is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug,
containing the Sumerian word for "city", UR.[10][11] An Arabic folk etymology for the name is "deeply
rooted, well-watered; fertile".[12] During the medieval period, there was a region called Irq
Arab ("Arabian Iraq") for Lower Mesopotamia andIrq ajam ("Foreign Iraq"),[13] for the region now
situated in Central and Western Iran.[14]The term historically included the plain south of the Hamrin
Mountains and did not include the northernmost and westernmost parts of the modern territory of
Iraq.[15] The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the alluvial plain of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers, contrasting it with the arid Arabian desert. As an Arabic
word, means "hem", "shore", "bank", or "edge", so that the name by folk etymology came to be
interpreted as "theescarpment", viz. at the south and east of the Jazira Plateau, which forms the
northern and western edge of the "al-Iraq arabi" area.[16]

The Arabic pronunciation is [irq]. In English, it is either /rk/ (the only pronunciation listed in
the Oxford English Dictionary and the first one in Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary) or /
rk/ (listed first by MQD), the American Heritage Dictionary, and theRandom House Dictionary. The
pronunciation /ark/ is frequently heard in US media.