جمهورية العراق Jumhūriyatu l-ʿIrāq (Arabic) كۆماری عێراق Komarê Iraq (Kurdish) Republic of Iraq
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: الله أكبر   (Arabic) "Allahu Akbar"  (transliteration) "God is [the] Greatest"
Anthem: Mawtini  (new) Ardh Alforatain  (previous)1
Capital (and largest city)		Baghdad2 33°20′N, 44°26′E
Official languages		Arabic, Kurdish
Demonym		Iraqi
Government		Developing parliamentary republic
-	President	Jalal Talabani
-	Prime Minister	Nouri al-Maliki
Independence
-	from the Ottoman Empire	October 1, 1919
-	from the United Kingdom	October 3, 1932
Area
-	Total	438,317 km² (58th) 169,234 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1. The flag of Iraq ( علم العراق) has had five different designs since the Kingdom of Iraq was established in 1921 The Coat of arms or state emblem of Iraq includes the golden eagle of Saladin associated with 20th-century pan-Arabism bearing a shield A motto (from the Italian word motto, meaning witticism sentence is a phrase meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The takbīr or takbeer (ar تَكْبِير is the act of saying the phrase, ar الله أكبر Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice In Islam, God is believed to be the only real supreme being all-powerful and all knowing Creator Sustainer Ordainer and Judge of the universe Islam puts a heavy emphasis A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history traditions and struggles of its people recognized either by a nation's Mawtini ( موطني “My Homeland” is a popular Poem written by famous Palestinian poet Ibrahim Touqan (إبراهيم طوقان "Ardulfurataini Watan" (The Land of The Two Rivers (أرض الفراتين is the old National anthem of Iraq. Background Iraq was known in the west as Mesopotamia until the 20th century Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds. A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place Background Iraq was known in the west as Mesopotamia until the 20th century For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a form of a Republic which operates under a Parliamentary system of government The President of Iraq is Iraq 's Head of state. Presidents of the Republic of Iraq (1958-2003 For most of the country's history Iraq's Jalal Talabani ( Kurdish: جه لال تاله بانی / Celal Talebanî / Jelal Talebaní جلال طالباني) (born November 12, 1933 Office The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's Head of government. Nouri Kamel Mohammed Hassan al-Maliki ( Arabic: نوري كامل محمّد حسن المالكي transliterated Nūrī Kāmil al-Mālikī; born June Independence is the Self-government of a Nation, Country, or State by its residents and population or some portion thereof generally exercising The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here Surface areas between 100000 km² and 1000000 km² This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by total area. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. In Mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a Fraction of 100 ( per cent meaning "per hundred" 1
Population
-	2007 estimate	29,267,0004 (39th)
-	Density	66/km² (125th) 171/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2006 estimate
-	Total	$89. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology List of countries by population in 2005|List of countries by population in 1907This is a list of countries ordered according to Population. Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume List of countries and dependencies by Population density in inhabitants/km² The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power. 8 billion (61st)
-	Per capita	$2,900 (130th)
Currency		Iraqi dinar (IQD)
Time zone		GMT+3 (UTC+3)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+3)
Internet TLD		.iq
Calling code		+964
1	The Kurds use Ey Reqîb. There are three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head with Per meaning 'through' or 'by' This article includes three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP at Purchasing power parity (PPP Per capita A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The dinar (pronounced di-'när ( Arabic: دينار Kurdish: دینار ( sign: ع ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established Daylight saving time ( DST A country This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E " Ey Reqîb " ( ئهٔ ره‌قیب in Sorani) is the Kurdish National anthem.
2	The capital of Iraqi Kurdistan is Arbil. Iraqi Kurdistan Region ( Kurdish: هه رێمى كوردستان Herêmi Kurdistan, Arabic:إقليم كردستان العراق, Iqlĩm Kurdistãn Arbil (also written Erbil or Irbil; BGN: Arbīl; Kurdish: هه‌ولێر Hewlêr
3	Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of the Iraqi government. According to Article 4, Section 4 of the Iraqi Constitution, Assyrian (Syriac) (a dialect of Aramaic) and Iraqi Turkmen (a dialect of Southern Azerbaijani) languages are official in areas where the respective populations they constitute density of population. The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by a referendum that took place on 15 October 2005. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. Aramaic is a Semitic language with
4	[CIA World Factbook]

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyatu l-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning 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. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The Zagros Mountains (جبال زاجروس (رشته كوههاى زاگرس ( Sorani Kurdish: Zagros - زاگرۆس make up Iran 's and Iraq 's The Syrian Desert (بادية الشام badiyah ash sham also known as the Syro-Arabian desert is a combination of Steppe and true Desert that is located in parts The Arabian Desert is a vast Desert wilderness stretching from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. ^[1] It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. The State of Kuwait ( دولة الكويت IPA [dawlatt̪ alkuwajt̪]) is a sovereign Arab Emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf, enclosed The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. Umm Qasr (أم قصر also Transliterated as: Um-qasir, Um-qasser) is a Port city in southern Iraq. The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region is an extension of the There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia. Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia.

The capital city, Baghdad, is in the center-east. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous Iraq's rich history dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. This article includes an overview from prehistory to the present in the region of the current state of Iraq in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing. The cradle of civilization is any of the possible locations for the emergence of Civilization. During its long history, Iraq has been the center of the Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Abbasid empires, and part of the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Parthian, Sassanid, Umayyad, Mongol, Ottoman, and British empires. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The term Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean refers to Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean" dynasty from the revolt of Nabopolassar The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate or Il Khanate (Ил Хан улс Il Khan uls;) was a Mongol Khanate established in The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. ^[2]

Since an invasion in 2003, a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British, has occupied Iraq. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia This page is about the military command, for more general discussion of the coalition forces see Multinational force in Iraq or Iraq War. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The invasion has had wide-reaching consequences: increased civil violence, political breakdown, the removal and execution of former authoritarian President Saddam Hussein, and national problems in the development of political balance, economy, infrastructure, and use of the country's huge reserves of oil. The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign The execution of Saddam Hussein ' s death sentence occurred on December 30 2006. Authoritarianism describes a Form of government characterized by an emphasis on the Authority of the State in a republic or union Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 The politics of Iraq takes place in a framework of a more or less federal parliamentary representative democratic Republic, whereby the Iraq 's economy is dominated by the Petroleum sector which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earningsort Oil reserves are the estimated quantities of Crude oil that are claimed to be recoverable under existing Economic and operating conditions According to the 2007 Failed States Index, produced by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Iraq has recently emerged as the world's second most unstable country,^[3] after Sudan. This is a list of countries by order of appearance in the Fund For Peace 's Failed States Index The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a formally private nonprofit organization in practice closely associated with the United States Department of State, Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American Magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P The Fund for Peace is an independent Washington DC -based Nonprofit research and educational organization Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. ^[4] Under the control of the U. S. military, Iraq is developing a parliamentary democracy composed of 18 governorates (known as muhafadhat). A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which |||} Iraq is divided into 18 Governorates (or Provinces ( Muhafazah) Baghdād

Contents 1 Name 2 Geography 3 History 3.1 Ancient Mesopotamia 3.2 Islamic Caliphate 3.3 Mongol Conquest 3.4 Ottoman Empire 3.5 British Mandate of Mesopotamia 3.6 Hashemite monarchy 3.7 Republic of Iraq 3.8 Saddam Hussein 3.9 Invasion by American-led Coalition forces 3.10 Post-invasion 3.11 Iraqi diaspora 4 Government and politics 4.1 Government 4.1.1 Regions, governorates and districts 4.2 Politics 5 Economy 5.1 Reconstruction 6 Demographics 7 Culture 7.1 Music 7.2 Cuisine 7.3 Sport 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

Name

The origin of the name Iraq (Arabic: العراق 'al-‘Irāq, Turkish: Irak, Assyrian: ܥܪܐܩ, Kurdish: عيَراق) is disputed. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds. There are several suggested origins for the name. One dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk (or Erech)^[5] ; another maintains according to Professor Wilhelm Eilers, The name al-‘Irāq, for all its Arabic appearance, is derived from Middle Persian erāq "lowlands". Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Uruk ( URU UNUG, Sumerian: unug Akkadian: uruk) from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian Toponym 'unug' is modern Middle Persian is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times (224-654 CE became a Prestige dialect ^[6]

Under the Persian Sassanid dynasty, there was a region called "Erak Arabi," referring to the part of the south western region of the Persian Empire that is now part of southern Iraq. The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia The name Al-Iraq was used by the Arabs themselves, from the 6th century, for the land Iraq covers.

The Arabic pronunciation is [ʕiˈrɑːq]. While many languages have numerous dialects that differ in pronunciation, the Arabic language is more properly described as a collection of different In English, the name is pronounced as either [ɪ. ˈɹɑ(ː)k] ( the only pronunciation listed in the Oxford English Dictionary) or [ɪ. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English ˈɹæk]] (listed first by MQD). The Macquarie Dictionary is a Dictionary of Australian English.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Iraq

Iraq is located at 33°00′N, 44°00′E. Spanning 437,072 km² (168,743 sq mi), it is the 58th-largest country in the world. It is comparable in size to the US state of California, and somewhat larger than Paraguay. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only

Iraq mainly consists of desert, but between the two major rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) the area is fertile, the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic metres (78 million cu. yd) of silt annually to the delta. A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern CM3 redirects here If you were looking for the 3rd game in the Cooking Mama series abbreviated as CM3 see here. A cubic yard is an Imperial / US customary (non- SI non- metric) unit of Volume, used in the United States, Canada and Silt is Soil or rock derived Granular material of a Grain size between sand and clay A delta is a Landform where the mouth of a River flows into an Ocean, Sea, Estuary, Lake or another river The north of the country is mostly composed of mountains; the highest point being at 3,611 metres (11,847 ft) point, unnamed on the map opposite, but known locally as Cheekah Dar (black tent). Cheekha Dar, or Black Tent is the local Kurdish name for the mountain currently thought to be the highest in Iraq. Iraq has a small coastline along the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region is an extension of the Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab (known as arvandrūd: اروندرود among Iranians) there used to be marshlands, but many were drained in the 1990s.

The local climate is mostly desert, with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. The northern mountainous regions have cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding.

Comprising 112 billion barrels (17,800,000,000 m³) of proven oil, Iraq ranks second in the world behind Saudi Arabia in the amount of Oil reserves; the United States Department of Energy estimates that up to 90% of the country remains unexplored. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi Oil reserves are the estimated quantities of Crude oil that are claimed to be recoverable under existing Economic and operating conditions The United States Department of Energy ( DOE) is a Cabinet -level department of the United States government responsible for energy policy These regions could yield an additional 100 billion barrels (16,000,000,000 m³). Iraq's oil production costs are among the lowest in the world, but only about 2,000 oil wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared with about 1 million wells in Texas alone. West Texas PumpjackJPG|thumb|right|300px|This Pumpjack located south of Midland TX is a common sight in West Texas. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. ^[7]

History

Main article: History of Iraq

Ancient Mesopotamia

Main article: History of Mesopotamia

The region of Iraq was historically known as Mesopotamia (Greek: "between the rivers"). This article includes an overview from prehistory to the present in the region of the current state of Iraq in Mesopotamia. Ancient Mesopotamia was settled and conquered by numerous ancient Civilizations. Hammurabi ( Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer" from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman" and Rāpi The Code of Hammurabi ( Codex Hammurabi) is the best-preserved ancient Law code, created ca Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly It was home to the world's first known civilization, the Sumerian culture, followed by the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, whose influence extended into neighboring regions as early as 5000 BC. Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of Agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe These civilizations produced some of the earliest writing and some of the first sciences, mathematics, laws and philosophies of the world; hence its common epithet, the "Cradle of Civilization". Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language The cradle of civilization is any of the possible locations for the emergence of Civilization.

In the sixth century BC, Cyrus the Great conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Mesopotamia was subsumed in the Achaemenid Persian Empire for nearly four centuries. The term Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean refers to Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean" dynasty from the revolt of Nabopolassar The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Alexander the Great conquered the region again, putting it under Macedonian rule for nearly two centuries. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most A Central Asian tribe of ancient Iranian peoples known as the Parthians later annexed the region, followed by the Sassanid Persians. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Ancient Iranian peoples who settled Greater Iran in the 2nd millennium BC first appear in Assyrian records in the 9th century BC. Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The region remained a province of the Persian Empire for nine centuries, until the 7th century.

Islamic Caliphate

Main articles: Caliphate, Arab Empire, and Islamic Golden Age

Beginning in the seventh century AD, Islam spread to what is now Iraq during the Islamic conquest of Persia, led by the Muslim Arab commander Khalid ibn al-Walid. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656 led to the end of the Sassanid Empire and the eventual extirpation of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Khālid ibn al-Walīd (592-642 ( خالد بن الوليد) also known by Sunnis as Sayf-'ullah al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God, God's Withdrawn Under the Rashidun Caliphate, the prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law Ali moved his capital to Kufa "fi al-Iraq" when he became the fourth caliph. IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a=علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب|t=ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib 13th Rajab, 24 BH – 21st Ramaḍān, 40 AH Kufa ( Arabic, ar الكوفة) is a city in modern Iraq, about 170 km south of Baghdad, and 10 km northeast of Najaf. The Caliph is the Head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah The Umayyad Caliphate ruled the province of Iraq from Damascus in the 7th century. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. (However, eventually there was a separate, independent Caliphate of Cordoba. The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic خلافة قرطبة ruled the Iberian peninsula ( Al-Andalus) and North Africa from the city of )

The Abbasid Caliphate built the city of Baghdad in the 8th century as their capital, and it became the leading metropolis of the Arab and Muslim world for five centuries. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous The term Muslim world (or Islamic world) has several meanings Baghdad was the largest multicultural city of the Middle Ages, peaking at a population of more than a million, and was the centre of learning during the Islamic Golden Age. The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the Demographics of a specified The Mongols destroyed the city during the sack of Baghdad in the 13th century. The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire The Battle of Baghdad in 1258 was a victory for the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan.

Mongol Conquest

Main articles: Battle of Baghdad (1258) and Mongol invasions

In 1257, Hulagu Khan amassed an unusually large army, a significant portion of the Mongol Empire's forces, for the purpose of conquering Baghdad. The Battle of Baghdad in 1258 was a victory for the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. The Mongol Empire emerged in the course of the 13th century by a series of conquests and invasions throughout Central and Western Asia, reaching Eastern Europe This article is about the founder of the Ilkhanate For the head of the Chagatai khanate please see Qara Hülëgü Hulagu Khan, also known as The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire When they arrived at the Islamic capital, Hulagu demanded surrender but the caliph refused. This angered Hulagu, and, consistent with Mongol strategy of discouraging resistance, Baghdad was decimated. Estimates of the number of dead range from 200,000 to a million.

The Mongols destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate and The Grand Library of Baghdad (Arabic بيت الحكمة Bayt al-Hikma, lit. , House of Wisdom), which contained countless, precious, historical documents. The House of Wisdom ( Arabic: بيت الحكمة; Bait al-Hikma) was a library and translation institute in Abbassid -era Baghdad, The city would never regain its status as major center of culture and influence.

In 1401, warlord of Turco-Mongol descent Tamerlane (Timur Lenk) invaded Iraq. Timur also written Emir Timur or Amir Temur ( Chagatai: تیمور - Tēmōr " Iron " (1336 – 19 February 1405 among After the capture of Bagdad, 20,000 of its citizens were massacred. Timur ordered that every soldier should return with at least two severed human heads to show him (many warriors were so scared they killed prisoners captured earlier in the campaign just to ensure they had heads to present to Timur). ^[8]

Ottoman Empire

Main articles: Ottoman Empire, Mamluk rule in Iraq, Mesopotamian campaign, and Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

Later, the Ottoman Turks took Baghdad from the Persians in 1535. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Mamluks were mostly Christian slaves converted to Islam, trained in a special school and then assigned to military and administrative duties The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the Great War fought between Allied Powers represented by the British Empire The Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox The Ottomans lost Baghdad to the Iranian Safavids in 1609, and took it back in 1632. The Ottoman Dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ( Turkish: Osmanlı Hanedanı) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922 beginning with The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz From 1747 to 1831, Iraq was ruled, with short intermissions, by the Mamluk officers of Georgian origin who enjoyed local autonomy from the Sublime Porte. Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Ottoman Porte (also Sublime Porte, High Porte, or in Ottoman Turkish, Bab-ı Ali) used to refer to the Divan (court ^[9] In 1831, the direct Ottoman rule was imposed and lasted until World War I, during which the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Central Powers ( German: "Mittelmächte" Hungarian: "Központi hatalmak" Turkish: "İttifak

During World War I the Ottomans were driven from much of the area by the United Kingdom during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908-1922 began with the watershed event of Young Turk Revolution and ended with the partitioning of the Empire The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the Great War fought between Allied Powers represented by the British Empire Ottoman losses are unknown but the British captured a total of 45,000 prisoners of war. By the end of 1918 the British had deployed 410,000 men in the area, though only 112,000 were combat troops.

During World War I the British and French divided Western Asia in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. The Treaty of Sèvres, which was ratified in the Treaty of Lausanne, led to the advent of modern Western Asia and Republic of Turkey. The Treaty of Sèvres ( 10 August 1920) was the Peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War The Treaty of Lausanne ( July 24, 1923) was a Peace treaty signed in Lausanne that settled the Anatolian part of the Partitioning Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The League of Nations granted France mandates over Syria and Lebanon and granted the United Kingdom mandates over Iraq and Palestine (which then consisted of two autonomous regions: Palestine and Transjordan). The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The French Mandate of Syria was a League of Nations Mandate created after the First World War and the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The French Mandate of Lebanon was a League of Nations Mandate created at the end of World War I. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The British Mandate of Mesopotamia ( الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a League of Nations Class A mandate The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The Emirate of Transjordan ( Arabic: ar إمارة شرق الأردن) was a former Ottoman territory incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine Parts of the Ottoman Empire on the Arabian Peninsula became parts of what are today Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi Yemen ( Arabic: اليَمَن al-Yaman officially the Republic of Yemen ( Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية al-Jumhuuriyya

British Mandate of Mesopotamia

Main articles: British Mandate of Mesopotamia and Assyrian independence

At the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted the area to the United Kingdom as a mandate. The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 A League of Nations mandate refers to a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I. It initially formed two former Ottoman vilayets (regions): Baghdad, and Basra into a single country in August 1921. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish A wilāyah (ولاية or vilâyet (in Persian and Ottoman Turkish) is an administrative division usually Baghdad Vilayet ( Arabic, ولاية بغداد) was a Vilayet ( Province) of the Ottoman Empire. Basra province, or Al Basrah province, is a province of Iraq, with an area of. Five years later, in 1926, the northern vilayet of Mosul was added, forming the territorial boundaries of the modern Iraqi state. In 1879 Mosul Vilayet (province was separated from Baghdad Vilayet.

For three out of four centuries of Ottoman rule, Baghdad was the seat of administration for the vilayets of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish During the mandate, British colonial administrators ruled the country, and through the use of British armed forces, suppressed Arab and Kurdish rebellions against the occupation. The British Mandate of Mesopotamia ( الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a League of Nations Class A mandate The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. The Armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces They established the Hashemite king, Faisal, who had been forced out of Syria by the French, as their client ruler. Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي ( Transliteration: Hāšimī and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Likewise, British authorities selected Sunni Arab elites from the region for appointments to government and ministry offices. ^[10]

Hashemite monarchy

Main article: Hashemite

Britain granted independence to Iraq in 1932, on the urging of King Faisal, though the British retained military bases and transit rights for their forces. Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي ( Transliteration: Hāšimī and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim Faisal bin Al Hussein Bin Ali El-Hashemi, GCB, GCMG ( فيصل بن حسين Fayṣal ibn Ḥusayn; 20 May 1883 &ndash September 8 Etymology The word bases is first recorded in English language from c King Ghazi of Iraq ruled as a figurehead after King Faisal's death in 1933, while undermined by attempted military coups, until his death in 1939. Ghazi bin Faisal ( غازي Ġāzī bin Fayṣal) ( March 21, 1912 - April 4, 1939) was king of Iraq from 1933 to 1939 The United Kingdom invaded Iraq in 1941, for fear that the government of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani might cut oil supplies to Western nations, and because of his strong ideological leanings to Nazi Germany. Rashid Ali al-Gaylani (رشيد عالي الكيلاني also spelled Sayyad Rashid Ali al-Gillani or Sayyad Rashid Ali al-Gailani, son of Sayyad Abdul Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers A military occupation followed the restoration of the Hashemite monarchy, and the occupation ended on October 26, 1947. Belligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي ( Transliteration: Hāšimī and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The rulers during the occupation and the remainder of the Hashemite monarchy were Nuri al-Said, the autocratic prime minister, who also ruled from 1930–1932, and 'Abd al-Ilah, an advisor to the king Faisal II. Nuri al-Said (1888 &ndash July 15, 1958) (نوري السعيد was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and the monarchy Crown Prince Abd al-Ilāh of Iraq, GCB, GCMG, GCVO ( Arabic: عبد الإله) (also written Abdul Ilah) (1913-1958 Faisal II, GCVO ( Arabic: الملك فيصل الثاني Fayṣal) ( May 2, 1935 – July 14, 1958) was

Republic of Iraq

The reinstated Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown by a coup d'etat of the Iraqi Army, known as the 14 July Revolution. Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي ( Transliteration: Hāšimī and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim Pre-2003 History The first Iraqi military forces established by the British were the Iraq Levies several battalions of troops tasked to guard the Royal Air Force bases The coup brought Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim to power. Brigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General. Abd al-Karim Qasim (عبد الكريم قاسم) (1914 – February 9 1963 was a nationalist Iraqi Military officer who seized power in a 1958 He withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union, but his government lasted only until 1963, when it was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. The Central Treaty Organization (also referred to as CENTO, original name was Middle East Treaty Organization or METO, also known as the Baghdad The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Abdul Salam Arif (1921 Baghdad - April 13 1966 ( Arabic: عبد السلام عارف) was president of Iraq from 1963 to 1966 Salam Arif died in 1966 and his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed the presidency. Hajj Abdul Rahman Arif ( Arabic عبد الرحمن عارف) (1916 &ndash August 24, 2007) was President of Iraq In 1968, Rahman Arif was overthrown by the Arab Socialist Baath Party. Arab Socialism (الاشتراكية العربية al-ishtirākīya al-‘arabīya) is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of Pan-Arabism and The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي was founded in Damascus This movement gradually came under the control of Saddam Hussein 'Abd al-Majid al Tikriti, who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), then Iraq's supreme executive body, in July 1979, while killing many of his opponents. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30

Saddam Hussein

Main article: Saddam Hussein

In 1979, Saddam Hussein took power as Iraqi President, after killing and arresting his leadership rivals. Shortly after taking power, the political situation in Iraq's neighbour Iran changed drastically after the success of the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which resulted in a Shi'ite Muslim theocratic state being established. The Iranian Revolution' (mostly known as the Islamic Revolution, Persian: انقلاب اسلامی Enghelābe Eslāmi was the Revolution that transformed Ayatollah ( Persian: آيت‌الله, âyato-llâh, from Arabic: آية الله, āyatu 'llāh, meaning 'the sign of Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini ( Persian:, pronounced muːsæviː-je xomejniː}}( September 24, 1902 – June 3 1989 This was seen as a dangerous change in the eyes of the Iraqi government, as Iraq too had a Shi'ite majority and was ruled by Hussein's government which, apart from having numerous Sunnis occupying leading positions, had a pan-Arab but non-religious ideology. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic This left the country's Shiite population split between the members and supporters of the Ba'ath Party, and those who sympathised with the Iranian position. In 1980, Hussein claimed that Iranian forces were trying to topple his government and declared war on Iran. Saddam Hussein supported the Iranian Islamic socialist organization called the People's Mujahedin of Iran which opposed the Iranian government. Islamic socialism is a term coined by various Muslim leaders to meet the demand for a more spiritual form of Socialism. The People's Mujahedin of Iran ( PMOI, also MEK, MKO) ( Persian: سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران sāzmān-e mojāhedin-e khalq-e During the Iran-Iraq War Iraqi forces attacked Iranian soldiers and civilians with chemical weapons. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (نيروهای مسلح جمهوری اسلامی ايران include the IRIA (ارتش جمهوری اسلامی Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Hussein's regime was notorious for its human rights abuses; a well-known example is the Al-Anfal campaign^[11][12][13] as well as attacks on Kurd civilians inside Iraq, such as the Halabja massacre, as punishment for elements of Kurdish support of Iran. Iraq under Saddam Hussein had high levels of Torture and Mass murder. The al-Anfal Campaign (حملة الأنفال also known as Operation Anfal, was a genocidal campaign against Kurds led by the Iraqi regime The Halabja poison gas attack occurred in the period March 16 – 17, 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War. The war ended in stalemate in 1988, largely due to American and Western support for Iraq. This was part of the US policy of "dual containment" of Iraq and Iran.

In 1977, the Iraqi government ordered the construction of Osirak (also spelled Osiraq) at the Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, 18 km (11 miles) south-east of Baghdad. Osirak, also spelled Osiraq, (French Osirak Iraqi Tammuz 1 was a 40 MW light-water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR in Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous It was a 40 MW light-water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR). Water ( H2[[oxygen O]] H OH) is the most abundant Molecule on Earth 's surface composing of about 70% of the Earth's surface as In 1981, Israeli aircraft bombed the facility, in order to prevent the country from using the reactor for creation of nuclear weapons. Operation Opera (מבצע אופרה Mivtza Opera, also known as Operation Babylon and Operation Ofra) was a surprise Israeli Air strike

Main article: Gulf War

In 1990, faced with economic disaster following the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein looked to the oil-rich neighbour of Kuwait as a target to invade to use its resources and money to rebuild Iraq's economy. The Iraqi government claimed that Kuwait was illegally slant drilling its oil pipelines into Iraqi territory which it demanded be stopped, Kuwait rejected the notion that it was slant drilling and Iraq followed this in August 1990 with the invasion of Kuwait. The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait which resulted Upon successfully occupying Kuwait, Hussein declared that Kuwait had ceased to exist and it was to be part of Iraq, against heavy objections from many countries and the United Nations. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security

The UN agreed to pass sanctions against Iraq and demanded its immediate withdrawal from Kuwait. Iraq refused and the UN Security Council in 1991 unanimously voted for military action against Iraq. The United States, which had enormous vested interests in the oil supplies of the Western Asia led an international coalition into Kuwait and Iraq. The coalition forces entered the war with more advanced weaponry than that of Iraq, though Iraq's army was one of the largest armed force in Western Asia at the time. Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia (largely overlapping with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. Despite a large arsenal of military forces, the Iraqi army stood no match to the advanced weaponry of the coalition forces and the air superiority which the U. S. Air Force provided. Iraq responded to the invasion by launching SCUD missile attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Hussein hoped that by attacking Israel, the Israeli military would be drawn into the war, which he believed would rally anti-Israeli sentiment in neighbouring Arab countries to support Iraq. However Hussein's gamble failed as Israel reluctantly accepted U. S. demand for Israel to remain out of the conflict to avoid inflaming tensions. Iraqi armed forces were quickly destroyed and Hussein eventually accepted the inevitable and ordered a withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but before they were to do so, he ordered them to sabotage Kuwait's oil wells, which resulted in hundreds of wells being set ablaze causing an economic and ecological disaster in Kuwait.

The aftermath of the war saw the Iraqi military, especially its air force, destroyed. In turn for peace, Iraq was forced to accept "no-fly zones", the dismantlement of all chemical and biological weapons it possessed, and end any attempt to create or purchase nuclear weapons, to be insured by the allowance of UN weapons inspectors to evaluate the dismantlement of such weapons. And finally, Iraq would face sanctions if it disobeyed any of the demands. Shortly after the war ended in 1991, Shia Muslim Iraqis engaged in protests against Hussein's regime, but Hussein responded with violent repression against Shia Muslims and the protests came to an end. After the war, Iraq on a number of occasions through the 1990s was accused of breaking its obligations including the discovery in 1993, of a plan to assassinate former President George H. W. Bush, and the removal of UN weapon inspectors in 1998 (the Iraqi government claimed that it suspected that some inspectors were spies for the U. George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12 1924 served as the forty-first President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 S. Central Intelligence Agency), in which sanctions were imposed and military action was taken by U. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all S. forces against Iraq.

Critics estimate that more than 500,000 Iraqi children died as a result of the sanctions. ^[14] Other critics, especially neoconservatives in the United States after 1998 claimed that containment of Iraq through sanctions without weapons inspectors in the area, was not capable of avoiding a rebuilding of "weapons of mass destruction" and demanded a hardline approach to Iraq, demanding compliance on inspections or face war. Neoconservatism (or Neocon is a Right-wing political philosophy that emerged in the United States from the rejection of the Social liberalism, Moral relativism A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e In January 2002, Saddam Hussein's Iraq was declared part of the so-called "Axis of Evil" by U. Definition President Bush's exact statement was as follows second goal is to prevent regimes (terrorist that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and S. President George W. Bush - a loose term defining key enemies to US international interests. George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. A number of incorrect and false allegations were made against Iraq such as accusations that Iraq was acquiring uranium from Niger and that Iraq had secret weapons laboratories in trailers and isolated facilities throughout Iraq. Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Eventually all of these were proven false. However Saddam Hussein, under pressure from the U. S. and the U. N. , agreed to allow weapon inspectors to return to Iraq in 2002.

Invasion by American-led Coalition forces

Main article: 2003 invasion of Iraq

Further information: Iraq War

20 March 2003, a United States-organized coalition invaded Iraq, with the stated reason that Iraq had failed to abandon its nuclear and chemical weapons development program in violation of United Nations resolution 687. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, or the War in Iraq, is an ongoing Military campaign Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security When Iraq invaded Kuwait during the first Gulf War, the United Nations Security Council, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, adopted resolution 678, authorizing U. N. member states to use "all necessary means" to "restore international peace and security in the area. Peacekeeping, as defined by the United Nations, is "a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace " After Iraq was expelled from Kuwait the United Nations passed a cease-fire resolution 687. A ceasefire (or truce) is a temporary stoppage of a War or any Armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees The agreement included provisions obligating Iraq to discontinue its nuclear weapons program. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The United States asserted that because Iraq was in "material breach" of resolution 687, the armed forces authorization of resolution 678 was revived. For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces

The United States gave further justification for the invasion of Iraq in claims that Iraq had or was developing weapons of mass destruction and the opportunity to remove an oppressive dictator from power and bring democracy to Iraq. A weapon of mass destruction ( WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e In his State of Union Address on 29 January, 2002, the American President George W. Bush declared that Iraq was a member of the "axis of evil", and that, like North Korea and Iran, Iraq's attempt to acquire weapons of mass destruction gave credence to the claim that the Iraqi government posed a serious threat to America's national security. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, National security is the entire scope of measures undertaken by the Governments of Nation-states in providing assurance of national Sovereignty He added, "Iraq continues to flaunt its hostilities toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. Nerve agents (also being referred to as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature are a class of Phosphorus -containing organic chemicals . . This is a regime that agreed to international inspections—then kicked out inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. . . By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes [Iran, Iraq and North Korea] pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. "^[15] However, according to a comprehensive US report no Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been found since the invasion. ^[16] Yet, there are news reports which contradict this. . ^[17]

Post-invasion

Main articles: Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–present, Insurgency in Iraq, and Civil war in Iraq

Following the invasion, the United States established the Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA سلطة الائتلاف الموحدة was established as a Transitional government following the ^[18] Government authority was transferred to an Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004 and a permanent government was elected in October 2005. The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a Caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi More than 140,000 Coalition troops remain in Iraq.

Studies have placed the number of civilians deaths as high as 655,000 (see The Lancet study), although most studies have put the number much lower; the Iraq Body Count project has a figure of less than 10% of The Lancet Study, though IBC organizers acknowledge that their statistics are an undercount as they base their information off of media-confirmed deaths. The Lancet, one of the oldest scientific Medical journals in the world published two peer-reviewed studies on the effect of the 2003 invasion The Iraq Body Count project (IBC is one of several efforts to record civilian deaths attributable to coalition and insurgent military action sectarian violence and criminal violence The website of the Iraq body count states, "Our maximum therefore refers to reported deaths - which can only be a sample of true deaths unless one assumes that every civilian death has been reported. It is likely that many if not most civilian casualties will go unreported by the media. Civilian casualties is a Military term describing Civilian or Non-combatant persons killed or injured by military action "^[19].

After the invasion, al-Qaeda took advantage of the insurgency to entrench itself in the country concurrently with an Arab-Sunni led insurgency and sectarian violence. The Iraqi insurgency is composed of diverse mix of militias foreign fighters all Iraqi units or mixtures using violent measures against the US-led Coalition in Iraq Sectarian violence or sectarian strife is Violence inspired by Sectarianism, that is between different Sects of one particular mode of thought

On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged. Events 1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield. 1816 - The Treaty of St Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[20] Hussein's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Hassan and former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court Awad Hamed al-Bandar were likewise executed on January 15, 2007;^[21] as was Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's former deputy and former vice-president (originally sentenced to life in prison but later to death by hanging), on March 20, 2007. Barzan Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti ( February 17 1951 – January 15, 2007) (sometimes known as Barazan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Barasan Ibrahem Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking Judge of a Court that has more than one judge Awad Hamad al-Bandar (عواد حمد بندر السعدون aka Awad Hamad Bandar Alsa'doon ( January 2, 1945 - January 15, 2007) was an Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi ( February 22, 1938 – March 20, 2007) ( طه ياسين رمضان الجزراوي) was the Vice Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[22] Ramadan was the fourth and last man in the al-Dujail trial to die by hanging for crimes against humanity. The Trial of Saddam Hussein was the trial of the deposed President of Iraq Saddam Hussein by the Iraqi Interim Government for alleged In Public international law, a crime against humanity is an act of Persecution or any large scale atrocities against a body of people and is the highest level of

At the Anfal genocide trial, Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid (aka Chemical Ali), former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed al-Tay, and former deputy Hussein Rashid Mohammed were sentenced to hang for their role in the Al-Anfal Campaign against the Kurds on June 24, 2007. Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (علي حسن عبد المجيد التكريتي, born 1941 is a former Ba'athist Iraqi Defense Minister, sultan hashim ahmadjpg|thumb|240px|Sultan Hashim Ahmad Al-Jabburi Al-Tai]] Sultan Hashim Ahmad Al-Jabburi Al-Tai (سلطان هاشم was Minister of Defense under Saddam The al-Anfal Campaign (حملة الأنفال also known as Operation Anfal, was a genocidal campaign against Kurds led by the Iraqi regime Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Acts of sectarian violence have led to claims of ethnic cleansing in Iraq, and there have been many attacks on Iraqi minorities such as the Yezidis, Mandeans, Assyrians and others. Ethnic cleansing is a Euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment expulsion or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity Minority politics in Iraq are represented by its various ethnic and religious groups The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Kurdish: ئزیدی or Êzidî, Arabic: يزيدي or ايزدي Assyrian/Syriac: ܓ̰ܠܟܝܐ is a Mandaeism or Mandaeanism ( Mandaic: Mandaiuta, مندائية Mandā'iyya) is a Monotheistic Religion with a strongly ^[23]

In 2007 Foreign Policy Magazine named Iraq as the second most unstable nation in the world after Sudan. Foreign Policy is a bimonthly American Magazine founded in 1970 by Samuel P Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. ^[24]

Although violence has declined from the summer of 2007,^[25] the U. N. reported of a cholera outbreak in Iraq. A lack of clean drinking water in Iraq in 2007 has led to an outbreak of Cholera. ^[26]

Iraqi diaspora

Main articles: Iraqi diaspora and Refugees of Iraq

The dispersion of native Iraqis to other countries is known as the Iraqi diaspora. The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as Emigrants or Refugees and is now one of the largest in modern times being Throughout the past 100 years there have been a growing number of Refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world peaking recently with the latest Iraq War There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime of Saddam Hussein and continuing through to 2007. The UN High Commission for Refugees has estimated that nearly two million Iraqis have fled the country in recent years, mostly to Jordan and Syria. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR (established December 14, 1950) is a ^[27] Although some expatriates returned to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, the flow had virtually stopped by 2006. ^[28]

In addition to the 2 million Iraqis who fled to neighbouring countries, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates the number of people currently displaced within the country at 1. 9 million. ^[29]

Roughly 40% of Iraq's middle class is believed to have fled, the U. N. said. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return. ^[30] Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries. ^[31][32]

In recent times the Diaspora seems to be reversing with the increased security of the last few months, and the Iraqi government claims that so far 46,000 refugees have returned to their homes in October of 2007 alone. ^[33].

Government and politics

Government

Main article: Federal government of Iraq

The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. Political federalism is a Political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together (Latin foedus, covenant) with a governing For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by a referendum that took place on 15 October 2005. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of the people's representatives A federation ( Latin: foedus, covenant is a union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central ("federal" A parliamentary system, also known as parliamentarianism (and parliamentarism in American English) is a System of government in which A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as numerous independent commissions. In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State Aside from the federal government, there are regions (made of one or more governorates), governorates, and districts within Iraq with jurisdiction over various matters as defined by law.

Regions, governorates and districts

Main articles: Regions of Iraq, Governorates of Iraq, and Districts of Iraq

Currently, Kurdistan is the only legally defined region within Iraq, with its own government and quasi-official militia, the Peshmerga. Regions of Iraq is a subdivision created by the constitution that was ratified in October 2005 |||} Iraq is divided into 18 Governorates (or Provinces ( Muhafazah) Baghdād Below the 18 governorates, Iraq is divided into 111 districts ( Qadaa) Iraqi Kurdistan Region ( Kurdish: هه رێمى كوردستان Herêmi Kurdistan, Arabic:إقليم كردستان العراق, Iqlĩm Kurdistãn The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG ( Kurdish: حكومه تى هه ريمى كوردستان Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan,) is the official ruling body The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary Citizens to provide defense emergency law enforcement or Paramilitary service Peshmerga, Peshmerga or Peshmerge ( Kurdish: pêşmerge) is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters Iraq itself is divided into eighteen governorates (or provinces) (Arabic: muhafadhat, singular - muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). A Governorate is an Administrative division of a country It is headed by a Governor. A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division. The governorates are subdivided into districts (or qadhas).

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) Sulaymaniyah

The following governorates are within the region Iraqi Kurdistan:

• Dahuk
• Arbil
• Sulaymaniyah

Politics

Main article: Politics of Iraq

Iraq was under Baath Party rule from 1968 to 2003; in 1979 Saddam Hussein took control and remained president until 2003 after which he was unseated by a US-led invasion. The politics of Iraq takes place in a framework of a more or less federal parliamentary representative democratic Republic, whereby the The Arab Socialist Ba'th Party (also spelled Baath or Ba'ath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي was founded in Damascus Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30 The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1 2003 was spearheaded by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia

On October 15, 2005, more than 63% of eligible Iraqis came out across the country to vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The current Constitution of Iraq was approved by a referendum that took place on 15 October 2005. On October 25, the vote was certified and the constitution passed with a 78% overall majority, with the percentage of support varying widely between the country's territories. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a ^[34] The new constitution had overwhelming backing among the Shia and Ķurdish communities, but was overwhelmingly rejected by Arab Sunnis. Three majority Arab Sunni provinces rejected it (Salah ad Din with 82% against, Ninawa with 55% against, and Al Anbar with 97% against). Salah ad Din, Salâh-ad-Dîn, or Salahuddin ( Arabic: صلاح الدين is a Governorate in Iraq, north of Baghdad Ninawa ( Arabic: نینوى Kurdish: Neynewa, Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Nîněwâ) is a governorate Al Anbar (الأنبار al-’Anbār or Anbar) is the largest province in Iraq geographically

Under the terms of the constitution, the country conducted fresh nationwide parliamentary elections on December 15 to elect a new government. Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of The overwhelming majority of all three major ethnic groups in Iraq voted along ethnic lines, turning this vote into more of an ethnic census than a competitive election, and setting the stage for the division of the country along ethnic lines. A census is the procedure of acquiring information about every member of a given population

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 an amalgam of religious extremists that believe an Islamic Caliphate should rule, old sectarian regime members that had ruled under Saddam that want back the power they had, and Iraqi nationalists that are fighting the U.S. military presence. A caliphate (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa) is the political leadership of the Muslim community in classical and medieval Islamic history The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States

Iraq has number of ethnic minority groups in Iraq: Kurds, Assyrians, Mandeans, Iraqi Turkmen, Shabaks and Roma. The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Mandaeism or Mandaeanism ( Mandaic: Mandaiuta, مندائية Mandā'iyya) is a Monotheistic Religion with a strongly The Iraqi Turkmen (also spelled Turkomen, Turcoman, and Turkman) ( Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri) are a distinct Turkic The Shabak people is a minority group of Iraq who live in the province of Ninawa. The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins These groups have not enjoyed equal status with the majority Arab populations throughout Iraq's eighty-five year history. Since the establishment of the "no-fly zones" following the Gulf War of 1990–1991, the situation of the Kurds has changed as they have established their own autonomous region. An autonomous area is an area of a Country that has a degree of Autonomy, or freedom from an external authority The remainder of these ethnic groups continue to suffer discrimination on religious or ethnic grounds.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iraq

Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Iraq 's economy is dominated by the Petroleum sector which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earningsort Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit 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. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. In Economics, austerity is when a national government reduces its spending in order to pay back Creditors Austerity is usually required when a government's fiscal External debt (or foreign debt) is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to Creditors outside the country Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 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. War reparations refer to the monetary compensation intended to cover damage or injury during a war The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been

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. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of the world's richest countries which provides financial services such as debt restructuring debt relief and debt 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%. Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of Debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth owed by individuals corporations or nations ^[35]

At the end of 2005, and in the first half of 2006, Iraq implemented a restructuring of about $20 billion of commercial debt claims on terms comparable to that of its November 2004 Paris Club agreement (i. e. with an 80% writeoff). Iraq offered to its larger claimants a U. S. dollar denominated bond maturing in 2028. Smaller commercial claimants received a cash settlement of comparable value.

Reconstruction

Main article: Reconstruction of Iraq

Demographics

Main article: Demography of Iraq

An April 2008 estimate of the total Iraqi population is 28,221,181. Reconstruction of Iraq describes attempts by the international community to improve and repair the infrastructure of Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion when much Background Iraq was known in the west as Mesopotamia until the 20th century ^[36]

Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq's population are Arabs; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds at 15-20%,^[37] Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen and others (5%),^[38] who mostly live in the north and northeast of the country. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The Iraqi Turkmen (also spelled Turkomen, Turcoman, and Turkman) ( Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri) are a distinct Turkic Other distinct groups are Persians and Armenians. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large About 20,000 ^[39] Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq. The Marsh Arabs (عرب الأهوار ˤArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands" also known as the Maˤdān (معدان are inhabitants of the

Arabic and Kurdish are official languages. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Kurdish language (Kurdish Kurdî or کوردی is a term used for the language spoken by Kurds. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Assyrian and Turkmen are official languages in areas where the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen are located respectively. Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is a modern Eastern Aramaic or Syriac language. Turkmen ( Latin script: türkmen Cyrillic: түркмен ISO 639 -1 tk ISO 639-2 tuk is the name of the national language of Turkmenistan Armenian and Persian are also spoken but to a lesser extent. The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian English is the most commonly spoken Western language. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

Religious composition includes:

• Muslim, 97%; Christian or other, 3%. ^[40]

There are no official figures available, mainly due to the highly politically charged nature of the subject. Two estimates of the Muslim proportions of the population are:

• Shi'a as much as 60%, Sunni about 40% (source: Britannica, Religion section of Iraq article). The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc

Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37% (source: CIA World Fact Book). The World Factbook ( ISSN; also known as the CIA World Factbook) is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the

The Shi'a are mostly Arabs, some are Turkmen and Faili Kurds, and almost all are Twelver school. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Iraqi Turkmen (also spelled Turkomen, Turcoman, and Turkman) ( Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri) are a distinct Turkic See also Shi'a Islam Twelver Shi'ism ( ar اثنا عشرية Ithnāˤashariyyah) is the largest branch of Shi'a branch of Islam Sunnis are composed of Arabs, Turkmen who are Hanafi school and Kurds who are Shafi school. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Iraqi Turkmen (also spelled Turkomen, Turcoman, and Turkman) ( Turkish: Irak Türkmenleri) are a distinct Turkic The Hanafi ( Arabic حنفي school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ( Madhhabs The Shāfi‘ī Madhab ( ar شافعي) is one of the four schools of Fiqh, or religious law within

According to most western sources the majority of Iraqis are Shi'ite Arab Muslims (around 60%), and Sunnis represent about 40% of the population made up of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Sunnis hotly dispute these figures, including an ex-Iraqi Ambassador,^[41] referring to American sources. ^[42] They claim that many reports or sources only include Arab Sunnis as 'Sunni', missing out the Kurdish and Turkmen Sunnis.

Ethnic Assyrians (most of whom are adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East) account for most of Iraq's Christian population, along with Armenians. The Chaldean Catholic Church or the Chaldean Church of Babylon (الكنيسة الكلدانية) is an Eastern particular church of the The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East with members spread throughout the world The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East (ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Bahá'ís, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. The Bahá'í Faith is a Religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind Mandaeism or Mandaeanism ( Mandaic: Mandaiuta, مندائية Mandā'iyya) is a Monotheistic Religion with a strongly The Shabak people is a minority group of Iraq who live in the province of Ninawa. The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Kurdish: ئزیدی or Êzidî, Arabic: يزيدي or ايزدي Assyrian/Syriac: ܓ̰ܠܟܝܐ is a Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, although the Faili (Feyli) Kurds are largely Shi'a.

As of November 4, 2006, the UNHCR estimated that 1. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR (established December 14, 1950) is a 8 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighboring countries, and 1. 6 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern ^[43] A May 25, 2007 article notes that in the past seven months only 69 people from Iraq have been granted refugee status in the United States. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. American immigration ( emigration to the United States of America) refers to the movement of non-residents to the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[44]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Iraq

In the most recent millennium, what is now Iraq has been made up of five cultural areas: Kurdish in the north centered on Arbil, Sunni Islamic Arabs in the center around Baghdad, Shi'a Islamic Arabs in the south centered on Basra, 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. Iraq has one of the world's oldest cultural histories Iraq is where the Mesopotamian civilization began which went on to influence the European and A millennium (pl millennia) is a period of Time equal to one thousand Years (from Latin la mille, thousand and la annum Arbil (also written Erbil or Irbil; BGN: Arbīl; Kurdish: هه‌ولێر Hewlêr The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The Marsh Arabs (عرب الأهوار ˤArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands" also known as the Maˤdān (معدان are inhabitants of the Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that There are also the Bedouin tribes primarily in southern and western Iraq, with smaller groups scattered throughout the country. The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously Markets and bartering are the common form of trade.

Music

Main articles: Music of Iraq, Kurdish music, and Assyrian 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. The music of Iraq or Iraqi Music, ( Arabic, موسيقى عراقية, also known as the music of Mesopotamia) tends to be more traditional and Kurdish Music ( Sorani Kurdish:گۆرانی کوردی Gorani Kurdi) ( Kurmanji Kurdish: Muzîk û strana kurdî) refers to music performed in Assyrian music is divided into three main sections or periods The oud ( عود ʿūd, plural أعواد, a‘wād; kaban; Persian: بربط barbat; ud Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck (either Fretted or unfretted and a deep round back or more specifically to an instrument from The rebab ( Arabic الرباب or رباب; also rebap, rabab, rebeb, Ahmed Mukhtar Arabic, أحمد مختار (born 1967 is an Iraqi musician who is internationally renowned for his playing of the Oud. Munir Bashir ( منير بشير, Syriac: ܡܘܢܝܪ ܒܫܝܪ (1930 – September 28, 1997) was one of the Until the fall of Saddam Hussein, the most popular radio station was the Voice of Youth. This article is about radio broadcasting for other uses see Radio (disambiguation. 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. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latinos. Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Iraq has also produced a major pan-Arab pop star-in-exile in Kathem Al Saher, whose songs include Ladghat E-Hayya, which was banned for its racy lyrics. Kathem Al Saher ( Arabic: كاظم الساهر born September 12 1961) most commonly Kazem Al Saher or Kadim Al Sahir

Cuisine

Main article Cuisine of Iraq

The Iraqi cuisine is generally a heavy cuisine with more spices than most Arab cuisines. Masgouf ( Arabic: ar '''مسكوف''' is a traditional Iraqi dish it is an open cut Fish grilled and spiced with Salt, Pepper and Iraqi cuisine has changed and evolved since the time of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Iraq's main food crops include wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, and dates. Vegetables include eggplant, okra, potatoes, and tomatoes. Beans such as chickpeas and lentils are also quite common. Common meats in Iraqi cooking are lamb and beef; fish and poultry are also used. Soups and stews are often prepared and served with rice and vegetables. Although Iraq is not a coastal area, the population is used to consuming fish, however, freshwater fish is more common than saltwater fish. Masgouf is one of the most popular dishes. Masgouf ( Arabic: ar '''مسكوف''' is a traditional Iraqi dish it is an open cut Fish grilled and spiced with Salt, Pepper and Biryani although influenced by the Indian cuisine, is much milder with a different mixture of spices and a wider variety of vegetables including potatoes, peas, carrots and onions among others. Biryani, biriani, or beriani ( Nastaliq script: بریانی Devanagari script: बिरयानी Bengali script: িবিরয়ানी India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Dolma is also one of the popular dishes. Dolma ( Greek:ντολμάς is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions including Turkey The Iraqi cuisine is famous for its extremely tender kabab as well as its tikka. Cuisine (from French cuisine, "cooking culinary art kitchen" ultimately from Latin coquere, "to cook" is a specific set Kebab (also transliterated as kabab, kabob, kibob, kebhav, kephav) refers to a variety of meat dishes in Middle Eastern A wide verity of spices pickles and Amba are also extensively used. For the Iraqi condiment see Amba (condiment. For the geologic feature see Amba (geology.

Sport

Main article: Sport in Iraq

See also

Main article: List of Iraq-related topics

References

Further reading

• Interview with Refugees International's Sean Garcia on the plight of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees [2]
• Shadid, Anthony 2005. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (popularly known as "the P-I" is one of two daily Newspapers in Seattle Washington, United States. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Night Draws Near. Henry Holt and Co. , NY, U.S. ISBN 0-8050-7602-6
• Hanna Batatu, "The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq", Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978
• A Dweller in Mesopotamia, being the adventures of an official artist in the garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)
• By Desert Ways to Baghdad, by Louisa Jebb (Mrs. DjVu (pronounced Déjà vu) is a Computer File format designed primarily to store scanned images especially those containing text and line Roland Wilkins) With illustrations and a map, 1908 (1909 ed). (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)

External links

Government

• Iraqi Presidency Website http://www.iraqipresidency.net
• Iraqi Government Website http://www.cabinet.iq
• Iraqi Parliament Website http://www.parliament.iq
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.mofa.gov.iq
• Ministry of Defense http://www.iraqmod.org
• Ministry of Oil http://www.oil.gov.iq
• Ministry of Trade http://www.mot.gov.iq
• Ministry of Industry http://www.industry.gov.iq
• Ministry of Higher Education http://www.mohesr.gov.iq
• Kurdistan Regional Government
• New Iraqi government structure (PDF) (As of July 17, 2006)

Overviews

• Encarta Encyclopedia
• Baghdad's Golden Period
• al-Bab - Iraq
• Encyclopaedia Britannica Iraq Country Page
• BBC News Country Profile - Iraq
• CIA World Factbook - Iraq
• US State Department - Iraq includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Iraq
• Iraq Country Profile from Reuters AlertNet
• Country Briefing: Iraq from The Economist

News

• Focus on Iraq Daily News on Iraq
• Iraq News and Iraqi views from Electronic Iraq
• News in Depth from the Financial Times
• Diplomacy Monitor-Iraq
• IPS Inter Press Service Independent news about Iraq
• Iraqis react with joy, anger to Hussein death sentence CNN story on Hussein's death sentence
• Hometown Baghdad Documentary series shot by an all-Iraqi crew. DjVu (pronounced Déjà vu) is a Computer File format designed primarily to store scanned images especially those containing text and line Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. This article is primarily about Reuters prior to its 2008 merger with Thomson The Economist is an English-language weekly news and International affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Tells the stories of three young people trying to survive in Baghdad.

Other

• Operation Iraqi Children
• Iraq Image, a cultural resource on Iraq cities and locations
• Iraqi Truth Project
• Juan Cole, a leading scholar and public intellectual
• The Ground Truth Project -- A series of exclusive interviews and other resources capturing the voices of Iraqis, aid workers, military personnel and others who have spent significant time on-the-ground in Iraq. Humanitarian aid (also called succour) is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes typically in response to humanitarian crises A soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of National Armed forces.
• Iraq travel guide from Wikitravel
• Alternate wiki article about Iraq
• The World Monuments Fund's Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative
• Education for Peace in Iraq Center (EPIC) -- A Washington DC-based nonprofit organization promoting a free and secure Iraq
• Amnesty International Report on Iraq
• Internal Displacement in Iraq - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
• Coalition Provisional Authority Now-defunct occupation authority; site is archived
• Iraq Law from the University of Pittsburgh’s Jurist project
• 1900–2000 a history of Iraq
• US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
• Iraqi Familiarization Guide - (546 kilobyte PDF file)
• Short Guide to Iraq (WWII U. Wikitravel is a Web -based project "to create a free, complete up-to-date and reliable worldwide travel guide. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage S. Military Guide)
• Charity Helping the People of Iraq

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