Iraq

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Coordinates:  33°N 44°E

Republic of Iraq

 ‫جمهورية العراق‬ (Arabic)
 ‫کۆماری عێراق‬ (Kurdish)

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto: ‫هللا أكبر‬ (Arabic)
"Allahu Akbar" (transliteration)
"God is the Greatest"

Anthem: "Mawṭinī"
"‫"موطني‬
(English: "My Homeland")

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 Capital Baghdad
and largest city 33°20′N 44°23′E

Official languages Arabic
Kurdish[1]

Recognised Turkish
regional languages Assyrian
Armenian

Religion 98% Islam (inc. shia and

Demonym(s) Iraqi

Government Federal parliamentary constitutional
republic

• President Barham Salih

Legislature Council of Representatives

Independence from the United Kingdom

Area
• Total 437,072 km2 (168,754 sq mi) (58th)
• Water (%) 1.1
 Population
• 2018 estimate 38,433,600[2][3] (36th)
• Density 82.7/km2 (214.2/sq mi) (125th)

GDP (PPP) 2019 estimate
• Total $733.926 billion[4] (34th)
• Per capita $17,952[4] (76th)

GDP (nominal) 2019 estimate
• Total $250.070 billion[4] (48th)
• Per capita $6,116[4] (97th)

Gini (2012) 29.5[5]
low

HDI (2018)  0.689[6]
medium · 120th

Currency Iraqi dinar (IQD)

Time zone UTC+3 (AST)

Driving side right

Calling code +964

ISO 3166 code IQ

Internet TLD .iq

a. Constitution of Iraq, Article 4 (1st).

ْ
Iraq (/ɪˈræk/, /ɪˈrɑːk/ ( listen) or /aɪˈræk/; Arabic: ‫ٱلعِرَ اق‬, al-ʿIrāq; Kurdish: ‫عێراق‬ Êraq), officially
ْ ِ ‫جُمْ ه‬  Jumhūriīyah al-ʿIrāq; Kurdish: ‫کۆماری عێراق‬ Komarî
the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: ‫ ٱلعِرَ اق‬m‫ُور َّية‬
Êraq), is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the
east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the
southwest and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse
ethnic groups
including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians, Mandaeans, Circass
ians, Sabians and Kawliya.[7] Around 99% of the country's 38 million citizens are Muslims,[8] with
small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. The official
languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish.
Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses
the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the
eastern part of the Syrian Desert.[9] Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through
Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant
amounts of fertile land. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known
as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first
began to read, write, create laws and live in cities under an organised government—
notably Uruk, from which "Iraq" is derived. The area has been home to successive civilisations
since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of
the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. It was also part of
 the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, 
Ayyubid, Seljuk, Mongol, Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid and Ottoman empires.[10]
The country today known as Iraq was a region of the Ottoman Empire until the partition of the
Ottoman Empire in the 20th century. It was made up of three provinces, called vilayets in
the Ottoman Turkish language: Mosul Vilayet, Baghdad Vilayet, and Basra Vilayet. In April 1920
the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A
British-backed monarchy joining these vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921
under Faisal I of Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in
1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled
by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1968 until 2003. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking a
protracted war which would last for almost eight years, and end in a stalemate with devastating
losses for both countries.
After an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party was
removed from power, and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The US
presence in Iraq ended in 2011,[11] but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters
from the Syrian civil war spilled into the country. Out of the insurgency came a highly destructive
group calling itself ISIL, which took large parts of the north and west. It has since been largely
defeated. Disputes over the sovereignty of Kurdistan Region continue. A referendum about the
full sovereignty of Kurdistan Region was held on 25 September 2017. On 9 December 2017,
then-Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIL after the group lost its
territory in Iraq.[12]
Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 19 governorates, four of which make up the
autonomous Kurdistan Region. The country's official religion is Islam. Culturally, Iraq has a very
rich heritage and celebrates the achievements of its past in both pre-Islamic as well as post-
Islamic times and is known for its poets. Its painters and sculptors are among the best in
the Arab world, some of them being world-class as well as producing fine handicrafts, including
rugs and carpets. Iraq is a founding member of the UN as well as of the Arab League, OIC, Non-
Aligned Movement and the IMF.

Contents

 1Name
 2History
o 2.1Prehistoric era
o 2.2Ancient Iraq
 2.2.1Bronze Age
 2.2.2Iron Age
 2.2.3Babylonian and Persian periods
o 2.3Middle Ages
o 2.4Ottoman Iraq
o 2.5British administration and independent kingdom
o 2.6Republic and Ba'athist Iraq
o 2.72003–2007
o 2.82008–2018
o 2.92019–2020 : Civil unrest, US – Iran proxy war and new government
 3Geography
o 3.1Climate
 4Government and politics
o 4.1Law
o 4.2Military
o 4.3Foreign relations
 o 4.4Human rights
o 4.5Administrative divisions
 5Economy
o 5.1Oil and energy
o 5.2Water supply and sanitation
o 5.3Infrastructure
 6Demographics
o 6.1Ethnic groups
o 6.2Languages
o 6.3Urban areas
o 6.4Religion
o 6.5Diaspora and refugees
o 6.6Health
o 6.7Education
 7Culture
o 7.1Music
o 7.2Art and architecture
o 7.3Media
o 7.4Cuisine
o 7.5Sport
 8Technology
o 8.1Mobile phones
o 8.2Satellite
o 8.3Undersea cable
 9See also
 10References
 11Bibliography
 12Further reading
 13External links