Iraq – New World Encyclopedia
From New World Encyclopedia
Republic of Iraq
The Republic of Iraq, commonly known as Iraq, is a Middle Eastern country 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.
Iraq is bordered by Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad, is in the center-east of the country.
Iraq was known in ancient times as Mesopotamia, the world's first civilization. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and other ancient cities are there, as well as the legendary location of the Garden of Eden. It was on the banks of the Tigris River, which passes through the capital Baghdad, that writing is believed to have originated.
While its proven oil reserves of 112 billion barrels puts Iraq second in world rankings, behind only Saudi Arabia, the United States Department of Energy estimates that up to 90 percent of the country's oil resources remain unexplored.
Iraq is an unstable state composed of warring national and tribal groups that are the focus of increased attention from the West as a result of a United States-led invasion in 2003 and the ensuing turmoil. Brought to light since that invasion have been such atrocities as mass murders including soldiers and civilians, men, women and children, committed during the regime of Saddam Hussein. Violence continues, used as a political weapon.
Iraq 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. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf.
At 168,743 square miles (437,072 square kilometers), Iraq is the 58th-largest country in the world, after Morocco. It is comparable in size to the U.S. state of California, and somewhat larger than Paraguay.
The country has four main regions: the desert in the west and southwest; the rolling upland between the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in Arabic the Dijlis and Furat, respectively); the highlands in the north and northeast; and the alluvial plain through which the Tigris and Euphrates flow. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab there were once marshlands, but many of these were drained in the 1990s.
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Iraq - New World Encyclopedia