. . This article is about the country in Western Asia. For other uses, see Iraq (disambiguation). Iraq (/ɪˈræk/, /ɪˈrɑːk/ (About this soundlisten) or /aɪˈræk/; Arabic: اَلْعِرَاق‎, al-ʿirāq; Kurdish: عێراق‎ Êraq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جُمْهُورِيَّة ٱلْعِرَاقِ‎ About this soundJumhūriyyah al-ʿIrāq; Kurdish: کۆماری عێراق‎ Komarî Êraq), is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west. The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, Sabians and Kawliya.[6] Around 99% of the country's 38 million citizens are Muslims,[7] with tiny minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish. Republic of Iraq جمهورية العراق (Arabic) کۆماری عێراق (Kurdish) Flag of Iraq Flag Coat of arms of Iraq Coat of arms Motto: الله أكبر (Arabic) "Allāhu Akbar" (transliteration) "God is the Greatest" Anthem: "Mawṭinī" "موطني" (English: "My Homeland") Location of Iraq Capital and largest city Baghdad العِرَاقُ[27] أو (رسمياً: جُمْهُوريَّة العِرَاق)[28]، و(بالكردية: كۆماری عێراق)[29]، هي دولة عربية، وتعد جمهورية برلمانية اتحادية وفقاً لدستور العراق[30]، وتتكون من ثمان عشرة محافظة رسمياً، وتسع عشرة محافظة بحكم الأمر الواقع (محافظة حلبجة)، عاصمته بغداد، والعراق أحد دول غرب آسيا[31] المطلة على الخليج العربي. يحده من الجنوب الكويت والمملكة العربية السعودية[32]، ومن الشمال تركيا[33]، ومن الغرب سوريا والأردن[34]، ومن الشرق إيران، وهو عضو مؤسس في جامعة الدول العربية[35] ومنظمة المؤتمر الإسلامي[36] ومنظمة أوبك. معظم المنطقة المسماة العراق حاليًا كانت تسمى قديماً بلاد الرافدين، و(بيث نهرين بالآرامية)، و(باليونانية: Μεσοποταμία)‏، وحوى العراق على أولى المراكز الحضارية في العالم التي كانت تقع بين نهري دجلة والفرات وهي حضارة سومر، وامتدت حدود هذه الحضارة التي شغلتها بلاد الرافدين إلى سوريا وبلاد فارس وإلى منطقة جنوب شرق الأناضول تركيا حالياً، كما وجدت آثار سومرية في دولة الكويت الحالية[37] والبحرين[38][39] والأحواز بإيران. كان لبلاد الرافدين انفتاح واتصال بالحضارات القديمة في مصر والهند.[40] وتعاقب على حكم العراق دول وحضارات كثيرة من أهمها السومرية، والبابلية الحديثة، والآشورية، والميديون، والسلوقيون، والإمبراطورية البارثية، والإم side right Calling code +964 ISO 3166 code IQ Internet TLD .iq Constitution of Iraq, Article 4 (1st). Iraq has a coastline measuring 58 km (36 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf and encompasses the Mesopotamian Alluvial Plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert.[8] Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws and live in cities under an organised government—notably Uruk, from which "Iraq" is derived. The area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires. It was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Seljuk, Mongol, Timurid, Safavid, Afsharid and Ottoman empires.[9] The country today known as Iraq was a region of the Ottoman Empire until the partition of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century. It was made up of three provinces, called vilayets in the Ottoman language: Mosul Vilayet, Baghdad Vilayet, and Basra Vilayet. In April 1920 the British Mandate of Mesopotamia was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A British-backed monarchy joining these vilayets into one Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1968 until 2003. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking a protracted war which would last for almost eight years, and end in a stalemate with devastating losses for both countries. After an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party was removed from power, and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The US presence in Iraq ended in 2011,[10] but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country. Out of the insurgency came a highly destructive group calling itself ISIL, which took large parts of the north and west. It has since been largely defeated. Disputes over the sovereignty of Kurdistan Region continue. A referendum about the full sovereignty of Kurdistan Reg

• published: 03 Jul 2020
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