Iraq

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Republic of Iraq

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: الله أكبر   (Arabic)
"Allahu Akbar"  (transliteration)
"God is [the] Greatest"
Anthem: Mawtini  (new)
Ardh Alforatain  (previous)


Capital
(and largest city) Baghdad
44°26′E / 33.333°N 44.433°E / 33.333; 44.433
Official language(s) Arabic, Kurdish
Recognised regional languages Neo-Aramaic, South Azeri (locally called "Turkmen")
Demonym Iraqi
Government Developing parliamentary republic
 -  President Jalal Talabani
 -  Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Independence
 -  from the Ottoman Empire
1 October 1919 
 -  from the United Kingdom
3 October 1932 
 -  Republic
14 July 1958 
 -  current constitution
15 October 2005 
Area
 -  Total 438,317 km² (58th)
169,234 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.1
Population
 -  2009 estimate 31,234,000[1] (39th)
 -  Density 71.2/km² (125th)
184.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $114.151 billion[1] (63rd)
 -  Per capita $3,655[1] (125th)
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $68.553 billion[1] (58th)
 -  Per capita $2,195[1] (105th)
Currency Iraqi dinar (IQD)
Time zone GMT+3 (UTC+3)
 -  Summer (DST) not observed (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .iq
Calling code 964

Iraq ([iːˈrɑːk] or [ɪˈræk], Arabic: العراق Al-Irāq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq, Kurdish: كؤماری عه‌راق‎, Komara Îraqê,[2] Assyrian: ܥܝܼܪܵܩ )ܥܝܪܐܩ)) 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.[3]

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 (35 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎ Baġdād), is in the center-east of the country.

Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the centre of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.

Historically, the territory comprising Iraq was known in Europe by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers). Iraq has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing and the wheel.

Throughout its long history, Iraq has been the center of the Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid and Abbasid empires, and part of the Achaemenid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, Ottoman and British empires.[4][5] The Kingdom of Iraq was founded in 1932.

Beginning with an invasion in 2003, Iraq came under military occupation by a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British.

The occupation ended when sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government June 2004. A new Constitution of Iraq has since been approved by referendum and a new Government of Iraq has been elected. As of March 2010, 96,000 US troops remain in the country.[6] There is a deadline for the full withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq by 31 December 2011.[7]

Etymology

The Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name. One dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk (Biblical Hebrew Erech) and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Unug, containing the Sumerian word for "city", URU.[8][9] another maintains according to Professor Wilhelm Eilers, "The name al-‘Irāq, for all its Arabic appearance, is derived from Middle Persian erāq lowlands".[10]

Mesopotamia has always been called "the land of Iraq" in Arabic, meaning "the fertile" or "deep-rooted land".[11] During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī ("Arabian Iraq") for lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī ("Persian Iraq"[12] or "Foreign Iraq"[13]), for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran[12]. The term historically included the plain south of the Hamrin Mountains and did not include the northernmost and westernmost parts of the modern territory of Iraq.[14]

As an Arabic word, عراق means hem, shore, bank, or edge,[15] so that the name by folk etymology came to be interpreted as "the escarpment", viz. at the south and east of the Jazira Plateau, which forms the northern and western edge of the "al-Iraq arabi" area.[16]

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

History