Iraq
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- What is Iraq and where is it located?
- What is the capital city of Iraq?
- What are the official languages spoken in Iraq?
- What type of government does Iraq have?
- What is the significance of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq?
- How has Iraq's history been shaped by ancient civilizations?
- What was the impact of the Iraq War that began in 2003?
- What are some key cultural and religious influences in Iraq?
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Iraq,country of southwesternAsia.
During ancient times, lands that nowconstitute Iraq were known asMesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, including those ofSumer,Akkad,Babylon, andAssyria. This wealthy region,comprising much of what is called theFertile Crescent, later became a valuable part of larger imperial polities, including sundryPersian, Greek, and Romandynasties, and after the 7th century it became a central andintegral part of theIslamic world. Iraq’s capital,Baghdad, became the capital of theAbbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. The modern nation-state of Iraq was created followingWorld War I (1914–18) from theOttoman provinces ofBaghdad,Basra, andMosul and derives its name from the Arabic term used in the premodern period to describe a region that roughly corresponded toMesopotamia (ʿIrāq ʿArabī, “Arabian Iraq”) and modern northwesternIran (ʿIrāq ʿAjamī, “foreign [i.e., Persian] Iraq”).
- Head Of Government:
- Prime Minister: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
- Capital:
- Baghdad
- Population:
- (2025 est.) 45,694,0002
- Head Of State:
- President: Abdul Latif Rashid
- Form Of Government:
- multiparty republic with one legislative house (Council of Representatives of Iraq [3291])
- Official Languages:
- Arabic; Kurdish
- Official Religion:
- Islam
- Official Name:
- Al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿIrāqiyyah (Republic of Iraq)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 435,052
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 167,974
- Monetary Unit:
- Iraqi dinar (ID)
- Population Rank:
- (2025) 35
- Population Projection 2030:
- 53,036,000
- Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:
- (2025) 272
- Density: Persons Per Sq Km:
- (2025) 105
- Urban-Rural Population:
- Urban: (2022) 69.9%
- Rural: (2022) 30.1%
- Life Expectancy At Birth:
- Male: (2022) 71.3 years
- Female: (2022) 75.2 years
- Literacy: Percentage Of Population Age 15 And Over Literate:
- Male: (2017) 91%
- Female: (2018) 76%
- Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000):
- (2023) 254,318
- Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):
- (2023) 5,640
- Includes nine seats reserved for minorities.
- Includes about 1.2 million internally displaced persons and nearly 5 million recent returnees from neighbouring countries.
Iraq gained formal independence in 1932 but remained subject to British imperial influence during the next quarter century of turbulent monarchical rule. Political instability on an even greater scale followed the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, but the installation of anArab nationalist and socialist regime—theBaʿath Party—in a bloodlesscoup 10 years later brought new stability. With provenoil reserves second in the world only to those of Saudi Arabia, the regime was able to finance ambitious projects and development plans throughout the 1970s and to build one of the largest and best-equipped armed forces in the Arab world. The party’s leadership, however, was quickly assumed bySaddam Hussein, aflamboyant and ruthless autocrat who led the country into disastrous military adventures—theIran-Iraq War (1980–88) and thePersian Gulf War (1990–91). These conflicts left the country isolated from the internationalcommunity and financially and socially drained, but—through unprecedented coercion directed at major sections of the population, particularly the country’s disfranchised Kurdish minority and theShiʿi majority—Saddam himself was able to maintain a firm hold on power into the 21st century. He and his regime were toppled in 2003 during theIraq War.
Land
Iraq is one of the easternmost countries of the Arab world, located at about the same latitude as the southernUnited States. It is bordered to the north byTurkey, to the east byIran, to the west bySyria andJordan, and to the south bySaudi Arabia andKuwait. Iraq has 36 miles (58 km) of coastline along the northern end of thePersian Gulf, giving it a tiny sliver of territorial sea. Followed by Jordan, it is thus the Middle Eastern state with the least access to the sea and offshoresovereignty.
Relief
Iraq’stopography can be divided into four physiographic regions: the alluvial plains of the central and southeastern parts of the country; Al-Jazīrah (Arabic: “the Island”), an upland region in the north between theTigris andEuphrates rivers; deserts in the west and south; and the highlands in the northeast. Each of these regions extends into neighbouring countries, although the alluvial plains lie largely within Iraq.
Alluvial plains
The plains of lower Mesopotamia extend southward some 375 miles (600 km) from Balad on the Tigris andAl-Ramādī on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. They cover more than 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), almost one-third of the country’s area, and arecharacterized by low elevation, below 300 feet (100 metres), and poor natural drainage. Large areas are subject to widespread seasonal flooding, and there are extensive marshlands, some of which dry up in the summer to become salty wastelands. Near Al-Qurnah, where the Tigris and Euphrates converge to form theShaṭṭ al-ʿArab, there are still some inhabited marshes. The alluvial plains contain extensive lakes. The swampy Lake Al-Ḥammār (Hawr al-Ḥammār) extends 70 miles (110 km) fromBasra (Al-Baṣrah) to Sūq al-Shuyūkh; its width varies from 8 to 15 miles (13 to 25 km).
Al-Jazīrah
North of the alluvial plains, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, is the arid Al-Jazīrahplateau. Its most prominent hill range is theSinjār Mountains, whose highest peak reaches an elevation of 4,448 feet (1,356 metres). The main watercourse is theWadi Al-Tharthār, which runs southward for 130 miles (210 km) from the Sinjār Mountains to the Tharthār (Salt) Depression. Milḥat Ashqar is the largest of several salt flats (orsabkhahs) in the region.
Deserts
Western and southern Iraq is a vastdesert region covering some 64,900 square miles (168,000 square km), almost two-fifths of the country. The western desert, an extension of theSyrian Desert, rises to elevations above 1,600 feet (490 metres). The southern desert is known asAl-Ḥajarah in the western part and as Al-Dibdibah in the east. Al-Ḥajarah has a complextopography of rocky desert, wadis, ridges, and depressions. Al-Dibdibah is a more sandy region with a covering of scrub vegetation. Elevation in the southern desert averages between 300 and 1,200 feet (100 to 400 metres). A height of 3,119 feet (951 metres) is reached at Mount ʿUnayzah (ʿUnāzah) at the intersection of the borders of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The deepWadi Al-Bāṭin runs 45 miles (75 km) in a northeast-southwest direction through Al-Dibdibah. It has been recognized since 1913 as the boundary between western Kuwait and Iraq.