Iraq

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. Located within the Middle East, it is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The country covers an area of 438,317 square kilometres (169,235 sq mi) and has a population of over 46 million, making it the 58th largest country by area and the 31st most populous in the world. Baghdad, home to over 8 million people, is the capital city and the largest in the country. Starting in the 6th millennium BC, the fertile plains between Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers, referred to as Mesopotamia, fostered the rise of early cities, civilisations, and empires including Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria. Known as the cradle of civilisation, Mesopotamia saw the invention of astrology, mathematics, navigation, timekeeping, writing systems, the wheel, the sailboat, a calendar, and a law code. After the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in the 7th century, Iraq became the metropole of the Abbasid Caliphate with Baghdad emerging as a global cultural and intellectual hub during the Islamic Golden Age, home to institutions such as the House of Wisdom. Following Baghdad's destruction by the Mongols in 1258, Iraq came under successive empires, and from the 16th until the 20th century, it was governed within the Ottoman system as a defined region known administratively as Ottoman Iraq. Since independence in 1932 after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Iraq has experienced spells of significant economic and military growth alongside periods of instability and conflict. Iraq emerged as a hashemite monarchy after centuries of Ottoman rule and a period under British administration. In 1958, a military coup led by Abdul Karim Qasim overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. Later, the Ba'ath Party took power in 1968, establishing a one-party state under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and later Saddam Hussein, who presided over war against Iran from 1980 to 1988 and then invaded Kuwait in 1990. In 2003, U.S.-led coalition forces invaded and occupied Iraq, overthrowing the government and triggering an insurgency and sectarian violence during the Iraq War, which ended in 2011. From 2013 to 2017, Iraq faced another major conflict with the rise and defeat of the Islamic State. Today post-war conflict continues at a lower scale, hampering stability alongside the rising influence of Iran. A federal parliamentary republic, Iraq is considered an emerging middle power. It is home to a diverse population, geography and wildlife. Most Iraqis are Muslims, while significant religious minorities include Christians, Jews, Mandaeans, Yarsanis, and Yazidis. Iraqis are ethnically diverse; mostly Arabs, as well as Kurds, Turkmens, Yazidis, Assyrians, Armenians, Doms, and Shabaks. Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages of Iraq, while Assyrian, Turkmen and Mandaic are spoken regionally. Iraq, home to one of the largest oil reserves in the world, has a significant oil and gas industry. It is also popular for its agriculture and tourism. At present, Iraq is in the process of rebuilding.