Iraq

Overview

Iraq is the country of Mesopotamia or Land Between the Rivers in classical times. Anyone travelling in these lands should read about the many civilizations that have passed through here. As a minimum be prepared on Sumer, Babylon, Assur, Persians, Greeks, Romans and finally Arabs. You will find many hundreds of ruins of cities everywhere you go. It has a subtropical climate, with a tendency in direction of continental climate in the north. Iraq is very dependent on water from Tigris and Euphrates, as there is little rain falling here except during the rainy season. The west and south is mostly stone desert. The country became known as Iraq in the 7th century. It's the land where paradise allegedly once was. The region's extensive alluvial plains gave rise to the world's earliest civilizations, though in recent times it was not all that civilized. The modern Iraq was created in the aftermath of World War I and gained independence in 1932. Since then there was war on Iran, Syria, and most recently the invasion of Kuwait that led to the Gulf War. Internally the country has known violent uprising of Kurdish minorities answered by bloody suppression. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1958 there was a period of political instability with coups and countercoups until Saddam Hussein seized power in the 70s.

Iraq used to be one of the world's leading oil producers. In recent decades a steady cash flow generated by the black gold was the engine behind ambitious building projects...more

History

IRAQ A REPUBLIC since the 1958 coup d'etat that ended the reign of King Faisal II became a sovereign independent state in 1932. Although the modern state the Republic of Iraq is quite young the history of the land and its people dates back more than 5 000 years. Indeed Iraq contains the world's richest known archaeological sites. Here in ancient Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers) the first civilization--that of Sumer-- appeared in the Near East. Despite the millennium separating the two epochs Iraqi history displays a continuity shaped by adaptation to the ebbings and flowings of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in Arabic the Dijlis and Furat respectively). Allowed to flow unchecked the rivers wrought destruction in terrible floods that inundated whole towns. When the rivers were controlled by irrigation dikes and other waterworks the land became extremely fertile.

The dual nature of the Tigris and the Euphrates--their potential to be destructive or productive--has resulted in two distinct legacies found throughout Iraqi history. On the one hand Mesopotamia's plentiful water resources and lush river valleys allowed for the production of surplus food that served as the basis for the civilizing trend begun at Sumer and preserved by rulers such as Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.) Cyrus (550-530 B.C.) Darius (520-485 B.C.) Alexander (336-323 B.C.) and the Abbasids (750-1258). The ancient cities of Sumer Babylon and Assyria all were located in what is now Iraq. Surplus food production and joint irrigation and flood control efforts facilitated the growth of a powerful and...more