An Nasiriyah

Overview

Located in Southeast Iraq, on the Euphrates River, an Nasariyah is a provincial capital andthe center of a date-growing region. Founded in 1870, the city was captured by the British in 1915.

The main reason to visit is because the city is a good base for visiting the nearby ruins of Ur .

East of Nasariyah the marshes begin. Made famous by "the Marsh Arabs" of Wilfred Thesiger, the area is now in pretty bad shape and the main reason to visit is probably best described as "Eco-disaster tourism". Government water control projects have drained most of the inhabited marsh areas by drying up or diverting the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Shi'a Muslims, who have inhabited these areas for thousands of years has been displaced.

History