Portal:Iraq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Iraq Portal

A view of Baghdad, Iraq
A view of Baghdad, Iraq

Flag of Iraq
Flag of Iraq
Coat of Arms of Iraq
Coat of Arms of Iraq
Iraq's location on a map of the Middle East and the world.

Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia and in the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. With a population of over 46 million, it is the 31st-most populous country. It is a federal parliamentary republic that consists of 19 governorates. The country is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. The Iraqi people are diverse; mostly Arabs, as well as Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Persians and Shabakis with similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Most Iraqis are Muslims – minority faiths include Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish; others also recognized in specific regions are Turkish (Turkmen), Suret (Assyrian), and Armenian.

Modern Iraq dates to 1920, when a Mandate was created by League of Nations. A British-backed monarchy was founded in 1921 under Faisal. The Hashemite kingdom got independence from the UK in 1932. In 1958, the kingdom was overthrown and a republic was established. Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath Party from 1968 to 2003, led by Al-Bakr and then by Saddam Hussein, as a one-party state. Iraq engaged in war with Iran from 1980 to 1988 and another war from 1990 to 1991, due to invasion of Kuwait. An invasion launched by another US-led coalition as part of its "War on Terror" in 2003, sparking a war resulted in the defeat of Ba'athists and Saddam's execution. The war continued with an anti–American insurgency and secratarian civil war. U.S troops began withdrawing in 2008 and war officially ended in 2011. Continued repression and sectarian policies of Nouri al-Maliki's government caused protests, after which a coalition of Ba'athist and Sunni militias took up arms during a campaign. The climax of the campaign was the offensive by the ISID that marked its rapid territorial expansion, prompting the return of American troops to fight the war, which lasted until 2017. Iran has also intervened since 2014, expanding its influence through sectarian parties and Khomeinist militia groups, triggering widespread protests. (Full article...)

Location of Karbala within Iraq

Karbala or Kerbala (/ˈkɑːrbələ/ KAR-bə-lə, US also /ˌkɑːrbəˈlɑː/ KAR-bə-LAH; Arabic: كَرْبَلَاء, romanizedKarbalāʾ, IPA: [karbaˈlaːʔ]) is a city in central Iraq, located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 711,530 people (2018).

The city, best known as the location of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, or for the shrines of Hussain and Al Abbas, is considered a holy city for Shia Muslims. Tens of millions of Shi'ite Muslims visit the site twice a year. The martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali

is commemorated annually by millions of Shi'ites. (Full article...)

Selected picture

Did you know...

  • ...that the oldest known writing system, known as cuneiform, was developed in southern Iraq during the Sumerian civilization.
  • ...that the oldest laws were written in Iraq by the Sumerian King Ur-Nammu.
  • ...that Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves.
  • ...that the national soccer team of Iraq won the AFC Asian Cup in 2007.
  • ...the wheel was invented in the southern Iraqi city of Ur.
  • ...that Iraq is the largest producer of dates with more than 400 types and more than 22 million date palms.
  • ...that Iraq’s national dish is Masgouf (impaled fish) and its national cookie is Kleicha (meaning circle or wheel), both of which can be traced back to antiquity.
  • ...in the 1940s and 1950s, Iraq had 4/5 of the world's Arecaceae population, these numbers have drastically decreased in the last few decades.

Selected biography - show another

Kadim Jabbar Al Samarai (born September 12, 1957), better known by his stage name Kadim Al Sahir (Arabic: كاظم الساهر), is an Iraqi singer and composer.

He typically performs with an orchestra of twenty to thirty musicians on Arabic percussion, oud, qanun, nay, and a full complement of strings (violin, cello, and bass). While some of his work makes use of electronic musical sounds, he avoids the use of synthesizers to imitate acoustic instruments. His work frequently features Iraqi folk instruments, rhythms and melodies. (Full article...)

General images

The following are images from various Iraq-related articles on Wikipedia.

Lists

Topics

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Related portals


Religions in Iraq


Arab states

WikiProjects

Things you can do


Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache