Portal:Iraq
The Iraq PortalA view of the former Republican Palace, Baghdad, Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. 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. Since independence in 1932, Iraq has experienced spells of significant economic and military growth alongside periods of instability and conflict. It was part of the Ottoman Empire until the end of World War I. Mandatory Iraq was then established by the British in 1921. It transitioned into an independent kingdom in 1932. Following a coup in 1958, Iraq became a republic, first led by Abdul Karim Qasim, followed by Abdul Salam Arif and Abdul Rahman Arif. 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, a U.S.-led coalition forces invaded and occupied Iraq, overthrowing Saddam and triggering an insurgency and sectarian violence. The conflict, known as the Iraq War, ended in 2011. From 2013 to 2017, Iraq faced another war 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. (Full article...) Selected article -![]() Mosul (/ˈmoʊsəl, moʊˈsuːl/ MOH-səl, moh-SOOL; Arabic: الموصل, romanized: al-Mawṣil, pronounced [alˈmawsˤil] ⓘ, locally [ɪlˈmoːsˤɪl]; Kurdish: مووسڵ, romanized: Mûsl; Turkish: Musul; Syriac: ܡܘܨܠ, romanized: Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh—once the largest city in the world—on its east side. Due to its strategic and central location, the city has traditionally served as one of the hubs of international commerce and travel in the region. It is considered as of the one of the historically and culturally significant cities of the Arab world. The North Mesopotamian dialect of Arabic commonly known as Moslawi is named after Mosul, and is widely spoken in the region. Together, with the Nineveh Plains, Mosul is a historical center of the Assyrians. The surrounding region is ethnically and religiously diverse; a large majority of the city is Arabs, with Kurds, Assyrians, Turkmens, Shabaks, and other minorities comprising the population. Sunni Islam is the largest religion, but there is a sizeable number of Christians and Yazidis, as well as adherents of other Islamic sects such as Shi'ites and Shabakis and formerly Jews. Mosul and its surrounding region is significantly important in biblical history (Full article...) Selected pictureDate palm orchards in Babylon Did you know...![]()
Selected biography -Ashurbanipal (Neo-Assyrian Akkadian: 𒀸𒋩𒆕𒀀, romanized: Aššur-bāni-apli, meaning "Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar (Imperial Aramaic: אָסְנַפַּר, romanized: ’Āsnappar)—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the throne as the favored heir of his father Esarhaddon; his 38-year reign was among the longest of any Assyrian king. Though sometimes regarded as the apogee of ancient Assyria, his reign also marked the last time Assyrian armies waged war throughout the ancient Near East and the beginning of the end of Assyrian dominion over the region. Esarhaddon selected Ashurbanipal as heir c. 673. The selection of Ashurbanipal bypassed the elder son Shamash-shum-ukin. Perhaps in order to avoid future rivalry, Esarhaddon designated Shamash-shum-ukin as the heir to Babylonia. The two brothers jointly acceded to their respective thrones after Esarhaddon's death in 669, though Shamash-shum-ukin was relegated to being Ashurbanipal's closely monitored vassal. Much of the early years of Ashurbanipal's reign was spent fighting rebellions in Egypt, which had been conquered by his father. The most extensive campaigns of Ashurbanipal were those directed towards Elam, an ancient enemy of Assyria, and against Shamash-shum-ukin, who gradually began to resent the overbearing control that his younger brother held over him. Elam was defeated in a series of conflicts in 665, 653 and 647–646. Shamash-shum-ukin rebelled in 652 and assembled a coalition of Assyria's enemies but was defeated and died during Ashurbanipal's siege of Babylon in 648. On account of a lack of surviving records, much of Ashurbanipal's late reign is poorly known. (Full article...)
General imagesThe following are images from various Iraq-related articles on Wikipedia.
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