Alternative spellings

• Irak

Proper noun

Iraq

1. Country in Mesopotamia that borders on Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Official name: Republic of Iraq.

Derived terms

• Iraqi

Iraq (pronounced /ɪˈræk/ or /ɪˈrɑːk/, Arabic: العراق Al-Irāq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq, Kurdish: كماری عراق‎, Komara Êraqê, Assyrian: ܥܝܪܐܩ) is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.

Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (35 miles) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎ Baġdād), is in the center-west of the country.

Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the centre of Iraq, flowing from north to south. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.

Historically, Iraq was known in Europe by the Greek eponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers); after the foundation of the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, it became known by its ancient endonym 'Iraq'. Iraq has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing and the wheel.

Throughout its long history, Iraq has been the center of the Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid and Abbasid empires, and part of the Achaemenid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Ottoman and British empires.

Beginning with the invasion in 2003, a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British, occupied Iraq.

The occupation ended when sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government June 2004. A new Constitution of Iraq has since been approved by referendum and a new Government of Iraq has been elected. Some dispute whether Iraq is de facto sovereign (see Iraqi sovereignty, United States-Iraq relations).

Iraq is a country on the continent of Asia and in the Middle East.

Iraq is a chunk carved out of the the Ottoman Caliphate after the latter's defeat in World War I. It became fully independent in 1932.

Sourced

• Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens -- leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections -- then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world. States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.
  • George W. Bush, 2002 State of the Union Address (29 January 2002)

• I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same.
  • George Bush on his talks with Vladimir Putin (15 July 2006)
  • We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq, quite honestly.
    • Response by Vladimir Putin (15 July 2006)

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Wed Oct 28 07:47:06 2009