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The Iraq Portal

A view of the former Republican Palace, Baghdad, Iraq
A view of the former Republican Palace, 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, historically known in the west as Mesopotamia, is a country in West Asia. Located within the Middle East, 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 after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Iraq has experienced spells of significant economic and military growth alongside periods of instability and conflict. Iraq emerged as a hashemite monarchy after centuries of Ottoman rule and a period under British administration. In 1958, a military coup led by Abdul Karim Qasim overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. Later, 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, U.S.-led coalition forces invaded and occupied Iraq, overthrowing the government and triggering an insurgency and sectarian violence during the Iraq War, which ended in 2011. From 2013 to 2017, Iraq faced another major conflict with the rise and defeat of the Islamic State. Today post-war conflict continues at a lower scale, hampering stability alongside the influence of Iran. However, recently Iraq has begun to rein in Iranian influence and advance its own state authority. (Full article...)

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Ancient Sumerian depiction of the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid

Dumuzid, Dumuzi, or Tammuz (Sumerian: 𒌉𒍣, romanized: Dumuzid; Akkadian: Duʾūzu, Dûzu; Arabic: تمّوز, romanized: Tammuz, Tammūz; Hebrew: תַּמּוּז, romanized: Tammūz; Syriac: ܬܵܡܘܿܙ, romanized: Tāmōz), known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd (Sumerian: 𒌉𒍣𒉺𒇻, romanized: Dumuzid sipad) and to the Canaanites as Adon (Phoenician: 𐤀𐤃𐤍; Proto-Hebrew: 𐤀𐤃𐤍), is an ancient Mesopotamian and associated with agriculture and shepherds, who was also the first and primary consort of the goddess Inanna (later known as Ishtar). In Sumerian mythology, Dumuzid's sister was Geshtinanna, the goddess of agriculture, fertility, and dream interpretation. In the Sumerian King List, Dumuzid is listed as an antediluvian king of the city of Bad-tibira and also an early king of the city of Uruk.

In Inanna's Descent into the Underworld, Inanna perceives that Dumuzid has failed to properly mourn her death and, when she returns from the Underworld, allows the galla demons to drag him down to the Underworld as her replacement. Inanna later regrets this decision and decrees that Dumuzid will spend half of the year in the Underworld, but the other half of the year with her, while his sister Geshtinanna stays in the Underworld in his place, thus resulting in the cycle of the seasons. In the Sumerian poem Inanna Prefers the Farmer, Dumuzid competes against the farmer Enkimdu for Inanna's hand in marriage. (Full article...)

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The Euphrates run through Iraq

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

Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (Arabic: محمد باقر الصدر, romanized: Muḥammad Bāqir aṣ-Ṣadr; March 1, 1935 – April 9, 1980), also known as al-Shahid al-Khamis (Arabic: الشهيد الخامس, romanized: al-Shahīd al-Khāmis, lit.'the fifth martyr'), was an Iraqi Islamic scholar, philosopher, and the ideological founder of the Islamic Dawa Party. He was the father-in-law to Muqtada al-Sadr, a cousin of Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr and Musa al-Sadr. His father Haydar al-Sadr was a well-respected high-ranking Shi'a cleric. His lineage can be traced back to Muhammad through the seventh Shia Imam Musa al-Kazim. Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr was executed in 1980 by the regime of Saddam Hussein along with his sister, Amina Sadr bint al-Huda. (Full article...)

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