Iraq (pronounced /iːˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, Arabic: العراق Al-Irāq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-Irāq, Kurdish: كؤماری عه‌راق‎, Komara Îraqê, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܥܸܪܵܩ) 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 is bordered by 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 is in the center-east of the country.

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

Historically, the territory comprising Iraq was known in Europe by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers). 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, Safavid, Afsharid, Ottoman and British empires. The Kingdom of Iraq was founded in 1932.

Beginning with an invasion in 2003, Iraq came under military occupation by a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British.

Sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004. A new Constitution of Iraq was then approved by referendum and a new Government of Iraq was elected. As of July 2010, 74,000 US troops remain in the country. The full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq is mandated by 31 December 2011.

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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Sat Jul 17 05:01:48 2010