Iraq is an important country in Western Asia whose official name is Republic of Iraq. This country has borders with Syria to northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the west and Arabia Saudi and Kuwait to the south. Besides, Iraq has a little coastline at the Persian Gulf in Umm Qasr. The capital of Iraq is the historical city of Baghdad which is located between the main rivers of the country the Tigris and the Euphrates, the same region where the legendary Mesopotamia were located and where they are the main archeological remains of Babylon the city of the Hanging Gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient World.

Iraq map

The Republic of Iraq was created after the World War I as a protectorate of Great Britain. The territory that occupies Iraq belonged to the ancient Mesopotamia and later to the Turkish Empire. The population of the country is around 28 221 181 inhabitants, almost 75% of it are Muslim Arabs. The Iraq’s population is composed mainly by three ethnical groups Sunni Muslims which inhabit the zone around Baghdad in the center of the country, Shis’a Muslims that are mainly in the south and Kurdish that are in the north.

Iraq is 437 072 square kilometers. The country is mainly desert, exception the zone between Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the land is very fertile. The north zone of the country is composed by mountains. The climate in most part of the country is the typical desert’s weather with mild to cool winters and dry and hot summers.

The main economical activity of the country is the oil extraction and the official currency is the Iraqi dinar. Iraq has a GDP of around $89 billions with a GDP per capita of $2900 approximately.

Iraq has a rich history; the ancient Greeks knew the territory of Iraq as Mesopotamia. This region was 5000 year ago the cradle of one of the first civilizations of the world, the Sumerian culture. The humanity owed to this culture many important advances like the first sciences, mathematics, laws and philosophies. Many archeologists think that this region was the cradle of the civilization.

At the beginning of the VII century the territory of Iraq was ruled by the Rashidun Caliphate whose capital was in Damascus. In the VIII century Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and one of the most important cities of the Arab world for five centuries until XIII century when Mongols destroyed and sacked the city.

By 1535 Baghdad was ruled by Ottoman Turks who controlled Iraq until XX century. In the World War I Ottoman were allied of Germany. In the bloody campaign of Mesopotamia British forces took the control of the zone. Once the war was finished The Treaty of Sevres and the Treaty of Lausanne defined the conformation of the Western Asia and granted the United Kingdom the control over Iraq.

United Kingdom granted Iraq its independence in 1932; but they imposed a monarchy, known as Hashemite monarchy leaded by the King Faisal who ruled until 1939. Then Ali al-Gaylani took the power; therefore UK invaded Iraq to ensure oils supplies in western nations and because the new Iraqi leader supported the nazis. The British reinstalled the Hashemite monarchy, which lasted until 1958 when was defeated by a coup d’état of the Iraqi army leaded by General Abdul Karim Qassim who was overthrown by the Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in 1963, Abdul Salam died in 1966 and he was replaced by his brother Abdul Rahman . Finally in 1968 Abduhl Rahman was overthrown by the Arab Socialist Baath Party which Saddam Hussein was part. In 1979 Hussein became president of Iraq.

In 1980 Saddam Hussein declared war against Iran. USA supported Hussein because they believed fundamentalist Iranian regimen leaded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni was a threat. During the war Huseein’s troops attacked Iranians soldiers and civil people with chemical arms.

In 1990 the dictator decided to invade and declare Kuwait part of Iraq searching the oil of this country. But, United Nations Security Council authorized a international coalition to intervene in Kuwait. The international coalition leaded by the ancient partner of Iraq, United States (which had many economical interests in the zone) defeated the Iraqi troops in the Gulf War. But, the barbarian dictator ordered his troops to destroy the oil wells of Kuwait, this fact caused a great economical and mainly ecological disaster.

Between 1991 and 2003 economic sanctions were imposed to Iraq. Meanwhile, Sadam Hussein responded violently to the protest of the people. In March 2003 United States invaded Iraq for decision of George W. Bush under the pretext to seek mass destruction weapons and without the authorization of UN (these weapons were never found). Now Iraq is controlled by American troops and is in the midst of a great social, economical and political crisis.

But, Iraq is much more that war and evil leaders. It is a great country with many resources and good, warm, resilient and strong people, proof of this is the National team of football, which won the Asian Championship in 2007; despite the difficult situation in the country. Iraq has also a great glorious history and culture, which the entire civilized world wished that Iraqi people will recover very soon.