Outline of Iraq

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The Flag of Iraq		The Coat of arms of Iraq

The location of Iraq

An enlargeable map of the Republic of Iraq

The Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyatu l-‘Irāq) is a country in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. It spans 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.^[1] It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.

The capital city, Baghdad, is in the center-east. Iraq's rich history dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is identified as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing. During its long history, Iraq has been the center of the Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Abbasid empires, and part of the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Parthian, Sassanid, Umayyad, Mongol, Ottoman, and British empires.^[2]

Since an invasion in 2003, a multinational coalition of forces, mainly American and British, has occupied Iraq. The invasion has had wide-reaching consequences: increased civil violence, political breakdown, the removal and execution of former authoritarian President Saddam Hussein, and national problems in the development of political balance, economy, infrastructure, and use of the country's huge reserves of oil. According to the 2007 Failed States Index, produced by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Iraq has recently emerged as the world's second most unstable country,^[3] after Sudan.^[4] Under the control of the U.S. military, Iraq is developing a parliamentary democracy composed of 18 governorates (known as muhafadhat).

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Iraq:

[edit] General reference

An enlargeable relief map of Iraq

Pronunciation:
Common English country name: Iraq
Official English country name: The Republic of Iraq
Common endonym(s):
Official endonym(s):
Adjectival(s): Iraqi
Demonym(s):
Etymology: Name of Iraq
International rankings of Iraq
- 58th largest country
- 39th most populous country
ISO country codes: IQ, IRQ, 368
ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:IQ
Internet country code top-level domain: .iq

[edit] Geography of Iraq

An enlargeable topographic map of Iraq

Main article: Geography of Iraq

Iraq is a: Country
Location:
- Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
- Eurasia
  - Asia
    - Southwest Asia
- Middle East
  - Mesopotamia
- Time zone(s): UTC+3
- Extreme points of Iraq
- Land boundaries: 3,650 km

Iran 1,458 km

Saudi Arabia 814 km

Syria 605 km

Turkey 352 km

Kuwait 240 km

Jordan 181 km

Coastline: Persian Gulf 58 km

Population of Iraq: 26,783,383 people (July 2006 estimate) - 39th most populous country
Area of Iraq: 438,317 km² (169,235 sq mi) - 58th largest country
Atlas of Iraq

[edit] Environment of Iraq

An enlargeable satellite image of Iraq

Main article: Environment of Iraq

[edit] Natural geographic features of Iraq

Main article: Landforms of Iraq

[edit] Regions of Iraq

Main article: Regions of Iraq

[edit] Ecoregions of Iraq

Main article: Ecoregions of Iraq

[edit] Administrative divisions of Iraq

Main article: Administrative divisions of Iraq

Regions of Iraq
- Provinces of Iraq
  - Districts of Iraq
    - Municipalities of Iraq

[edit] Governorates of Iraq

Governorates of Iraq

Main article: Governorates of Iraq

Baghdad - Arab, Turkman, Kurdish
Salah ad Din - Arab, Kurdish
Diyala - Arab, Kurdish
Wasit - Arab
Maysan - Arab
Al Basrah - Arab
Dhi Qar - Arab
Al Muthanna - Arab
Al Qadisyah - Arab
Babil - Arab
Al Karbala - Arab
An Najaf - Arab
Al Anbar - Arab
Ninawa - Arab, Assyrian, Kurdish
Dahuk - Kurdish
Arbil - Kurdish
At Ta'mim - Arab, Turkman, Kurdish
As Sulaymaniyah - Kurdish

The constitutionally recognized Kurdistan Autonomous Region includes parts of a number of northern provinces, and is largely self-governing in internal affairs.