A Brief History of Iraq

Iraq

The land of modern-day Iraq (Republic of Iraq), was once the land of Mesopotamia (located north of the tropics). This land gave birth to many early civilizations such as the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. This land was controlled by Greece and Persia ever since the sixth century BC and prior to the seventh century AD. Afterward, the land (now named Baghdad) was controlled by the the Muslim Empire which eventually declined. Mongol invaders then conquered Baghdad in the mid thirteenth century. During the rise of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 1500s, Baghdad was under control of the Ottoman empire until the empire lost rule of the region after World War 1. The land was not freed at this time however, as the British and French set up “mandates” in the Middle-East and Iraq became a mandate of Great Britain via the League of Nations.

Iraq was finally given independence in 1932, but under the rule of a foreign power, the Hashemites, a Saudi-Arabian ruling family. The Iraqi people were not fond of the Hashemite rule, and several uprisings, revolts, and revolutions finally succeeded in the overthrow of of the Hashemite Dynasty in 1958. Various political parties fought for control of Iraq. After ten years of the political parties fighting, a Arab Nationalist (and Socialist) party came to power. This party, known as the Ba'ath Party remained in power by eliminating any possible opposition. One of the most well known Ba'ath leader, Saddam Hussein became the President of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. During a territorial dispute, Iraq invaded Iran and caused an eight year long war that caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with no satisfying result to either side. The United States backed Sadd...

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... but most ethnicities are of similar caste.

Iraq contains a large quantity of paved roads. Due to a lack of car ownership, most Iraqis in major cities travel via taxi or bus. Both cellphones and landlines are commonplace. Iraq is mostly industrialized, meaning they largely have the same technology as the rest of the world. The majority of the industry is oil. Currently, the health care in Iraq is awful. Iraqi doctors are rare and the hospitals lack sufficient staff. Cholera and Typhoid are widespread. Also, due to food shortages, many of the Iraqi citizens are suffering.

Iraq is closely associated with the rest of the Arab and Islamic world. The Iraqi national identity is highly Arabic. Iraq and Iran still hold military tension due to the Gulf War. Iraq also feels that Turkey, Syria, Al-Qa'ida, Shia and Ba'ath party extremists to be political enemies.