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Al-Jazīrah, meaning “Island” in Arabic, is the northern section of Mesopotamia, currently part of northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, and extreme northeastern Syria. A line connecting Takrīt and Anbar borders the area to the south, which is situated between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. A hilly and uneven plateau 800–1,500 feet (240–460 m) above sea level.
Al-Jazīrah was a crucial junction between Iraq, Anatolia, Syria, Armenia, and Iran in ancient and medieval times. Also valued for its agricultural goods. At the start of the Christian period, villages and marketplaces existed along both rivers in Al-Jazīrah, which was split between the Byzantine and Persian empires. Al-Jazīrah was a hub of strife and uprisings throughout the Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid eras. Groups like the Shīʿites and Khārijites attacked authorities in Damascus or Baghdad from the area. In the late 9th century, it achieved semi-autonomy until being retaken by the ʿAbbāsids in 892. Al-Jazīrah was ruled by many distinct dynasties in the 10th century, including the Ḥamdānids of Mosul (905-991), the Būyids of Baghdad (977-983), the Marwānids of Diyār Bakr (983-1085), and the ʿUqaylids of Mosul (c. 992-10 After a short stint as part of the Seljuq empire (1085–92), the regions split out.
Iraq: Al-Jazīrah
The history of Diyār Rabīʿah, the greatest district in eastern Al-Jazīrah, merged with that of Mosul, its metropolis. The territory was governed by several rulers, including the Zangids, Mamlūks, Il-Khans, Jalāyirids, Kara Koyunlu, Ak Koyunlu, and Persian Ṣafavids, until its incorporation into the Ottoman Empire in 1637. After the empire collapsed in 1918, Diyār Rabīʿah was split between Syria and Iraq.
In the late 11th century, Diyār Muḍar, a western border area, became divided into two kingdoms: the Armenian state of Edessa (now Şanlıurfa, Turkey) in the north and the Turkish Muslim kingdom of Harran in the south. After Zangī’s conquest of Edessa in 1144, Muslims regained authority of Diyār Mu�� In the 15th century, Turkmen tribes advanced into Diyır Muḍar, with the Ak Koyunlu capturing it about 1402. The area was part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 17th century and split between Turkey and Syria since 1918.
The Seljuq empire’s chaos in 1092 allowed Turkmen tribes to establish themselves in Diyār Bakr, the northernmost region. From 1516, Diyār Bakr was under Ottoman administration, and its capital, Āmida (now Diyarbakır, Turkey), became a thriving literary and academic center. Turkey took over the northern area when the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
Iraq, southwest Asia.
- Prime Minister: Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
- Capital: Baghdad
- Est. 2024 population: 44,528,0002
- President: Abdul Latif Rashid
- Multiparty republic with one legislative chamber (Council of Representatives of Iraq [3291]).
Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), presently Iraq, was home to Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria, among other ancient civilizations.
This rich area, which included most of the Fertile Crescent, became a vital element of bigger imperial polities, including Persian, Greek, and Roman dynasties, and became crucial to the Islamic world after the 7th century. Baghdad became the Abbasid Caliphate’s capital in the 8th century. After World War I (1914-18), the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul formed the modern nation-state of Iraq, named after the premodern Arabic term for a region roughly resembling Mesopotamia (ʿIrāq ʿArabī, “Arabian Iraq”) and modern northwestern Iran (ʿIrāq ʿAjamī, “foreign [i.e., Persian] Iraq”).
Iraq obtained independence in 1932 but was ruled by the British for 25 years during a volatile monarchy. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1958, political instability increased, but the Baʿath Party was installed in a bloodless coup 10 years later, bringing new stability. With known oil reserves second only to Saudi Arabia’s, the dictatorship was able to fund ambitious projects and development plans during the 1970s and establish one of the Arab world’s biggest and best-equipped military forces. However, flamboyant and ruthless ruler Saddam Hussein rapidly took over the party and led it into catastrophic military adventures—the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and the Persian Gulf War (1990–91). Despite being isolated from the international community and financially and socially drained, Saddam maintained power in the 21st century through unprecedented coercion of the population, particularly the Kurdish minority and Shiʿi majority. The 2003 Iraq War overthrew him and his administration.
- Land
In the same latitude as the southern US, Iraq is one of the easternmost Arab countries. North is Turkey, east is Iran, west is Syria and Jordan, and south is Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Iraq has 36 miles (58 km) of northern Persian Gulf shoreline, a modest amount of territorial sea. Thus, it has the least sea access and offshore sovereignty in the Middle East, behind Jordan. Iraq has four physiographic regions: central and southeastern alluvial plains, northern upland region Al-Jazīrah (Arabic: “the Island”), west and south deserts, and northeast highlands. Each of these places borders neighboring nations, although the alluvial plains are mostly in Iraq.
Al-Jazīrah
Euphrates River, Khān al-Baghdādī, Iraq
The Euphrates River flows in Khān al-Baghdādī, near the Al-Jazīrah plateau in north-central Iraq.
North of the alluvial plains, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, lies the barren Al-Jazīrah plateau. One of the most notable hill ranges is the Sinjār Mountains, with a peak height of 4,448 feet (1,356 meters). The primary watercourse, Wadi Al-Tharthār, flows southward from the Sinjār Mountains to the Tharthār (Salt) Depression, covering 130 miles (210 km). In the area, Milḥat Ashqar is the biggest of numerous salt flats (sabkhahs).
- Deserts
The desert covers 64,900 square miles (168,000 square km) across western and southern Iraq, about two-fifths of the nation. The western desert, an extension of the Syrian Desert, exceeds 1,600 feet. The southern desert is known as Al-Ḥajarah in the west and Al-Dibdibah in the east. Al-Ḥajarah has a diverse landscape with stony deserts, wadis, ridges, and depressions. Al-Dibdibah is sandy and scrubby. Southern desert elevation averages 300–1,200 feet. Mount ʿUnayzah (ʿUnāzah) is located along the border of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, reaching a height of 3,119 feet (951 meters). The deep Wadi Al-Bāṭin flows through Al-Dibdibah, running 45 miles (75 km) northeast-southwest. Since 1913, it has divided western Kuwait from Iraq.
- The northeast of Iraq
Northeastern Iraq’s mountains, hills, and plains cover 35,500 square miles (92,000 square km), or 20% of the nation. Only 25% of this region is mountainous; the rest is a complicated mountain-lowland transition zone. Assyria was here. Mountains in Turkey and Iran make up Kurdistan, north and northeast of the Assyrian plains and foothills.
From the Tigris to the Turkish and Iranian borders, northeastern Iraq rises in undulating plateaus, river basins, and hills until the high mountain ridges of Iraqi Kurdistan, related with the Taurus and Zagros mountains. There are river basins where humans may live between these northwest-southeast mountains. Mountain tops average 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) and may reach 10,000–11,000 feet (3,000–3,300 meters). The country’s highest peak, Ghundah Zhur, located near the Iran-Iraq border at 11,834 feet. The area is divided by many Tigris tributaries, including the Great and Little Zab rivers, Diyālā, and ʿUẓaym (Adhaim) rivers. The streams wind through gorges, including the Rū Kuchūk canyon northeast of Barzān and the Bēkma gorge west of Rawāndūz town, as they flow south and southwest. Iraq’s few forests are on the highest mountain slopes.
