Outline of Iraq

For an alphabetical index of this subject, see the List of Iraq-related articles.

Iraq, known officially as the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق^ⓘ [Jumhūrīyatu l-‘Irāq] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), 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 list of topics is provided as an overview of and introduction to Iraq:

International rankings of Iraq
- 58th largest country
- 39th most populous country

Geography of Iraq

Main article: Geography of Iraq

Iraq is a: Country
Location:
- Asia
  - Southwest Asia
- Middle East
Population: 26,783,383 (July 2006 est.) - 39th most populous country
Size: 438,317 km² (169,234 mi²) - 58th largest country
Atlas of Iraq
Extreme points of Iraq

Environment of Iraq

Natural geographic features of Iraq

Main article: Landforms of Iraq

Regions of Iraq

Main article: Regions of Iraq

Ecoregions of Iraq

Main article: Ecoregions of Iraq

Administrative divisions of Iraq

Main article: Administrative divisions of Iraq

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

Provinces 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.