Iraq

The Republic of Iraq is a country situated in the continent of Asia. It encompasses a major part of Mesopotamia and also the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. Iraq shares its borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait at the south, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Jordan to the west and Iran to the east. Iraq also has a very narrow coastline on the Persian Gulf at Umm Qasr. The capital of Iraq is Baghdad, which is located in the middle of the country and on the banks of the river Tigris. Other significant cities in Iraq are Basra in the south, and Mosul in the north. Historically Iraq was part of Mesopotamia, which stands for 'between the rivers' in Greek. The Sumerian civilization resided in this location followed by the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures. These are some of the earliest civilizations known to man. They also produced some of the earliest forms of writing sciences, mathematics, laws and philosophies, in the world, which is why this region is known as the 'Cradle of Civilization.' During the reign of the Persian Sassanid dynasty a region called 'Erak Arabi' was part of the south western region of the Persian Empire, and is now part of southern Iraq. This region has been referred to as 'Al-Iraq' since the 6th century. Iraq is mostly a desert country that has sort of extreme climatic conditions, with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. Iraq is the 58th largest country in the world after Morocco. Its total area is 168,743 sq.m, which is a bit bigger than Paraguay.