Documents for "Iraq Political Geography":

• Ad Diwaniyah city, S central Iraq, on a branch of the Euphrates River and on the Baghdad-Basra railroad. It is a marketplace for dates and grains.

• Al Basrah see Basra , Iraq.

• Al Hillah city (1987 pop. 268,834), provincial capital, central Iraq, on a branch of the Euphrates River. It was built (c.1100) largely of material taken from the nearby ruins of ancient Babylon. It is a...

• Al Kufah town, S central Iraq. Founded (638) by Caliph Umar I, it was one of the two Muslim centers (the other was Basra ) of the early Ummayad caliphs.

• Al Kut town, SE Iraq, on the Tigris River. It is a port and a market center for grains, dates, fruit, and vegetables. There is a large barrage on the Tigris there diverting much of its water to regional...

• Amara town (1987 pop. 208,797), SE Iraq, on the Tigris River. It is a river port and a marketplace for rice, dates, grains, produce, wool, hides, and livestock.

• An Najaf city (1987 pop. 309,010), S central Iraq, on a lake near the Euphrates River. The city is also called Mashad Ali, after the tomb (in a mosque) of Ali , son-in-law of Muhammad the Prophet. The tomb is an object of pilgrimage by Shiite Muslims and a starting point for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The city was the center of fighting between U.S. forces...

• An Nasiriyah city (1987 pop. 265,937), provincial capital, SE Iraq, on the Euphrates River. It is the center of a date-growing region. Founded in 1870, the city was captured by the British in 1915. Nearby are...

• Ar Ramadi town, provincial capital, central Iraq, on the Euphrates River. It is the eastern terminus of a highway across the desert from the Mediterranean Sea. The town was founded in 1869. The British won...

• Bagdad see Baghdad , Iraq.

• Baghdad or Bagdad , city (1987 pop. 3,841,268), capital of Iraq, central Iraq, on both banks of the Tigris River. The city's principal economic activity is oil refining. Most of Iraq's other industries are in...

• Basra Arabic al Basrah, city (1987 pop. 406,296), SE Iraq, on the Shatt al Arab. Basra is Iraq's second largest city and principal port. Its commercially advantageous location, near oil fields and 75 mi (121 km) from the...

• Bassora see Basra , Iraq.

• Busra see Basra , Iraq.

• Bussora see Basra , Iraq.

• Erbil or Irbil , town (1987 pop. 485,968), N Iraq. A commercial, agricultural, and administrative center with a predominantly Kurdish population, it is one of the world's oldest continually settled towns. The...

• Falluja, Al town (2004 est. pop 300,000), Anbar prov., central Iraq, on the Euphrates. A strategic city 35 mi (56 km) W of Baghdad, Falluja is sited where a highway linking Baghdad, Damascus (Syria), and...

• Hillah see Al Hillah , Iraq.

• Irak see Iraq.

• Iraq or Irak , officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. Iraq is bordered on the south by Kuwait, the Persian Gulf, and Saudi Arabia; on the west...

• Irbil see Erbil , Iraq.

• Karbala city (1987 pop. 296,705), central Iraq, at the edge of the Syrian Desert. The city's trade is in religious objects, hides, wool, and dates. Karbala is the site of the tomb of the Shiite leader Husein , who was killed in the city in 680. It is second only to Mecca in being a holy place visited by Shiite pilgrims. The tomb, with a gilded dome and three minarets, is the most notable building; it...

• Kerbela see Karbala , Iraq.

• Khanaqin town, NE Iraq, near the Iranian border, on a tributary of the Diyala. It is located in an oil-producing region and has an oil refinery. Khanaquin was severely affected by the Iran-Iraq War in the...

• Kirkuk city (1987 pop. 418,624), NE Iraq. It is the center of Iraq's oil industry and is connected by pipelines to ports on the Mediterranean Sea. Oil production throughout the 1980s was reduced because...

• Kut-el-Amara see Al Kut , Iraq.

• Mosul Arab. al Mawsil, city (1987 pop. 664,221), provincial capital, N Iraq, on the Tigris River, opposite the ruins of Nineveh. It is the largest city in N Iraq and the third largest city in the country. Trade in agricultural goods and exploitation of oil in the nearby oil fields are the two main occupations of the...

• Najaf see An Najaf , Iraq.

• Nasiriya see An Nasiriyah , Iraq.

• Nejef see An Najaf , Iraq.

• Ramadi see Ar Ramadi , Iraq.

• Samarra town, N central Iraq, on the Tigris River. It is on the site of an ancient settlement and has given its name to a type of Neolithic pottery of the 5th millennium BC The present town was founded...

• Sulaimaniyah town (1987 pop. 364,096), NE Iraq. The town, founded in 1789, is a trade center inhabited by Kurds and has long been a center of Kurdish nationalism. Since 1992 it has been an important town in...

• Umm Qasr town, Basra prov., S Iraq, S of Basra on the Kuwait border. Located on an arm of the Persian Gulf, it is Iraq's second largest port, with deepwater facilities.