Oil-rich Iraq, divided by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, shares borders with Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The Euphrates valley is fertile, but most of the country is desert or mountains. Iraq was the site of the ancient civilization of Babylon. Today, it encompasses Shi'a Muslim holy shrines. After the removal of the monarchy in 1958, it experienced domestic political turmoil. Despite Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, the current regime (in place since 1979) retained power until April 2003, when a US led invasion ousted the Saddam Hussein regime.

In addition to the Arab and Kurdish populations, Iraq has a small number of minority groups, such as Turks and Persians. Over 90% of the population are Muslim, while the rest comprise a variety of Christian sects. Since the creation of Israel, most Iraqi Jews have emigrated. The Arab Muslims are divided into Sunni and Shi'a sects. The Shi'a form the largest single religious group; however, Shi'a divines do not have as intimate a connection with the people as they do in Iran and their influence on government is limited.

Since the mid-1970s, many Iraqis have moved, or been forced to move, to the cities, where some three-quarters of the population now live.

In the marshes of the extreme south, communities of mainly Shi'a Marsh Arabs survive. In the wake of the 1991 Gulf War, some of these attempted a rebellion against the state, which drained the marshes in order to destroy both the people and their culture.

Strengths

Second-largest crude oil and natural gas reserves in OPEC. Large labor force.

Weaknesses

Inability to sell oil on the international market; Iraq's GNP halved by UN sanctions. Once-thriving agricultural sector devastated by war.

Profile

Before 1990, Iraq was the world's third-largest oil supplier. Under sanctions, oil was produced only for domestic consumption. Limited oil exports under strict UN supervision were resumed for the first time in December 1996, and in 2000 the UN Security Council approved a resolution permitting Iraq to buy parts and equipment for the oil industry.

The denial of Western assistance following the 1991 Gulf War has stifled Iraq's economy, although the resumption of some informal economic links and the revision of UN sanctions in 2002 may lead to some improvement. The once thriving agricultural sector was badly affected by the war. The manufacturing industry is at a standstill. The introduction of draconian penalties, including the death sentence, have failed to curb the black market or halt the sharp depreciation in the value of the dinar.

Iraqi politics are in a state of transition following the successful US-led Invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. Coalition forces are working to facilitate the establishment of a freely elected government.

The legacy of the Iran–Iraq war in the 1980s, the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the Gulf War in 1991 dominated foreign relations until regime change in 2003.

A US-led military force, assisted by several Arab states, inflicted a crushing defeat on Iraq in 1991. For twelve years the UN imposed a severe sanctions regime. Continued tensions led to punitive air strikes by US and UK forces. Russia, France, and several Arab states led the way in late 2000 in undermining sanctions on humanitarian grounds. By early 2002 Iraq was high on the list of possible targets in the USA's "war on terrorism," and in March 2003 a US-led coalition invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

Iraq's military defeat by the US-led coalition in 1991 led to the destruction of much of its arsenal. Since then UN Security Council resolutions have required the elimination of the bulk of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and inspection teams have sought with some effect to enforce this. There is a shortage in Iraq of high-tech weaponry that could match the kind acquired by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from US and other Western suppliers since the Gulf War. The army is large, but poorly trained and equipped; military service, lasting between 18 months and two years, is compulsory for all men at the age of 18. The military relies on tanks and aircraft from the former Soviet Union and China. The air force has some French Mirage fighters and US helicopters.

Iraq has huge reserves of oil and gas. The oil industry is controlled by the Iraqi National Oil Company. Total gas reserves, many of which are associated with oil, are proven to be 3.11 trillion cu. m (110 trillion cu. ft.), with estimates of a further 4.25 trillion cu. m (150 trillion cu. ft.). Most electricity is generated from oil, although hydroelectric power also makes a small contribution. Reserves of phosphates, sulfur, gypsum, and salt are also exploited.

Before the invasion of Kuwait and subsequent war, Iraq supplied 80% of the world's trade in dates. Production is now sharply down. Food is now produced simply for domestic consumption. Iraq has, however, achieved a degree of self-sufficiency in such crops as wheat, rice, and sugarcane.

Wars with Iran and with the US-led alliance over the Kuwait occupation led to massive environmental damage. Hundreds of thousands of land mines remain in the Kuwait border regions, posing lethal hazards to farmers, livestock, and wild animals. The north has been affected by chemical weapons, used by Saddam's regime against the Kurds. In the south, an entire wetland ecosystem was threatened by a program to drain the marshes for largely political reasons.

International transportation links to neighboring countries have been increasingly reopened, although routes through Kuwait remain closed.

An effect of UN sanctions has been to aggravate the shortage of medical supplies and equipment, and deaths among children and the elderly have spiraled sharply. The increase in the number of children born with birth defects since 1991 is attributed to the use of depleted uranium shells during the Gulf War.

Education is free and universal, except in remote rural areas. Primary education has been made compulsory in an effort to reduce illiteracy. There are six universities. Academics authorized the organized plunder of antiquities and university equipment from Kuwait during the 1990 occupation. University scientists worked closely with the regime on weapons research programs.

Economic collapse has sent crime rates soaring, especially in cities. Theft has been made a capital offense, encouraging thieves to murder in order to escape detection.

Vulnerable sections of society have been particularly affected by UN sanctions. Middle-class citizens and traders are able to benefit from Iraq's open border with Jordan.

The Shi'a holy shrines in the south attract thousands of pilgrims each year, but Iraq is effectively closed to the tourists who once visited its many archaeological sites. In particular, the ruins of Babylon, and its fabled hanging gardens, were once a major tourist attraction. Tourists also used to visit the marshlands close to the Shatt al Arab waterway. Under the Saddam regime, this area of great ecological importance was drained as part of the effort to suppress the mainly Shi'a Marsh Arabs.

Iraq became independent in 1932. In 1958, the Hashemite dynasty was overthrown when King Faisal died in a coup led by the military under Brig. Kassem. He was initially supported by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party.

• 1961 Start of Kurdish rebellion. Iraq claims sovereignty over Kuwait on the eve of Kuwait's independence.
• 1963 Kassem overthrown. Col. Abd as-Salem Muhammad Aref takes power. Kuwait's sovereignty recognized.
• 1964 Ayatollah Khomeini, future leader of Iran, takes refuge at Najaf in Iraq.
• 1966 Aref is succeeded by his brother, Abd ar-Rahman.
• 1968 Ba'athists under Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr take power.
• 1970 Revolutionary Command Council agrees manifesto on Kurdish autonomy.
• 1972 Nationalization of Western-controlled Iraq Petroleum Company.
• 1978 Iraq and Syria form economic and political union.
• 1979 Saddam Hussein replaces al-Bakr as president.
• 1980 Outbreak of Iraq–Iran war.
• 1982 Shi'a leader Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, exiled in Tehran, forms Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
• 1988 Iraq and Iran agree cease-fire. Iraqi chemical weapons attack on Kurdish village of Halabja.
• 1990 British journalist Farzad Bazoft hanged for spying. Iraq and Iran restore diplomatic relations. Iraq invades Kuwait. UN imposes trade sanctions.
• 1991 Gulf War. US-led military coalition defeats Iraq and liberates Kuwait. Iraqi regime suppresses Shi'a rebellion.
• 1992 Western powers proclaim air exclusion zone over southern Iraq.
• 1994 Outbreak of Kurdish civil war. Iraq recognizes Kuwaiti sovereignty.
• 1995 Government minister Gen. Hussein Kamil defects to Jordan, and is murdered on his return to Iraq in January 1996.
• 1996 First legislative elections since 1989 are won by ruling Ba'ath Party. UN supervises limited sales of Iraq oil to purchase humanitarian supplies.
• 1998–1999 UN weapons inspection teams refused reentry into Iraq; USA and UK mount punitive air strikes.
• 2003 US-led coalition invades Iraq and topples Saddam Hussein's regime.