Iraq

or I·rak

[ ih-rak, ih-rahk ]

noun

1. a republic in SW Asia, N of Saudi Arabia and W of Iran, centering in the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Mesopotamia. 172,000 sq. mi. (445,480 sq. km). : Baghdad.

Iraq

/ ɪˈrɑːk /

noun

1. a republic in SW Asia, on the Persian Gulf: coextensive with ancient Mesopotamia; became a British mandate in 1920, independent in 1932, and a republic in 1958. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990) led to their defeat in the first Gulf War (1991) by US-led UN forces. The second Gulf War (2003) took place when Iraq was invaded by a coalition of US, UK and other forces; government elected in 2005, although there is continuing violence and resistance to the coalition presence; the last coalition troops left the country in 2011. Iraq consists chiefly of the mountains of Kurdistan in the northeast, part of the Syrian Desert, and the lower basin of the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Oil is the major export. Official language: Arabic; Kurdish is official in the Kurdish Autonomous Region only. Official religion: Muslim. Currency: dinar. Capital: Baghdad. Pop: 31 858 481 (2013 est). Area: 438 446 sq km (169 284 sq miles)

Iraq

1. Republic in the Middle East , bordered by the Persian Gulf , Kuwait , and Saudi Arabia to the south; Jordan and Syria to the west; Turkey to the north; and Iran to the east. Its capital and largest city is Baghdad .

Notes

Ruled by Saddam Hussein , a dictator who invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. ( See also Persian Gulf War .)

The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia emerged in the valley between the Euphrates River and Tigris River in what is now Iraq.

Other Word Forms

• an·ti-I·raq adjective
• pro-I·raq adjective
• trans-I·raq adjective

Example Sentences

More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm swept across Iraq's central and southern parts of the country, health officials said.

From BBC

It's an intense, immersive experience watching Alex Garland's latest film Warfare, which plunges you almost immediately into the thick of a US military surveillance mission which goes wrong, in Iraq in 2006.

From BBC

The young cast of Alex Garland's film Warfare had to bond pretty quickly, to play a US military unit whose lives depended on each other, during the Iraq war in 2006.

From BBC

He estimates across Rochdale there are more than 20 businesses that are fronts for criminal organisations and he says he sees many of the same people from Iran, Iraq and Kurdistan working in them.

From BBC

More than 1,500 recorded executions took place in 2024 with Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounting for a combined 1,380 and the United States for 25, the charity found.

From BBC