Mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
Climate
Mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry hot cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq
Natural Hazards
Mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
Note:
Strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf
Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920 it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958 but in actuality a series of strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990 Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime. US forces remained in Iraq under a UNSC mandate until 31 December 2008 and under a bilateral Security Agreement thereafter helping to provide security and to support the freely elected government. In October 2005 Iraqis approved a constitution in a national referendum and pursuant to this document elected a 275-member Council of Representatives (CoR) in December 2005. After the election Ibrahim al-JAAFARI was selected as prime minister; he was replaced by Nuri al-MALIKI in May 2006. The CoR approved most cabinet ministers in May 2006 marking the transition to Iraq's first constitutional government in nearly a half century. On 31 January 2009 Iraq held elections for provincial councils in all provinces except for the three provinces comprising the Kurdistan Regional Government and at-Ta'mim (Kirkuk) province. Read more on Wikipedia
