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Iran, known as Persia until 1935 and now officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is the second-largest nation in the Middle East by population. Iran shares a border, along with historical and religious ties, with Iraq.

Iran has been a quasi-theocracy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which deposed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Democratically elected President Hassan Rouhani is head of the republic, but divine leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei controls the military, the judiciary and the state broadcasting services. Shiite Islam is the state religion of Iran, with Sunni Muslims constituting a very small minority of the nation.

Iran continues to face international criticism for not adhering to the requirements of United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding its nuclear facilities and its uranium enrichment program.

Keep up to date on breaking news in Iran and explore our extensive archive below.

The charge was the first explanation for the arrest in April of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian program coordinator for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Such an agreement, if completed, would amount to the most prominent commercial transaction between an American company and Iran since antinuclear sanctions were lifted six months ago.

By RICK GLADSTONE

Supreme Court Rejects Puerto Rico Law in Debt Restructuring Case | Libyan Fund Claims Goldman Sachs Exploited Its Financial Navet

The detention of the Canadian-Iranian professor, who researches women in the Muslim world, shows a shift by hard-liners, analysts say.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

A nationally televised speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemed to signal that Irans senior leadership would not allow any easing of hostility toward the United States.

Barry Meier, an investigative reporter at The Times normally focused on health and medicine, found himself at the center of the tale of a missing man.

By BARRY MEIER

The lawyer for Reza Zarrab, who has offered to pay for his own detention while awaiting trial, said the inequities in the criminal justice system were not his clients fault.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

Officials are questioning the Chinese telecom giants exports to countries covered by sanctions, amid a broader debate over global communications.

By PAUL MOZUR

Images of what seemed to be a tattoo on the arm of the actress Taraneh Alidoosti indicated that she might be a feminist, much to the annoyance of Irans hard-liners.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Mr. Larijani, scion of a powerful Iranian family, managed the Parliaments approval last summer of the nuclear agreement with the Western powers.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

The decision followed accusations that Saudi Arabia, which hosts the main pilgrimage site of Islam, had started a cyberwar against Iran.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

An operation to oust the Islamic State from a stronghold in Iraq raises concerns that it could feed the same sectarian tensions that have let militants flourish there.

By TIM ARANGO

The punishments, believed to be part of a wider crackdown by a judiciary dominated by hard-liners, were carried out in record time.

Shoppers changing tastes, and years of economic sanctions, are putting in jeopardy one of the worlds most complex and labor-intensive handicrafts.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

President Obama, at the Group of 7 meeting in Japan, said he wanted to visit Hiroshima partly to underscore the very real risks of nuclear war.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Federal prosecutors said Mr. Zarrab, a prominent Turkish-based gold trader who is jailed in New York, was a flight risk.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, 89, was chosen to lead an assembly that would have the authority to pick the countrys next supreme leader.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Mr. Trump says hed meet with Kim Jong-un, but he has no understanding of how to use such a meeting to advance American interests.

By CAROL GIACOMO

Mr. Zarrab, a businessman with ties to Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking release from a Manhattan jail on a $50 million bond with strict conditions.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

A visit by Faezeh Hashemi, a daughter of the former president of Iran, to the home of Fariba Kamalabadi, a Bahai leader, highlighted the harsh treatment of the group.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

The charge was the first explanation for the arrest in April of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian program coordinator for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Such an agreement, if completed, would amount to the most prominent commercial transaction between an American company and Iran since antinuclear sanctions were lifted six months ago.

By RICK GLADSTONE

Supreme Court Rejects Puerto Rico Law in Debt Restructuring Case | Libyan Fund Claims Goldman Sachs Exploited Its Financial Navet

The detention of the Canadian-Iranian professor, who researches women in the Muslim world, shows a shift by hard-liners, analysts say.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

A nationally televised speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seemed to signal that Irans senior leadership would not allow any easing of hostility toward the United States.

Barry Meier, an investigative reporter at The Times normally focused on health and medicine, found himself at the center of the tale of a missing man.

By BARRY MEIER

The lawyer for Reza Zarrab, who has offered to pay for his own detention while awaiting trial, said the inequities in the criminal justice system were not his clients fault.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

Officials are questioning the Chinese telecom giants exports to countries covered by sanctions, amid a broader debate over global communications.

By PAUL MOZUR

Images of what seemed to be a tattoo on the arm of the actress Taraneh Alidoosti indicated that she might be a feminist, much to the annoyance of Irans hard-liners.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Mr. Larijani, scion of a powerful Iranian family, managed the Parliaments approval last summer of the nuclear agreement with the Western powers.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

The decision followed accusations that Saudi Arabia, which hosts the main pilgrimage site of Islam, had started a cyberwar against Iran.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

An operation to oust the Islamic State from a stronghold in Iraq raises concerns that it could feed the same sectarian tensions that have let militants flourish there.

By TIM ARANGO

The punishments, believed to be part of a wider crackdown by a judiciary dominated by hard-liners, were carried out in record time.

Shoppers changing tastes, and years of economic sanctions, are putting in jeopardy one of the worlds most complex and labor-intensive handicrafts.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

President Obama, at the Group of 7 meeting in Japan, said he wanted to visit Hiroshima partly to underscore the very real risks of nuclear war.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Federal prosecutors said Mr. Zarrab, a prominent Turkish-based gold trader who is jailed in New York, was a flight risk.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, 89, was chosen to lead an assembly that would have the authority to pick the countrys next supreme leader.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

Mr. Trump says hed meet with Kim Jong-un, but he has no understanding of how to use such a meeting to advance American interests.

By CAROL GIACOMO

Mr. Zarrab, a businessman with ties to Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking release from a Manhattan jail on a $50 million bond with strict conditions.

By BENJAMIN WEISER

A visit by Faezeh Hashemi, a daughter of the former president of Iran, to the home of Fariba Kamalabadi, a Bahai leader, highlighted the harsh treatment of the group.

By THOMAS ERDBRINK

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Iran - The New York Times

Alternative titles: Islamic Republic of Iran; Jomhr-ye Eslm-ye rn

Iran, a mountainous, arid, ethnically diverse country of southwestern Asia. Much of Iran consists of a central desert plateau, which is ringed on all sides by lofty mountain ranges that afford access to the interior through high passes. Most of the population lives on the edges of this forbidding, waterless waste. The capital is Tehrn, a sprawling, jumbled metropolis at the southern foot of the Elburz Mountains. Famed for its handsome architecture and verdant gardens, the city fell somewhat into disrepair in the decades following the Iranian Revolution of 197879, though efforts were later mounted to preserve historic buildings and expand the citys network of parks. As with Tehrn, cities such as Efahn and Shrz combine modern buildings with important landmarks from the past and serve as major centres of education, culture, and commerce.

IranEncyclopdia Britannica, Inc.The heart of the storied Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and laterbecause of its strategic position and abundant natural resources, especially petroleumas a factor in colonial and superpower rivalries. The countrys roots as a distinctive culture and society date to the Achaemenian period, which began in 550 bce. From that time the region that is now Irantraditionally known as Persiahas been influenced by waves of indigenous and foreign conquerors and immigrants, including the Hellenistic Seleucids and native Parthians and Ssnids. Persias conquest by the Muslim Arabs in the 7th century ce was to leave the most-lasting influence, however, as Iranian culture was all but completely subsumed under that of its conquerors.

An Iranian cultural renaissance in the late 8th century led to a reawakening of Persian literary culture, though the Persian language was now highly Arabized and in Arabic script, and native Persian Islamic dynasties began to appear with the rise of the hirids in the early 9th century. The region fell under the sway of successive waves of Persian, Turkish, and Mongol conquerors until the rise of the afavids, who introduced Ithn Ashar Shism as the official creed, in the early 16th century. Over the following centuries, with the state-fostered rise of a Persian-based Shite clergy, a synthesis was formed between Persian culture and Shite Islam that marked each indelibly with the tincture of the other.

With the fall of the afavids in 1736, rule passed into the hands of several short-lived dynasties leading to the rise of the Qjr line in 1796. Qjr rule was marked by the growing influence of the European powers in Irans internal affairs, with its attendant economic and political difficulties, and by the growing power of the Shite clergy in social and political issues.

The countrys difficulties led to the ascent in 1925 of the Pahlavi line, whose ill-planned efforts to modernize Iran led to widespread dissatisfaction and the dynastys subsequent overthrow in the revolution of 1979. This revolution brought a regime to power that uniquely combined elements of a parliamentary democracy with an Islamic theocracy run by the countrys clergy. The worlds sole Shite state, Iran found itself almost immediately embroiled in a long-term war with neighbouring Iraq that left it economically and socially drained, and the Islamic republics alleged support for international terrorism left the country ostracized from the global community. Reformist elements rose within the government during the last decade of the 20th century, opposed both to the ongoing rule of the clergy and to Irans continued political and economic isolation from the international community.

Iran is bounded to the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran also controls about a dozen islands in the Persian Gulf. About one-third of its 4,770-mile (7,680-km) boundary is seacoast.

Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your Feedback.

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Iran | history - geography | Britannica.com

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces led by Ayatollah Ruhollah KHOMEINI established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority vested in a learned religious scholar referred to commonly as the Supreme Leader who, according to the constitution, is accountable only to the Assembly of Experts - a popularly elected 86-member body of clerics. US-Iranian relations became strained when a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and held embassy personnel hostages until mid-January 1981. The US cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in April 1980. During the period 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military forces. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to US, UN, and EU economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement in terrorism and concerns over possible military dimensions of its nuclear program. Following the election of reformer Hojjat ol-Eslam Mohammad KHATAMI as president in 1997 and a reformist Majles (legislature) in 2000, a campaign to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction was initiated. The movement floundered as conservative politicians, supported by the Supreme Leader, unelected institutions of authority like the Council of Guardians, and the security services reversed and blocked reform measures while increasing security repression.

Starting with nationwide municipal elections in 2003 and continuing through Majles elections in 2004, conservatives reestablished control over Iran's elected government institutions, which culminated with the August 2005 inauguration of hardliner Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD as president. His controversial reelection in June 2009 sparked nationwide protests over allegations of electoral fraud. These protests were quickly suppressed, and the political opposition that arose as a consequence of AHMADI-NEJAD's election was repressed. Deteriorating economic conditions due primarily to government mismanagement and international sanctions prompted at least two major economically based protests in July and October 2012, but Iran's internal security situation remained stable. President AHMADI-NEJAD's independent streak angered regime establishment figures, including the Supreme Leader, leading to conservative opposition to his agenda for the last year of his presidency, and an alienation of his political supporters. In June 2013 Iranians elected a moderate conservative cleric, Dr. Hasan Fereidun RUHANI to the presidency. He is a longtime senior member in the regime, but has made promises of reforming society and Iran's foreign policy. The UN Security Council has passed a number of resolutions calling for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities and comply with its IAEA obligations and responsibilities, and in July 2015 Iran and the five permanent members, plus Germany (P5+1) signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under which Iran agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan

32 00 N, 53 00 E

Middle East

total: 1,648,195 sq km

land: 1,531,595 sq km

water: 116,600 sq km

almost 2.5 times the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska

total: 5,894 km

border countries (7): Afghanistan 921 km, Armenia 44 km, Azerbaijan 689 km, Iraq 1,599 km, Pakistan 959 km, Turkey 534 km, Turkmenistan 1,148 km

2,440 km; note - Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: bilateral agreements or median lines in the Persian Gulf

continental shelf: natural prolongation

mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast

rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts

mean elevation: 1,305 m

elevation extremes: lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m

highest point: Kuh-e Damavand 5,671 m

petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur

agricultural land: 30.1%

arable land 10.8%; permanent crops 1.2%; permanent pasture 18.1%

forest: 6.8%

other: 63.1% (2011 est.)

95,530 sq km (2012)

137 cu km (2011)

total: 93.3 cu km/yr (7%/1%/92%)

per capita: 1,306 cu m/yr (2004)

periodic droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms; earthquakes

air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; wetland losses from drought; soil degradation (salination); inadequate supplies of potable water; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste; urbanization

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

strategic location on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, which are vital maritime pathways for crude oil transport

noun: Iranian(s)

adjective: Iranian

Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes

Persian (official), Azeri Turkic and Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic, other

Muslim (official) 99.4% (Shia 90-95%, Sunni 5-10%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian) 0.3%, unspecified 0.4% (2011 est.)

81,824,270 (July 2015 est.)

0-14 years: 23.69% (male 9,937,715/female 9,449,716)

15-24 years: 17.58% (male 7,386,826/female 6,998,188)

25-54 years: 46.87% (male 19,534,794/female 18,817,480)

55-64 years: 6.58% (male 2,650,049/female 2,731,997)

65 years and over: 5.28% (male 1,990,961/female 2,326,544) (2015 est.)

total dependency ratio: 40.2%

youth dependency ratio: 33.1%

elderly dependency ratio: 7.1%

potential support ratio: 14.1% (2015 est.)

total: 28.8 years

male: 28.6 years

female: 29.1 years (2015 est.)

1.2% (2015 est.)

17.99 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)

5.94 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)

-0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)

urban population: 73.4% of total population (2015)

rate of urbanization: 2.07% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

TEHRAN (capital) 8.432 million; Mashhad 3.014 million; Esfahan 1.88 million; Karaj 1.807 million; Shiraz 1.661 million; Tabriz 1.572 million (2015)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female

total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

25 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

total: 38.04 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 38.58 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 37.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)

total population: 71.15 years

male: 69.56 years

female: 72.82 years (2015 est.)

1.83 children born/woman (2015 est.)

77.4% (2010/11)

6.7% of GDP (2013)

0.89 physicians/1,000 population (2005)

0.1 beds/1,000 population (2012)

improved:

urban: 97.7% of population

rural: 92.1% of population

total: 96.2% of population

unimproved:

urban: 2.3% of population

rural: 7.9% of population

total: 3.8% of population (2015 est.)

improved:

urban: 92.8% of population

rural: 82.3% of population

total: 90% of population

unimproved:

urban: 7.2% of population

rural: 17.7% of population

total: 10% of population (2015 est.)

0.14% (2014 est.)

74,400 (2014 est.)

4,100 (2014 est.)

degree of risk: intermediate

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea

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CIA - The World Factbook: Iran

Alternative titles: Al-Irq; Al-Jumhryah al-Irqyah; Iraq; Republic of Iraq

Iraq, country of southwestern Asia.

IraqEncyclopdia Britannica, Inc.During ancient times the lands now comprising Iraq were known as Mesopotamia (Land Between the Rivers), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the worlds earliest civilizations, including those of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria. This wealthy region, constituting much of what is called the Fertile Crescent, later became a valuable part of larger imperial polities, including sundry Persian, Greek, and Roman dynasties, and after the 7th century became a central and integral part of the Islamic world. Iraqs capital, Baghdad, became the capital of the Abbsid Caliphate in the 8th century. The modern nation-state of Iraq was created following World War I (191418) from the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Al-Barah, and Mosul and derives its name from the Arabic term used in the premodern period to describe a region that roughly corresponded to Mesopotamia (Irq Arab, Arabian Iraq) and modern northwestern Iran (Irq ajam, foreign [i.e., Persian] Iraq).

Iraq gained formal independence in 1932 but remained subject to British imperial influence during the next quarter century of turbulent monarchical rule. Political instability on an even greater scale followed the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, but the installation of an Arab nationalist and socialist regimethe Bath Partyin a bloodless coup 10 years later brought new stability. With proven oil reserves second in the world only to those of Saudi Arabia, the regime was able to finance ambitious projects and development plans throughout the 1970s and to build one of the largest and best-equipped armed forces in the Arab world. The partys leadership, however, was quickly assumed by addm ussein, a flamboyant and ruthless autocrat who led the country into disastrous military adventuresthe Iran-Iraq War (198088) and the Persian Gulf War (199091). These conflicts left the country isolated from the international community and financially and socially drained, but through unprecedented coercion directed at major sections of the populationparticularly the countrys disfranchised Kurdish minority and Shite majorityaddm himself was able to maintain a firm hold on power into the 21st century. He and his regime were toppled in 2003 during the Iraq War.

Iraq is one of the easternmost countries of the Arab world, located at about the same latitude as the southern United States. It is bordered to the north by Turkey, to the east by Iran, to the west by Syria and Jordan, and to the south by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Iraq has 12 miles (19 km) of coastline along the northern end of the Persian Gulf, giving it a tiny sliver of territorial sea. Followed by Jordan, it is thus the Middle Eastern state with the least access to the sea and offshore sovereignty.

Middle East: IraqEncyclopdia Britannica, Inc.Iraqs topography can be divided into four physiographic regions: the alluvial plains of the central and southeastern parts of the country; Al-Jazrah (Arabic: the Island), an upland region in the north between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; deserts in the west and south; and the highlands in the northeast. Each of these regions extends into neighbouring countries, although the alluvial plains lie largely within Iraq.

Arab, Sha Al-Diane Rawson/Photo ResearchersThe plains of lower Mesopotamia extend southward some 375 miles (600 km) from Balad on the Tigris and Al-Ramd on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. They cover more than 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), almost one-third of the countrys area, and are characterized by low elevation, below 300 feet (100 metres), and poor natural drainage. Large areas are subject to widespread seasonal flooding, and there are extensive marshlands, some of which dry up in the summer to become salty wastelands. Near Al-Qurnah, where the Tigris and Euphrates converge to form the Shatt al-Arab, there are still some inhabited marshes. The alluvial plains contain extensive lakes. The swampy Lake Al-ammr (Hawr al-ammr) extends 70 miles (110 km) from Al-Barah (Basra) to Sq al-Shuykh; its width varies from 8 to 15 miles (13 to 25 km).

Euphrates River: Euphrates River, north-central Iraq Nik WheelerNorth of the alluvial plains, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, is the arid Al-Jazrah plateau. Its most prominent hill range is the Sinjr Mountains, whose highest peak reaches an elevation of 4,448 feet (1,356 metres). The main watercourse is the Wadi Al-Tharthr, which runs southward for 130 miles (210 km) from the Sinjr Mountains to the Tharthr (Salt) Depression. Milat Ashqar is the largest of several salt flats (or sabkhahs) in the region.

Western and southern Iraq is a vast desert region covering some 64,900 square miles (168,000 square km), almost two-fifths of the country. The western desert, an extension of the Syrian Desert, rises to elevations above 1,600 feet (490 metres). The southern desert is known as Al-ajarah in the western part and as Al-Dibdibah in the east. Al-ajarah has a complex topography of rocky desert, wadis, ridges, and depressions. Al-Dibdibah is a more sandy region with a covering of scrub vegetation. Elevation in the southern desert averages between 300 and 1,200 feet (100 to 400 metres). A height of 3,119 feet (951 metres) is reached at Mount Unayzah (Unzah) at the intersection of the borders of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The deep Wadi Al-Bin runs 45 miles (75 km) in a northeast-southwest direction through Al-Dibdibah. It has been recognized since 1913 as the boundary between western Kuwait and Iraq.

The mountains, hills, and plains of northeastern Iraq occupy some 35,500 square miles (92,000 square km), about one-fifth of the country. Of this area only about one-fourth is mountainous; the remainder is a complex transition zone between mountain and lowland. The ancient kingdom of Assyria was located in this area. North and northeast of the Assyrian plains and foothills is Kurdistan, a mountainous region that extends into Turkey and Iran.

The relief of northeastern Iraq rises from the Tigris toward the Turkish and Iranian borders in a series of rolling plateaus, river basins, and hills until the high mountain ridges of Iraqi Kurdistan, associated with the Taurus and Zagros mountains, are reached. These mountains are aligned northwest to southeast and are separated by river basins where human settlement is possible. The mountain summits have an average elevation of about 8,000 feet (2,400 metres), rising to 10,00011,000 feet (3,0003,300 metres) in places. There, along the Iran-Iraq border, is the countrys highest point, Ghundah Zhur, which reaches 11,834 feet (3,607 metres). The region is heavily dissected by numerous tributaries of the Tigris, notably the Great and Little Zab rivers and the Diyl and Uaym (Adhaim) rivers. These streams weave tortuously south and southwest, cutting through ridges in a number of gorges, notably the R Kuchk gorge, northeast of Barzn, and the Bkma gorge, west of Rawndz town. The highest mountain ridges contain the only forestland in Iraq.

Tigris RiverRobert Harding Picture Library/SuperStockIraq is drained by the Tigris-Euphrates river system, although less than half of the Tigris-Euphrates basin lies in the country. Both rivers rise in the Armenian highlands of Turkey, where they are fed by melting winter snow. The Tigris flows 881 miles (1,417 km) and the Euphrates 753 miles (1,212 km) through Iraq before they join near Al-Qurnah to form the Shatt al-Arab, which flows another 68 miles (109 km) into the Persian Gulf. The Tigris, all of whose tributaries are on its left (east) bank, runs close to the high Zagros Mountains, from which it receives a number of important tributaries, notably the Great Zab, the Little Zab, and the Diyl. As a result, the Tigris can be subject to devastating floods, as evidenced by the many old channels left when the river carved out a new course. The period of maximum flow of the Tigris is from March to May, when more than two-fifths of the annual total discharge may be received. The Euphrates, whose flow is roughly 50 percent greater than that of the Tigris, receives no large tributaries in Iraq.

Many dams are needed on the rivers and their tributaries to control flooding and permit irrigation. Iraq has giant irrigation projects at Bkma, Bdsh, and Al-Fatah. In the late 1970s and early 80s, Iraq completed a large-scale project that connected the Tigris and Euphrates. A canal emerges from the Tigris near Smarr and continues southwest to Lake Al-Tharthr, and another extends from the lake to the Euphrates near Al-abbniyyah. This connection is crucial because in years of droughtaggravated by more recent upstream use of Euphrates water by Turkey and Syriathe river level is extremely low. In 1990 Syria and Iraq reached an agreement to share the water on the basis of 58 percent to Iraq and 42 percent to Syria of the total that enters Syria. Turkey, for its part, unilaterally promised to secure an annual minimum flow at its border with Syria. There is no tripartite agreement.

Following the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi government dedicated considerable resources to digging two large canals in the south of the country, with the apparent goal of improving irrigation and agricultural drainage. There is evidence, however, that these channels were also used to drain large parts of Iraqs southern marshlands, from which rebel forces had carried out attacks against government forces. The first was reportedly designed to irrigate some 580 square miles (1,500 square km) of desert. The vast operation to create it produced a canal roughly 70 miles (115 km) long between Dh Qr and Al-Barah governorates. The second, an even grander scheme, was reportedly designed to irrigate an area some 10 times larger than the first. This canal, completed in 1992, extends from Al-Ysufiyyah, 25 miles (40 km) south of Baghdad, to Al-Barah, a total of some 350 miles (565 km).

The two projects eventually drained some nine-tenths of Iraqs southern marshes, once the largest wetlands system in the Middle East. Much of the drained area rapidly turned to arid salt flats. Following the start of the Iraq War in 2003, some parts of those projects were dismantled, but experts estimated that rehabilitation of the marshes would be impossible without extensive efforts and the expenditure of great resources.

The desert regions have poorly developed soils of coarse texture containing many stones and unweathered rock fragments. Plant growth is limited because of aridity, and the humus content is low. In northwestern Iraq, soils vary considerably: some regions with steep slopes are badly eroded, while the river valleys and basins contain some light fertile soils. In northwest Al-Jazrah, there is an area of potentially fertile soils similar to those found in much of the Fertile Crescent. Lowland Iraq is covered by heavy alluvial soils, with some organic content and a high proportion of clays, suitable for cultivation and for use as a building material.

Salinity, caused in part by overirrigation, is a serious problem that affects about two-thirds of the land; as a result, large areas of agricultural land have had to be abandoned. A high water table and poor drainage, coupled with high rates of evaporation, cause alkaline salts to accumulate at or near the surface in sufficient quantities to limit agricultural productivity. Reversing the effect is a difficult and lengthy process.

Heavy soil erosion in parts of Iraq, some of it induced by overgrazing and deforestation, leaves soils exposed to markedly seasonal rainfall. The Tigris-Euphrates river system has thus created a large alluvial deposit at its mouth, so that the Persian Gulf coast is much farther south than in Babylonian times.

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The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar al-QADHAFI assumed leadership and began to espouse his political system at home, which was a combination of socialism and Islam. During the 1970s, QADHAFI used oil revenues to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversive and terrorist activities that included the downing of two airliners - one over Scotland, another in Northern Africa - and a discotheque bombing in Berlin. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically and economically following the attacks; sanctions were lifted in 2003 following Libyan acceptance of responsibility for the bombings and agreement to claimant compensation. QADHAFI also agreed to end Libya's program to develop weapons of mass destruction, and he made significant strides in normalizing relations with Western nations. Unrest that began in several Middle Eastern and North African countries in late 2010 erupted in Libyan cities in early 2011. QADHAFI's brutal crackdown on protesters spawned a civil war that triggered UN authorization of air and naval intervention by the international community. After months of seesaw fighting between government and opposition forces, the QADHAFI regime was toppled in mid-2011 and replaced by a transitional government. Libya in 2012 formed a new parliament and elected a new prime minister. The country subsequently elected a new parliament in 2014, but remnants of the outgoing legislature refused to leave office and created a rival government. The UN since September 2014 has been working to reconcile the governments and encouraging them to form a national unity government.

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria

25 00 N, 17 00 E

Africa

total: 1,759,540 sq km

land: 1,759,540 sq km

water: 0 sq km

about 2.5 times the size of Texas; slightly larger than Alaska

total: 4,339 km

border countries (6): Algeria 989 km, Chad 1,050 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 342 km, Sudan 382 km, Tunisia 461 km

1,770 km

territorial sea: 12 nm

note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north

exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm

Mediterranean along coast; dry, extreme desert interior

mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions

mean elevation: 423 m

elevation extremes: lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m

highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m

petroleum, natural gas, gypsum

agricultural land: 8.8%

arable land 1%; permanent crops 0.2%; permanent pasture 7.6%

forest: 0.1%

other: 91.1% (2011 est.)

4,700 sq km (2012)

0.7 cu km (2011)

total: 4.33 cu km/yr (14%/3%/83%)

per capita: 796.1 cu m/yr (2000)

hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms

desertification; limited natural freshwater resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, brings water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert

noun: Libyan(s)

adjective: Libyan

Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians)

Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)

Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%, Buddhist 0.3%, Hindu <0.1, Jewish <0.1, folk religion <0.1, unafilliated 0.2%, other <0.1

note: non-Sunni Muslims include native Ibadhi Muslims (<1% of the population) and foreign Muslims (2010 est.)

6,411,776 (July 2015 est.)

note: immigrants make up just over 12% of the total population, according to UN data (2015) (July 2015 est.)

0-14 years: 26.52% (male 869,583/female 830,751)

15-24 years: 17.77% (male 588,243/female 551,139)

25-54 years: 46.62% (male 1,567,608/female 1,421,246)

55-64 years: 4.97% (male 163,133/female 155,703)

65 years and over: 4.12% (male 132,740/female 131,630) (2015 est.)

total dependency ratio: 52.4%

youth dependency ratio: 45.5%

elderly dependency ratio: 6.9%

potential support ratio: 14.5% (2015 est.)

total: 28 years

male: 28.2 years

female: 27.8 years (2015 est.)

2.23% (2015 est.)

18.03 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)

3.58 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)

7.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)

urban population: 78.6% of total population (2015)

rate of urbanization: 1.13% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

TRIPOLI (capital) 1.126 million (2015)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.1 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female

total population: 1.08 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

9 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

total: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 12.42 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 10.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)

total population: 76.26 years

male: 74.54 years

female: 78.06 years (2015 est.)

2.05 children born/woman (2015 est.)

41.9% (2007)

4.3% of GDP (2013)

1.9 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

3.7 beds/1,000 population (2012)

improved:

urban: 54.2% of population

rural: 54.9% of population

total: 54.4% of population

unimproved:

urban: 45.8% of population

rural: 45.1% of population

total: 45.6% of population (2001 est.)

improved:

urban: 96.8% of population

rural: 95.7% of population

total: 96.6% of population

unimproved:

urban: 3.2% of population

rural: 4.3% of population

total: 3.4% of population (2015 est.)

NA

NA

31.9% (2014)

5.6% (2007)

NA

See the rest here:
CIA - The World Factbook: Libya