Iraq is bounded in the north by Turkey, in the south by Kuwait
and Saudi Arabia, and in the west by Jordan and Syria. The ancient
Greeks named this region Mesopotamia, meaning "between the
rivers." About 80 percent of its population are Arabs. Kurds
make up Iraq's second largest population group. Turkmen, Assyrians,
Armenians and others represent 20 per cent. Shi'i Muslims make
up around 60 per cent of Iraq's population. The total population
of Iraq was 22,450,000 in mid-1999 according to the IMF. Its
total area is 437,072 square km. It is slightly more than twice
the size of Idaho. There are an estimated 1 to 2 million Iraqis
living in exile. Iraq's substantial natural gas reserves puts
it as tenth in the world. Iraq is a member of OPEC. Baghdad,
the capital was captured by Ottomans in 1534 and held until the
British occupied the country in 1918. Iraq became a constitutional
monarchy under Faysal I in 1924. The League of Nations gave the
British a mandate over the area in 1920. This mandate expired
in 1932 and Iraq became an independent country and a member in
the League of Nations. The Monarchy ended in 1958 with a revolutionary
coup.
Saddam Husayn, a Sunni Muslim, born in 1937, came to power since
16 July 1979. He is the chairman of the Revolutionary Command
Council. This council is composed of top officials of the Ba'th
Party. This party is the most powerful political entity in the
country.
For Library of Congress contact information and materials, consult
the Iraq
Country page of the Near East Section of the African and
Middle Eastern Division. The Library of Congress Online Catalog
is available at http://catalog.loc.gov and
a newly-mounted portal page on International Terrorism may be
consulted at . http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/hispanic/terrorism/terrorism.html.
To track bills and other Congressional materials having to do
with the topic, consult the Library's Thomas Legislative Information
page at: http://thomas.loc.gov .
These sites have been chosen for their utility in providing
information, directories and portals on all aspects of Iraqi
life and culture. As the links to Iraq are sometimes inactive,
we recommend that you try again if you are not successful the
first time.
ABC
Country Book of Iraq (http://www.theodora.com/wfb/iraq%5Fdefense.html)
It provides information on Iraqi transnational issues and defense data.
Al-Bawaba (http://albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq)
It is a major portal site that links a number of other websites on all the Arab
countries. It contains up-to-date information on the political, business, social,
cultural and religious aspects of a particular country. Just click on the name
of the country for information in English and Arabic.
Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development (http://www.arabfund.org/)
Search for information on projects funded throughout the Arab world
Arab Net (http://www.arab.net/iraq/index.html)
It is a major Arab website that contains information on the government, history,
geography, business, culture, transport, tourism of each country, and provides
links to other relevant websites.
Basic
data (http://www.photius.com/wfb2000/countries/iraq/iraq%5Fintroduction.html)
It consists of approximately 20,000 pages. It provides basic data on countries
of the Arab world since 1992.
BBC
NEWS—Iraq Timeline (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/737483.stm)
Provides chronology of key events in the past 100 years.
CIA World
Fact Book (https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html)
It gathers statistics and details on Iraq, including its geography, people,
and government, economy and defense forces.
Country
Reports about ... (http://www.countryreports.org/country.aspx?countryid=117&countryName=Iraq)
Offers links to sites about many countries by such subjects as government,
the military, economy, the weather, etc.
Development Gateway Country Overview (http://www.developmentgateway.org/)
" The Development Gateway helps communities, organizations, and individuals
build partnerships, share ideas, and work together to reduce poverty." Search
by development projects as well as by country to identify additional web sites
and documents.
Electronic Iraq (http://electroniciraq.net/)
“Electronic Iraq (eIraq) -- found at electronicIraq.net -- is a supplementary
news portal committed to providing a uniquely comprehensive look at Iraq and
the violence that has engulfed it.”
Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com)
From the Electronic Library, searching the Encyclopedia.com by
country provides numerous narrative articles on its history,
culture, politics.
Fares.net (http://www.fares.net/en/)
Site includes a directory and a list of sites on a wide range
of subjects including tourism, entertainment, culture, the media,
news and business. Search under the name of the country. In English
and Arabic.
The Gulf / 2000 Project
- SIPA - Columbia University (http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/)
This site was developed by the Gulf/2000 Project at the School of International
and Public Affairs of Columbia University in New York City. It is designed to
make available in a single location a wealth of information on the eight countries
of the Persian Gulf region--Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
and the United Arab Emirates. Click on a flag above to visit one of these countries.
Infoplease (http://www.infoplease.com/)
Part of the electronic Learning Network, this homepage allows
searches by country which yield articles in almanacs, dictionaries,
encyclopedias, biographical works, etc. Additional reference
links are provided as well.
Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/)
An independently run database of media-reported civilian deaths
in Iraq that have resulted from the 2003 U.S. military intervention
Iraq
Country Information (http://www.countryreports.org/country.aspx?countryid=117&countryName=Iraq)
This
includes a list of recent documents from a number of web sites
concerning media activities and press freedom in many countries. (Needs
a subscription)
Iraq Overview (http://www.arab.net/iraq/)
This site introduces an overview information on Iraq.The site
works intermittently.
Iraqi
Country and People (http://www.photius.com/wfb2000/countries/iraq/iraq%5Fintroduction.html)
It provides basic data on Iraq from 1992 to the latest available
year. It is useful to those who wish to see a snap shot of Iraq
and those interested in time series analysis
Islamic Calendar Converter (http://www.oriold.unizh.ch/static/hegira.html)
Converts dates from the Christian (Gregorian) Calendar to its equivalent date in the Islamic (Hijri) Calendar and from the Islamic Calendar to the Christian.
Library of Congress. Federal
Research Division (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iqtoc.html)
A country study. On line publication.
Lonely
Planet - Destinations (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/middle-east/iraq)
Search yields information on travel, attractions, history, culture,
and environment of that location.
Middle
East – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/global/index.cfm?fa=proj&id=107&proj=zme)
The main feature of the Carnegie Arabic Web Portal is the Arabic-language
version of the Arab Reform Bulletin, an online monthly journal
on the latest political reform developments from Arab and Western
perspectives. Also included are Arabic translations of select
Carnegie Papers, commentaries on the Middle East and related
subjects such as nuclear nonproliferation, as well as writings
originally published in Arabic.
Nations of the
world (http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/iraq.html)
Library of Congress site that includes information on the Iraqi constitution,
the executive judicial and legislative branches of government, as well as other
relevant general sources.
OneWorld.net (http://us.oneworld.net/section/us/latestcoverage/iraq)
Searchable by country, regions and topics. Includes current headlines and special
reports.
U.S. Agency for International Development. Development
Experience Clearinghouse(DEC) (http://www.dec.org)
" The purpose of the DEC is to strengthen USAID's development projects,
activities, and programs by making ... development experience documents available
to USAID offices and mission staff, PVO's, NGO's, universities and research
institutions, developing countries, and the public worldwide."
U.S. Department of State (http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3212.htm)
Numerous documents concerning diplomatic and international relations, travel
advice and warnings relating to the countries of the world are available on
the State Department's official site by searching under a particular country's
name.
UN
- Sponsored Iraqi News Center (http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=50&Body=Iraq&Body1=inspect)
The official site of the United Nations provides articles, reports, etc. in
several languages on all aspects of the initiatives and mission of that organization
as well as on the contemporary life, culture, society, international relations,
etc. of all the countries and peoples of the world.
United Nations ReliefWeb (http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/ByCountry/)
" ReliefWeb is a project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)... serving the information needs of the humanitarian
relief community" Offers news updates to crisis situations around the
world and includes information about refugee camps and other relief efforts.
United States. Library
of Congress. Virtual Reference Shelf (http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/virtualref.html)
The Library of Congress has mounted this useful site on its home page to give
scholars and researchers access to common online sources which are excellent
for initial stages of research. These online tools are organized by subject
and format, e.g., "Almanacs and Fast Facts," "Directories," "Libraries," etc.
Welcome to Iraq (http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/)
Detailed information about must-see tourist destinations, includes religious and historical sites as well as regional information
World
Desk Reference (http://dev.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/worldreference/IQ/introduction.html)
Searchable by country, this is the online version of the handbook with more
than 5000 illustrations and maps.
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