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.

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

• anti-Iraq adjective
• pro-Iraq adjective
• trans-Iraq adjective

Example Sentences

He was an unreconstructed hawk in the Senate, supporting the war in Iraq and taking a hard line on Iran.

Read more on Salon

Islamic State emerged from the chaos of Iraq after the American invasion in 2003 and took advantage of the instability unleashed in Syria by the Arab Spring to capture swaths of territory.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A founding board member of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Poitras knows those risks firsthand; her reporting in Iraq landed her on a U.S. watch list in 2006, leading to repeat border detentions.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the first two decades of this century, the UK military has built up extensive experience in capacity-building for security forces, first in Iraq, then in Afghanistan, which is partly why Centcom requested its participation.

Read more on BBC

"Iraq has seen the American army, then civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, and now there's ISIS. We've been through many incessant conflicts, but we still need peace because we believe in humanity," she said.

Read more on Barron's