Western Asia · IRQ

Iraq

The story · 11 chapters

How it was drawn

Mesopotamia, cradle of the first cities, was ruled by Persia, the caliphs and the Ottomans. Britain joined three Ottoman provinces into Iraq after 1918.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Iraq fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Elam2300 BC to 647 BC
Mesopotamia's eastern neighbour in today's southwest Iran. For two thousand years the two fight: Elamites sack Ur around 2004 BC and carry Hammurabi's law code off to Susa in the twelfth century BC, and Ashurbanipal of Assyria destroys Susa around 647 BC.
Mitanni1500 BC to 1260 BC
A Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and Syria that holds Assyria as a vassal in the fifteenth century BC. Assyria breaks free, and in the thirteenth century BC its kings conquer what is left of Mitanni.
Achaemenid Persia550 BC to 539 BC
Cyrus the Great, master of the Median kingdom, turns on Babylon. His army wins at Opis and enters Babylon in 539 BC, ending the last Mesopotamian empire. Persia then rules Mesopotamia for two centuries.
Roman Empire116 to 363
Rome and Persia fight over Mesopotamia for centuries. Trajan reaches the Gulf in 116, Roman armies sack Ctesiphon several times, and Emperor Julian dies on campaign near it in 363, after which Rome gives up land in northern Mesopotamia.
Eastern Roman Empire602 to 628
The last and greatest war between Persia and Byzantium. After Persian victories, Emperor Heraclius strikes into Mesopotamia and wins at Nineveh in 627. Persia makes peace in 628, both empires exhausted just before the Arab conquests.
Mongol Empire1258
Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, besieges Baghdad in early 1258. The city falls, much of its population is massacred and the last Abbasid caliph is executed. Iraq becomes a province of the Ilkhanate ruled from Persia.
Timurid Empire1393 to 1401
Timur takes Baghdad in 1393. When it rebels he returns in 1401, storms the city and has much of its population killed. His empire falls apart soon after his death in 1405.
Safavid Persia1508 to 1639
Shah Ismail takes Baghdad in 1508, and Iraq becomes a battlefield between Shia Persia and the Sunni Ottomans. The Ottomans take it in 1534, lose it in 1624 and retake it in 1638. The Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 leaves Iraq Ottoman.
British Empire1914 to 1941
Britain invades in 1914, suffers a humiliating surrender at Kut in 1916 and takes Baghdad in 1917. It crushes the 1920 revolt and rules through a mandate and the monarchy. In 1941 it fights a short war to overthrow the pro-Axis government of Rashid Ali.
Kuwait1961 to 1994
Iraq claims Kuwait as part of the old Basra province. Abd al-Karim Qasim threatens it in 1961, and Saddam Hussein invades and annexes it in 1990. Expelled in 1991, Iraq formally accepts Kuwait's border in 1994.
Iran1969 to 1988
The two neighbours quarrel over the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The 1975 Algiers Agreement splits it along its deepest channel, but in 1980 Saddam Hussein invades Iran. Eight years of war, with chemical weapons and hundreds of thousands killed, end in 1988 without any change of border.
United States1991 to 2011
A US-led coalition drives Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. In 2003 the United States and Britain invade and overthrow Saddam Hussein, then face a long insurgency. American combat troops leave in 2011, returning in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group.
Islamic State group2014 to 2017
The jihadist group seizes Mosul and much of northern and western Iraq in 2014 and proclaims a caliphate, persecuting Yazidis and others. Iraqi forces, Kurdish fighters and a US-led coalition retake Mosul in 2017, and Iraq declares victory that December.

Today

Iraq now

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by the United Kingdom during World War I and was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration in 1920. Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. It was proclaimed a republic in 1958 after a coup overthrew the monarchy, but in actuality, a series of strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Hussein, from 1979 to 2003. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly war from 1980 to 1988.

Capital: Baghdad
Government: federal parliamentary republic
Head of government: Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani
Head of state: Nizar Amidi
Languages: Kurdish language, Arabic
Area: 435,050 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population45.1 million2023 · 5.7 million in 1950
Life expectancy72.3 years2023 · 37.4 years in 1950
GDP per person$13,0712022 · $2,174 in 1950
Living in cities70%2025 · 35% in 1950
Literacy84%2021 · 13% in 1950
Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending2.5% of GDP2025
War deaths0.3 per 100,0002025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

Iran, Islamic Rep.
Saudi Arabia
United States

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Iraq fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Elam2300 BC to 647 BC

Mesopotamia's eastern neighbour in today's southwest Iran. For two thousand years the two fight: Elamites sack Ur around 2004 BC and carry Hammurabi's law code off to Susa in the twelfth century BC, and Ashurbanipal of Assyria destroys Susa around 647 BC.

Mitanni1500 BC to 1260 BC

A Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia and Syria that holds Assyria as a vassal in the fifteenth century BC. Assyria breaks free, and in the thirteenth century BC its kings conquer what is left of Mitanni.

Achaemenid Persia550 BC to 539 BC

Cyrus the Great, master of the Median kingdom, turns on Babylon. His army wins at Opis and enters Babylon in 539 BC, ending the last Mesopotamian empire. Persia then rules Mesopotamia for two centuries.

Roman Empire116 to 363

Rome and Persia fight over Mesopotamia for centuries. Trajan reaches the Gulf in 116, Roman armies sack Ctesiphon several times, and Emperor Julian dies on campaign near it in 363, after which Rome gives up land in northern Mesopotamia.

Eastern Roman Empire602 to 628

The last and greatest war between Persia and Byzantium. After Persian victories, Emperor Heraclius strikes into Mesopotamia and wins at Nineveh in 627. Persia makes peace in 628, both empires exhausted just before the Arab conquests.

Mongol Empire1258

Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, besieges Baghdad in early 1258. The city falls, much of its population is massacred and the last Abbasid caliph is executed. Iraq becomes a province of the Ilkhanate ruled from Persia.

Timurid Empire1393 to 1401

Timur takes Baghdad in 1393. When it rebels he returns in 1401, storms the city and has much of its population killed. His empire falls apart soon after his death in 1405.

Safavid Persia1508 to 1639

Shah Ismail takes Baghdad in 1508, and Iraq becomes a battlefield between Shia Persia and the Sunni Ottomans. The Ottomans take it in 1534, lose it in 1624 and retake it in 1638. The Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 leaves Iraq Ottoman.

British Empire1914 to 1941

Britain invades in 1914, suffers a humiliating surrender at Kut in 1916 and takes Baghdad in 1917. It crushes the 1920 revolt and rules through a mandate and the monarchy. In 1941 it fights a short war to overthrow the pro-Axis government of Rashid Ali.

Kuwait1961 to 1994

Iraq claims Kuwait as part of the old Basra province. Abd al-Karim Qasim threatens it in 1961, and Saddam Hussein invades and annexes it in 1990. Expelled in 1991, Iraq formally accepts Kuwait's border in 1994.

Iran1969 to 1988

The two neighbours quarrel over the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The 1975 Algiers Agreement splits it along its deepest channel, but in 1980 Saddam Hussein invades Iran. Eight years of war, with chemical weapons and hundreds of thousands killed, end in 1988 without any change of border.

United States1991 to 2011

A US-led coalition drives Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. In 2003 the United States and Britain invade and overthrow Saddam Hussein, then face a long insurgency. American combat troops leave in 2011, returning in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group.

Islamic State group2014 to 2017

The jihadist group seizes Mosul and much of northern and western Iraq in 2014 and proclaims a caliphate, persecuting Yazidis and others. Iraqi forces, Kurdish fighters and a US-led coalition retake Mosul in 2017, and Iraq declares victory that December.

Iraq now

Capital

Baghdad

Government

federal parliamentary republic

Head of government

Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani

Head of state

Nizar Amidi

Languages

Kurdish language, Arabic

Area

435,050 km²

Then and now

Population45.1 million2023 · 5.7 million in 1950

Life expectancy72.3 years2023 · 37.4 years in 1950

GDP per person$13,0712022 · $2,174 in 1950

Living in cities70%2025 · 35% in 1950

Literacy84%2021 · 13% in 1950

Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending2.5% of GDP2025

War deaths0.3 per 100,0002025