BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq, which on May 12 holds its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, is oil-rich but has been ravaged by a series of wars since the 1980s.
Cradle of civilization
During ancient times the lands now comprising Iraq were known as Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), a region located between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Its extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world’s earliest civilizations — including Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria — to which humanity owes writing, legal codes and the first towns.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ancient Mesopotamia’s capital, are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The location of the city of Ur, where the Bible says Abraham was born, is one of Iraq’s oldest archaeological sites.
Oil and reconstruction
Iraq is the oil cartel OPEC’s second-biggest producer with 153 billion barrels of proven crude reserves. It depends on its oil sector for 99 percent of its revenues.
However, nearly eight million Iraqis live on less than $2.20 a day, according to the United Nations.
Iraq says it needs $88 billion to rebuild the homes and infrastructure left damaged by war.
It garnered just a third of that amount at an international donor conference in February.
Haunted by war
British-ruled in the early 20th century, Iraq became formally independent in 1932. The monarchy was abolished in 1958 after a coup and a republic was established.
Saddam Hussein became president in 1979, 11 years after his Baath party took control.
Several wars have shaken the country — the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait and the US-led invasion in 2003 which ousted Saddam, who was later executed.
Following the dictator’s toppling, the country plunged into crisis. Sectarian violence — mainly between Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities — and jihadist attacks left tens of thousands dead.
Shiite power
Iraq is overwhelmingly Muslim: Shiites account for 60 percent of its population of 37 million people while Sunnis make up 32 to 37 percent.
A tacit system of proportional representation reserves top government posts for Iraq’s different communities, with Shiites, previously overshadowed by Saddam Hussein’s Sunni minority, now dominating political and military institutions.
Some 15-20 percent of Iraq’s population are Kurds who live mainly in the autonomous north.
A massive “Yes” vote in a controversial referendum on Kurdish independence organized in 2017 ended in failure after Baghdad rejected the ballot and retook disputed areas.
Iraq’s Christian community, once estimated at one million, now counts only 350,000 people.
Between Saudi Arabia and Iran
Iraq shares borders with both of the Middle East’s rival powers: the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iran’s Shiite Islamic republic.
It is also a neighbor of Turkey, war-torn Syria, Kuwait and Jordan.
Relations between Iraq and Iran have greatly improved since the fall of Saddam and the emergence in Baghdad of a central government dominated by Shiites.
Tehran has sponsored numerous Iraqi armed groups, including those that dominate the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units, which played a key role in rolling back Islamic State group jihadists.
Since 2017 relations between Saudi Arabia and Baghdad have also greatly improved after many years of tensions.
© Agence France-Presse
