Where is Iraq?
Iraq is located in the centre of the Middle East. To the south it is bordered by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the north by Turkey, the west by Jordan and Syria, and to the East is Iran. Its capital Baghdad, lies in the centre of the country.
Iraq covers 438,317 km², with a total coastline of around 58km. It isn't a huge country, not a tiny one, coming in as the 16th biggest country in Asia, and 58th worldwide. Interestingly it's actually pretty similar in area to both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in 52nd and 56th position respectively.
Population of Iraq
There are around 44 million people living in Iraq, of which about 8-9 million live in Baghdad.
Iraq’s geography is dominated by two major rivers that run from north to south through the centre of the country. The Tigris and Euphrates have been important rivers for thousands of years and are where you will find the major population centres of Iraq. Baghdad itself is situated on the Tigris.
Regions of Iraq
There are five main regions of Iraq which all have distinct identities and minorities. In the centre you have the Iraqi Belts, where you will find Baghdad and the surrounding towns.
In the northwest you can find Al Jazira region which has a sizeable Assyrian population.
Also in the north and north east is where you find the autonomous Kurdish region known as Kurdistan. Kurdistan is considered the most stable part of Iraq and also has a much cooler mountainous climate. Kurdistan also has its own immigration system, not recognised by Federal Iraq. You can find out more about that here .
In the west you will find the sparsely populated Iraqi desert which is also the largest region by area, extending far along Iraq’s southern border with Saudi Arabia.
The final area is Lower Mesopotamia (known as the "cradle of civilisation") where you can find many ancient cities such as Babylon and Ur as well as the marshes region.
