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Islamic World

Islamic world

The Islamic world is the world-wide community of those who identify with Islam, known as Muslims, and who number approximately one-and-a-half billion people. Many Muslims not only live in, but also have an official status in the following regions: Muslim
- Southwest Asia: Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and non-Arab countries like Turkey, Iran
- Africa: Arab countries like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and non-Arab like Mali, Nigeria or Somalia.
- the Balkans: countries like Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Eastern Europe: parts of Russia and Ukraine (especially in the Crimea).
- Central Asia: Afghanistan, formerly Soviet states like Uzbekistan
- South Asia: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives
- Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia The countries of Southwest Asia, and many in Northern Africa are considered part of the Middle East. Also worthy of mention are provinces of Kurdistan, Kosovo and Chechnya, where Muslims are in the majority. Some definitions would also include the sizable Muslim minorities in:
- several countries of the European Union, (especially France)
- several regions of the Russian Federation
- northwestern India,
- People's Republic of China
- Singapore and the Philippines,
- U.S.A. and Canada. Like Christians or Buddhists, there is no single Muslim race; the world's Muslims are connected only by the common heritage of a religion. When believers in Islam cooperate as Muslims, they are known as the "ummah", which means "all of the believers". The faith emphasizes unity and defense of fellow Muslims, so it should be common for Muslim nations to cooperate; however, Muslim politics, particularly Arab politics, has tended to divide rather than unite the Muslim world.

Demographics

One quarter of the world population share Islam as an ethical tradition. Muslims are the majority in 52 nations. They speak about 60 languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
- 8 million Muslims in Canada and the United States
- 3 million Muslims in Latin and Central America
- 10 million Muslims in Western Europe, mostly in the UK, France, Germany
- 6.8 million Muslims in the Balkans, mostly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania and Republic of Macedonia
- 67 million Muslims in Turkey
- 284.4 million Muslims in the Arab League including Iraq (with about 15 million Shia, 60% of the population in Iraq)
- 254 million Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 67 million Muslims (90% of them Shia) in Iran
- 48.5 million Muslims in Central Asia - in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan - formerly republics of the Soviet Union.
- 26 million Muslims in Russia
- 28 million Muslims in Afghanistan
- 260 million Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh together
- 120 million Muslims in India - (third largest Muslim population in the world)
- 50 million Muslims in China
- 209 million Muslims in Indonesia(the largest Muslim country in the world, by population)
- 30.0 million Muslims in the rest of South-East Asia, especially Malaysia
- A few in Japan, Mongolia, North Korea or the South Pacific
- close to 1.5 billion in total See: Islam by country

History

Islam spread rapidly into the regions where Muslims are now a majority, until 631 CE - see caliph for the politics that were partially to cease the rapid expansion of Islam at about this time. The spread of Islam was also due particularly to the powerful Ottoman Empire. Nations were conquered, and their inhabitants were given a choice to convert to Islam, or live as dhimmis, protected second class citizens practicing an officially accepted religion. The Ottoman Empire came to an end in 1918 when Turkey lost control of the bulk of the Arab World, which it had ruled for centuries and in which it had suppressed most of the traditional norms of Islam. The United Kingdom and the United States supported Arab independence, but France insisted on retaining control of Lebanon and ultimately Syria. This, plus the status of Kuwait and Palestine, and the later partition of India, remain major sources of global tension to this day. Islam allows oppressed Muslims to practice Jihad, struggle against aggressors. The 20th century also saw a series of defeats for some Islamist movements, Iran and the now-defunct Taliban regime in Afghanistan being notable exceptions. Elsewhere the rule has been for military rulers, e.g. Suharto, Moammar Qaddafi, Zia al-Haq, Saddam Hussein, to cynically exploit Islamic imagery and language without following the rules, sometimes implementing weak but spectacular forms of sharia in rural areas to appease peasant supporters. In Turkey, Pakistan, Algeria and other nations with Islamist parties, these tend to have either no power or they substantially moderate these policies when they participate in government (as in Turkey in 2003 where the government approved a U.S. plan to invade Iraq via Turkey but was over-ruled by the parliament after public pressure from the 94% of Turks opposed to an invasion). Nationalism plays more of a role in decisions to go to war than religious similarities or differences. : See also: History of Islam

Important organizations

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries includes many nations that are also in the Arab League. Although most oil sources on Earth are not in nations with Muslim majorities, the fully developed exporting regions are. A politically motivated oil embargo in 1974 (to support Egypt and Syria in their 1973 war against Israel) had drastic economic and political consequences in the United States and Europe. Although such a move would have less impact today, it demonstrates the power of the Islamic world acting in concert, and the key role of religion and ethnicity in the politics of oil regions, with which the Islamic world intersects. As oil sources in Indonesia, Central Asia and southern regions of Russia become more developed, oil politics may be less dependent on the Arab World but more dependent on the Islamic World as a whole. Activities of Islamists seem destined to play a larger role, as they seek unified policies and support for unified fronts against non-Muslim peoples who control Muslim oil resources. The Organization of the Islamic Conference formed in 1969 lets the Muslim nations work as a group. Russia joined in 2003.

Main denominations of Islam

The two main denominations of Islam are the Sunni and Shia sects. The difference between them is primarily in terms of how the life of the ummah ("faithful") should be governed, and the role of the imam. The overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world are Sunni. The Shi'a are a majority in Iraq (60%) and in Iran (89%). A more strictly traditional Shia regime maintains power in Iran, although a nominally Sunni minority held political power in Iraq up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. There are other differences in Muslims practice their faith, notably there's the Islamists who are fundamentalist.

Islam in law and ethics

In some nations, Muslim ethnic groups enjoy considerable autonomy. In some places, Muslims implement a form of Islamic law, called shariah in Arabic. The Islamic law exists in many variations, but the main forms are the five (four Sunni and one Shia) schools of jurisprudence (fiqh):
- the Hanafi school in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, West Africa, Egypt,
- the Maliki in North Africa and West Africa,
- the Shafi'i in Malaysia and Indonesia,
- the Hanbali in Arabia, and
- Jaferi in Iran and Iraq - where the majority is Shia. All five are centuries old and many Muslims feel a new fiqh must be created for modern society. Islam has a method for doing this, al-urf and ijtihad are the words to describe this method, but they have not been used in a long time, and few people are trusted enough to use them to make new laws. So, in most of the Muslim world, people are socially conservative. Muslim women often dress extremely modestly, and many do so by choice. Thus, in some countries an interpretation of the Islamic law requires women to cover either just legs, shoulders and head or the whole body apart from the face. In strictest forms, the face as well must be covered leaving just a mesh to see through. These rules for dressing are one of the things that cause tension between the Western World and that of Muslims, concerning particularly Muslims living in western countries. Islamic economics bans interest but in most Muslim countries Western banking is allowed. This is another issue that many Muslims have with the Western world.

Islam in politics

Many people in Islamic countries also see Islam manifested politically as Islamism. In democratic countries there is usually at least one Islamic party. Political Islam is powerful in all Muslim-majority countries. Islamic parties in Turkey, Pakistan and Algeria have taken power. Many in these movements call themselves Islamists, which also sometimes describes more militant Islamic groups. The relationships between these groups and their views of democracy are complex. Some of these groups practice terrorism. According to US President George W. Bush, they all have a single common agenda: "The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," Bush asserted in an October 2005 speech.

Conflicts with Israel and the US

Israel is very unpopular in the Muslim world, because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the way that the state of Israel came into being in 1948 which many Arabs thought was unfair. Some Muslims see this as a fight against Judaism or Jews, but not all. In Morocco for instance, the Islamists recently invited Jews to join the party. Jewish groups also cooperate with Arabs in the West Bank, where Neturei Karta (anti-Zionist orthodox Jewish) leader Rabbi Mosche Hirsch served as the Minister for Jewish Affairs in the Fatah before there was a Palestinian Authority. Like the Arabs, this small group of Jews thought the way Israel was created was not right. In 1979 there was a big shift in the way the Muslim world dealt with the rest of the world. In that year, Egypt made peace with Israel, Iran became an Islamic state after a revolution, and there was an invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. A lot of things changed in that year. By 2001 the Soviet Union was gone, Jordan had also made peace with Israel, and on September 11, 2001 there were major attacks on the U.S. - which most people believe were made to drive the United States out of the Muslim world, especially Saudi Arabia. In many ways the events of 1979 led to the events of 2001. The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq are called part of a "War on Terrorism" by the United States. Many or most Muslims see it as a War on Islam. After the invasion, the Islamic parties won more seats, and a majority of Muslims polled in many nations expressed support for Osama bin Laden and said he would "do the right thing". Olivier Roy is a French scholar who thinks that this does not express support for Al Qaeda or militant Islam but opposing colonialism and what many Muslims call racism - favourable treatment for Jews especially those living in West Bank settlements, many of whom have American or British passport, and which the United Nations says have no right to live there. The situation is very complicated and there are many different views of it.

Growing polarization

In Pakistan, nominally a US ally, virulently anti-American Islamist won local elections in two out of four of the country's provinces and became in mid-2003 the third largest party in the national parliament, their best showing ever. For the first time, their support comes not just from the areas bordering Afghanistan, but even from urban areas. In Kuwait, elections in July returned Islamic traditionalists and supporters of the royal family, while liberals suffered a severe defeat. In Indonesia, the growth of various groups allied to those seemingly responsible for the Bali bombing most of which have been invisible, has been marked. It is expected that executions of perpetrators of that attack, which hit mostly citizens of Australia, will polarize that nation further.

Future

Some believe that the Islamic World is fated to democratize and replace constitutional monarchy and military dictatorship with representative democracy. G. E. Jansen in 1979, in his book "Militant Islam", proposed that Islamist movements were themselves the most likely path to democratization. Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and Algeria may represent the examples of a movement towards democracy. They enjoy substantial local democracy and have active political life. Many believe that the Islamic World is fated to come into deeper conflict with the western world. At least one Islamic nation, Pakistan, has developed nuclear weapons, and others, e.g. Iraq, have attempted it. Weapons of mass destruction are likely to become easier to construct given the modernizing economies of the Islamic World.

External links

- [http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/ The Islamic World to 1600] an online tutorial at the University of Calgary, Canada.
- [http://www.msnbc.com/news/969671.asp MSNBC report] citing Wesley Clark that the US planned to invade Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan - also his own views on Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
- [http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/092403D.shtml Al-Jazeera report] saying the same thing Category:Islam ja:イスラム世界 simple:Islamic world

Muslim

A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also pronounced Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. Literally, the word means someone who has submitted/surrendered himself or herself to the will of God.

Definition

Most Muslims accept as a fellow Muslim anyone who has sincerely pronounced the Shahada, a ritual declaration of submission to God and assertion that Muhammad is the last prophet. Muslims describe many Biblical figures, such as Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus), as Muslims because they submitted completely to God.
- For a list of Muslims, see List of Muslims.
- For a list of different Muslim sects and divisions, see Divisions of Islam.

Etymology

The singular form of the word Muslim comes from the Arabic plural form 'Al-Muslimīn, from the tri-consonantal root SLM, also found in the words Islam and salām. The plural form is instanced in the Qur'an, 22:79, Al-Hajj.

Pronunciation and spelling

Until around the late 1980s, the word was commonly spelled Moslem. The spelling has since fallen into disuse. Muslims do not recommend this spelling because it is often pronounced "mawzlem," which sounds somewhat similar to an Arabic word for "oppressor" (Za'lem in Arabic). The word is pronounced "Mus"-lim in Arabic, but some English dictionaries allow both "Mus"-lim and "Muz"-lim. The word is written "Muslim".

Other words for Muslim

Many English-language writers used to call Muslims "Mohammedans" or "Mahometans," meaning "followers of Mohammed," but this terminology is considered incorrect and insulting, because Muslims believe it implies that they worship the prophet Muhammad, contrary to the fundamental principles of Islam itself. This terminology is seen as too similar to Christians as followers and worshippers of Christ. In addition, Muslims believe that the religion of submitting to God (Islām in Arabic) existed long before the birth of Muhammad, making all the prophets before him "Muslims." English writers of the 19th century and earlier sometimes used the words Mussulman, Musselman, or Mussulmaun. Variant forms of this word are still used by many Indo-European languages. These words are similar to the French, Spanish, and Italian words for "Muslim."

Disputes

The Ahmedi sect consider themselves Muslim, and an agnostic or atheist of Islamic background may refer to themselves as a cultural Muslim; however, most mainstream Muslims disagree with both these classifications, since they conflict with the conventional religious definition of Islam.

Arab

The Arabs ((Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large ethnic group widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia.

Who is an Arab?

The definition of who an Arab is has several aspects:
- Ethnic identity: someone who considers himself to be an Arab (regardless of racial or ethnic origin) and is recognized as such by others.
- Linguistic: someone whose first language is Arabic (including any of its varieties); this definition covers more than 200 million people.
- Genealogical: someone who can trace his or her ancestry back to the original inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula.
- Political: someone who is a resident or citizen of a country where Arabic is an official or national language, or is a member of the Arab League or is part of the wider Arab world; this definition would cover more than 300 million people, but it is rather simplistic and rigid in that it excludes the entire Diaspora but includes indigenous or migrant minorities The relative importance of these factors is estimated differently by different groups. Most people who consider themselves Arabs do so on the basis of the overlap of the political and linguistic definitions. However, some members of groups which fulfill both criteria reject the identity on the basis of the genealogical definition; Lebanese Maronites, for example, may reject the Arab label in favor of a narrower Phoenecian-Lebanese national identity. Groups which use a non-Arabic liturgical language - such as Copts in Egypt - are especially likely to be considered non-Arab. Not many people consider themselves Arab on the basis of the political definition without the linguistic one—thus, Kurds or Berbers do not usually identify themselves as Arab—but some do (for instance, some Berbers do consider themselves Arabs, and Kurds were in some historical circumstances seen as Arabs or Turks or Persians). In addition, a majority of the population of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is made up of non-citizen non-Arab immigrants and so the political definition does not apply there either. A hadith of questionable authenticity[http://www.islamtoday.com/show_detail_section.cfm?q_id=266&main_cat_id=11], related by Ibn Asakir in Târîkh Dimashq and attributed by its narrator Salmân b. `Abd Allah to Islam's prophet Muhammad, expresses a common sentiment in declaring that: :"Being an Arab is not because of your father or mother, but being an Arab is on account of your tongue. Whoever learns Arabic is an Arab." According to Habib Hassan Touma (1996, p.xviii), "An 'Arab', in the modern sense of the word, is one who is a national of an Arab state, has command of the Arabic language, and possesses a fundamental knowledge of Arabian tradition, that is, of the manners, customs, and political and social systems of the culture." On its formation in 1946, the Arab League defined an "Arab" as follows: :"An Arab is a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples." As a number of the Prophet companions were of non-Arab descent, Salman the Persian, Suhaib the Roman and Bilal from Abisinia. The genealogical definition was widely used in medieval times (Ibn Khaldun, for instance, does not use the word Arab to refer to "Arabized" peoples, but only to those of originally Arabian descent), but is usually no longer considered to be particularly significant.

Religions

Before the coming of Islam, most Arabs followed a religion featuring the worship of a number of deities, including Hubal, Wadd, Al-Lat, Manat, and Uzza, while some tribes had converted to Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, had apparently rejected polytheism in favor of a vague monotheism. The most prominent Arab Christian kingdoms were the Ghassanid and Lakhmid kingdoms. With the expansion of Islam, the majority of Arabs rapidly became Muslim, and the pre-Islamic polytheistic traditions disappeared. At present, most Arabs are Muslims. Sunni Islam dominates in most areas, overwhelmingly so in North Africa; Shia Islam is prevalent in Bahrain, southern Iraq and adjacent parts of Saudi Arabia, northern Yemen, and southern Lebanon, as well as parts of Syria. The tiny Druze community, belonging to a secretive offshoot of Islam, is usually considered Arab, but sometimes considered an ethnicity in its own right. Reliable estimates of the number of Arab Christians, which in any case depends on the definition of "Arab" used, vary. According to [http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=6&reading_id=63&sequence=4 Fargues 1998], "Today Christians only make up 9.2 per cent of the population of the Near East". In Lebanon they now number only about 40 per cent of the population, in Syria they make up about 10 to 15 per cent, in the Palestinian territories the figure is 3.8 per cent, and in Israel Arab Christians constitute 2.1 per cent. In Egypt, they constitute 5.9 per cent of the population, and in Iraq they presumably comprise 2.9 per cent of the populace. Most North and South American Arabs (about two-thirds) are Arab Christians, particularly from Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. Arabic-speaking Jews - mainly Mizrahi Jews and Yemenite Jews - are today usually not categorised as Arab. Prior to the emergence of the term Mizrahi, the term "Arab Jews" (Yehudim ‘Áravim, יהודים ערבים) was used to describe Jews of Arab world. The term is rarely used today. The few remaining Jews in the Arab countries reside mostly in Morocco. Between the late 1940s and early 1960s, following the creation of the state of Israel, most Arabic-speaking Jews left their countries of birth. Most are now concentrated in Israel, but many also live in France (see Jewish exodus from Arab lands).

History

The first written attestation of the ethnonym "Arab" occurs in an Assyrian inscription of 853 BC, where Shalmaneser III lists a King Gindibu of mâtu arbâi (Arab land) as among the people he defeated at the Battle of Karkar. Some of the names given in these texts are Aramaic, while others are the first attestations of Proto-Arabic dialects. The Hebrew Bible likewise refers occasionally to peoples called `Arvi (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian". The scope of the Hebrew term at this early stage is unclear, but it seems to have referred to various desert-dwelling tribes in the Syrian Desert and Arabia. Its earliest attested use referring to the southern "Qahtanite" Arabs is much later. Proto-Arabic, or Ancient North Arabian, texts give a clearer picture of the Arabs' emergence into history. The earliest such texts are written not in the modern Arabic alphabet, nor in its Nabataean ancestor, but in variants of the Epigraphic South Arabian musnad, beginning in the 8th century BC with the Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia, and continuing from the 6th century BC on with the Lihyanite texts (in southeastern Saudi Arabia) and the Thamudic texts (found throughout Arabia and the Sinai, and not in reality connected with Thamud). Later come the Safaitic inscriptions (beginning in the 1st century BC) and the many Arabic personal names attested in Nabataean inscriptions (which are, however, written in Aramaic.) From about the 2nd century BC, a few inscriptions from Qaryat al-Faw (near Sulayyil) reveal a dialect which is no longer considered "Proto-Arabic", but Pre-Classical Arabic. By the fourth century AD, the Arab kingdoms of the Lakhmids in southern Iraq and Ghassanids in southern Syria had emerged just south of the Fertile Crescent and ended up allying respectively with the Sassanid and Byzantine Empires. Thus they were constantly at war with each other on behalf of their imperial patrons. However, their courts were responsible for some notable examples of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and for some of the few surviving pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet. The Lakhmid kingdom was dissolved by the Sassanids in 602, while the Ghassanids would hold out until engulfed by the expansion of Islam. During the 8th and 9th centuries, the Arabs (specifically the Umayyads, and later Abbasids) forged an empire whose borders touched southern France in the west, China in the east, Asia Minor in the north, and the Sudan in the south. This was one of the largest land empires in history. Throughout much of this area, the Arabs spread the religion of Islam and the Arabic language (the language of the Qur'an) through conversion and assimilation. Many groups came to be known as "Arabs" not through descent but through Arabization. Thus, over time, the term Arab came to carry a broader meaning than the original ethnic term. Many Arabs in Sudan, Morocco, Algeria and elsewhere became Arab through Arabization. Arab nationalism declares that Arabs are united in a shared history, culture and language. Arab nationalists believe that Arab identity encompasses more than outward physical characteristics, race or religion. A related ideology, Pan-Arabism, calls for all Arab lands to be united as one state. Anti-Arabism is hate or prejudice against Arabs. It is usually also associated with anti-Muslim hatred.

Traditional genealogy

Medieval Arab genealogists divided the Arabs into three groups:
- the "ancient Arabs", tribes that had been destroyed or vanished, such as Ad and Thamud; they are often alluded to in the Qur'an as examples of God's power to destroy wicked peoples.
- the "Pure Arabs" of South Arabia, descending from Qahtan. The Qahtanites (Qahtanis) are said to have migrated the land of Yemen following the destruction of the Ma'rib Dam (sadd Ma'rib). The Qahtanite Arabs were responsible for the ancient civilizations of Yemen, notably including that of the Sabaeans (known in the Bible as Sheba.)
- The "Arabized Arabs" (musta`ribah) of North Arabia, descending from Adnan, supposed to be a descendant of Ishmael (Ismail), the eldest son of Abraham and Hagar. The Arabic language as it is spoken today in its classical Quranic form was the result of a mix between the original Arabic tongue of Qahtan and the northern Arabic which shares a great deal with northern Semitic languages from the Levant. The Arabs take a great pride in their language and it's survival as usable and comprehendable language for over thousand years. In Jewish and Christian traditions, the identification of the Ishmaelites, described in the Bible as a people of the Arabian wilderness, with Arabs began at least by the time of Josephus, and became standard centuries prior to Islam (in which the term "Hagarenes", a pun on the Arabic muhajir and the name of Hagar, was commonly used.) Efforts to reconcile the Biblical and Arab genealogies later led to the identification of Joktan with Qahtan, probably due to his Biblical identification as the ancestor of Hazarmaveth (Hadramawt) and Sheba.

Etymology

The term "Arab" or "Arabian" (and cognates in other languages) has been used to translate several different but similar sounding words in ancient and classical texts which do not necessarily have the same meaning or origin. The etymology of the term is of course closely linked to that of the place name "Arabia". Although the term mâtu arbâi describing Gindibu in Assyrians texts is conventionally translated of Arab land, nothing is known with certainty about the exact location or extent of the land being referred to, nor what literal meaning the name had. In fact several different ethnonyms are found in Assyrian texts that are conventionally translated "Arab": Arabi, Arubu, Aribi and Urbi. The presence of Proto-Arabic names amongst those qualified by the terms arguably justifies the translation "Arab" although it is not certain if they all in fact represent the same group. In Hebrew the words `arav and `aravah literally mean "desert" or "steppe". In the Hebrew Bible the latter feminine form is used exclusively for the Arabah, a region associated with the Nabateans, who spoke Arabic. The former masculine form is used in Isaiah 21:13 and Ezekiel 27:21 for the region of the settlement of Kedar in the Syrian Desert. 2 Chronicles 9:14 contrasts “kings of `arav " with “governers of the country” when listing those who brought tribute to King Solomon. The word is typically translated Arabia and is the name for Arabia in Modern Hebrew. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible uses instead the literal translation “desert plain” for the verse in Isaiah. The adjectival noun `aravi formed from `arav is used in Isaiah 13:20 and Jeremiah 3:2 for a desert dweller. It is typically translated Arabian or Arab and is the modern Hebrew word for Arab. The New Revised Standard Version uses the translation "nomad" for the verse in Jeremiah. In the Bible, the word `arav is closely associated with the word `erev meaning a "mix of people" which has identical spelling in unvowelled text. Jeremiah 25:24 parallels "kings of `arav " with "kings of the `erev that dwell in the wilderness". The account in 1 Kings 10:15 matching 2 Chronicles 9:14 is traditionally vowellized to read "kings of the `erev ". The people in question are understood to be the early Nabateans who do indeed appear to have been a mix of different tribes. The medieval writer Ibn an-Nadim, in Kitab al-Fihrist, derived the word from a Syriac pun by Abraham on the same root: in his account, Abraham addresses Ishmael and tells him u`rub, from Syriac `rob, "mingle". The early Nabateans are also referred to as `arvim in Nehemiah 4:7 and the singular `arvi is applied to Geshem a leader who opposed Nehemiah. This term is identical to `aravi in unvowelled text but traditionally vowelized differently. It is usually translated "Arabian" or "Arab" and was used in early 20th century Hebrew to mean Arab. However it is unclear if the term related more to `arav or to `erev. On the one hand its vowelization resembles that of the term `arvati (Arbathite) which is understood as an adjective formed from `aravah; thus it is plausibly a variant of `aravi. On the other hand it is used in 2 Chronicles 21:16 for a seemingly different people located in Africa plausibly the same Africans referred to as an `erev (mix of people) in Ezekiel 30:5. The words `aravim (plural of `aravi) and `arvim appear the same in unvowelled texts as the word `orvim meaning ravens. The occurrences of the word in 1 Kings 17:4-6 are traditionally vowellized to read `orvim. In the Talmud (Chullin 5a) a debate is recorded as to whether the passage refers to birds or to a people so named, noting a Midianite chieftain named Oreb (`orev: raven) and the place of his death, the Rock of Oreb. Jerome understood the term as the name of a people of a town which he described as being in the confines of the Arabians. (Genesis Rabba mentions a town named Orbo near Beth Shean.) One meaning of the root `-r-b in Hebrew is "exchange/trade" (la'arov: "to exchange", ma`arav: "merchandise") whence `orvim can also be understood to mean "exchangers" or "merchants", a usage attested in the construct form in Ezekiel 27:27 which speaks of `orvei ma`aravekh: "exchangers of thy merchandise". The Ferrar Fenton Bible translates the term as "Arabians" in 1 Kings 17:4-6. In Hebrew, the word `arav has the same triconsonantal root as the root meaning "west" (ma`arav) "setting sun" or "evening" (ma`ariv, `erev). The direct Arabic cognate of this is gharb ("west", etc.) rather than `arab; however, in Ugaritic, a language which normally preserves proto-Semitic gh, this root is found with `ayin, adding confusion. The Assyrian forms may plausibly be borrowings from Aramaic or Canaanite of either root, referring to land lying to the west in the latter case; the latter possibility is perhaps strengthened by the later Greek use of the term Saracen, with the parallel meaning in Arabic of "Easterners" (sharqiyyûn.) One meaning of the word Arab in Arabic is clear; clear as in comprehensible rather than as in pure. Bedouin elders still use this term with the same meaning; those whose speech they comprehend (ie Arabic-speakers) they call Arab, and those whose speech is of unknown meaning to them, they call Ajam (ajam or ajami). This is similar to how the ancient Greeks used the term Barbarian to desribe non-Greeks - Barbarian essentially meant that when they spoke their speech sounded like "Bar Bar Bar", ie. incomprehensible. In the Persian Gulf region, the term Ajam is often used to refer to the Persians. Another explanation derives the word from an old Semitic stem `.R.B., with a metathetical alternative `.B.R., both meaning travelling around the land, that is, nomadic. From that root, the terms Arab(Arabi) and Hebrew(Ebri), meaning nomads, are derived.
References

- Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0931340888.
- Edward Lipinski, Semitic Languages: Outlines of a Comparative Grammar, 2nd ed., Orientalia Lovanensia Analecta: Leuven 2001
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01663a.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia, Robert Appleton Company, 1907, Online Edition, K. Night 2003: article Arabia]
- http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/le.html#People
See also

- Ababda
- Arabia
- Arab League
- Arab World
- Arabic alphabet
- Arabic language
- Bedouin
- Nabataeans
- Pan-Arabism
- Semitic
External links

- [http://www.aaiusa.org/arab_world.htm Maps of the Arab World]
- [http://www.albawaba.com News from Arabic countries]
- [http://www.ameinfo.com Business news from Arab countries]
- [http://www.bayt.com Jobs and Careers in the Arab World]
- [http://nabataea.net/arabia.html Arabia in ancient history] - with a discussion of the ancient usage of the word Arab
- [http://arabworld.nitle.org An Online Resource on Arab Culture and Civilization]
- [http://www.geocities.com/martinkramerorg/ArabNationalism.htm Arab Nationalism: Mistaken Identity] by Martin Kramer
- [http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/arabnationalism.htm A Criticism of the Idea of Arab Nationalism] als:Araber ko:아랍인 ja:アラブ人

Iraq

The Republic of Iraq (Arabic العراق; Kurdish Êraq) is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and also including southern Kurdistan. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the north-west, Turkey to the north, and Iran (Persia) to the east. Iraq has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. The Republic of Iraq sits on land that is historically known as Mesopotamia, which means 'land between the rivers' in Greek. This land was home to some of the world's first and most distinguished civilizations. These included Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian and many other cultures, whose influence extended into neighbouring regions, certainly from around 5000 BCE. These civilizations produced some of the first writing, science, mathematics, law and philosophy known to man, making it the center of what is commonly called the "Cradle of Civilization". Ancient Mesopotamian civilization dominated other civilizations of its time. The modern state contains a mixture of various Arab, Muslim and Kurdish cultures, deeply influenced by Persian and Ottoman rule and societies. It also hosts three of the most important religious sites in Shia Islam - the Sacred Mosque of Imam Ali in Najaf and the mosques of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas in Karbala. Najaf and Karbala are cities in southern Iraq. A transitional government of Iraq was elected in January 2005, following the March 2003 occupation of Iraq, led by American and British military forces, which drove Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party from power. American offensives on such cities as Fallujah and Tal Afar, the continued lack of such basic services as electricity and clean water, and deep political division in the country, have continued to contribute to disenchantment and disorder in the country. Supporters of the Iraqi insurgency blame the occupying forces for the disorder, but others blame the insurgency itself. In the meantime, the country is still struggling to form stable democratic institutions. On October 15, 2005, the people of Iraq approved a new Constitution of Iraq in a referendum. Though it received a 79% "yes" vote, it was opposed by a large majority of Sunni Arab Iraqis, and is considered to have "barely" passed (as a few more votes against it would have caused its defeat, due to three provinces rejecting it by more than 2/3).

Modern History

Main article: History of Iraq Modern Iraq became a British mandate (the British League of Nations Trust Territory of Iraq) at the end of World War I and was granted independence from British control in 1932. It was formed out of three former Ottoman Willayats (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. The British-installed Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown through a coup d'etat by the Iraqi army, known as the 14 July Revolution. It brought Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassim's leftist government to power (which withdrew from the Baghdad Pact and established friendly relations with the Soviet Union), from 1958 till 1963, when he was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. Salam Arif died in 1966 and his brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed the presidency. In 1968, Rahman Arif was overthrown by the right wing Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The Ba'ath's key figure became Saddam Hussein who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, in July 1979, killing off many of his opponents in the process. Saddam's absolute and particularly bloody rule lasted throughout the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), which ended in stalemate; the al-Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, which led to the alleged gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 resulting in the Gulf War; and the United Nations-imposed economic sanctions. The United States and Britain declared no-fly zones over Kurdish northern and Shiite southern Iraq.

Modern Politics

Main article: Politics of Iraq Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule from 1968 to 2003, in 1979 Saddam Hussein took leadership and became president until 2003, when he was unseated by a US-led invasion. The unicameral Iraqi parliament, the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani, had 250 seats and its members were elected for 4-year terms. No non-Ba'ath candidates were allowed to run. In November 2003, the US-managed Coalition Provisional Authority announced plans to turn over sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government by mid-2004. The actual transfer of sovereignty occurred on 28 June 2004. The interim president was Sheikh Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, and the interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. On January 30, 2005, a majority of the Iraqi people voted in an election conducted by their transitional government which elected a 275-member Transitional National Assembly. The election was seen by many as a victory for democracy in the Middle East, but that opinion is not shared by all. Seymour Hersh has reported that their was a effort by the United States Government to shift funds and other resources to Iyad Allawi and that there may have been similar under the table dealings by other parties. Although he did not get the most seats in the Iraqi Congress, Allawi's delegation jumped from a projected 3 to 4% of the vote to 14% of the vote giving him power in the writing of the Constitution. The Iraqi Assembly would:
- Serve as Iraq's national legislature. It has named a Presidency Council, consisting of a President and two Vice Presidents. (By unanimous agreement, the Presidency Council will appoint a Prime Minister and, on his recommendation, cabinet ministers.)
- Draft Iraq's new constitution. This constitution was presented to the Iraqi people for their approval in a national referendum in October 2005. Under the new constitution, Iraq would elect a permanent government in December 2005. Under the Iraqi transitional constitution, signed March 2004, the country's executive branch is now led by a three-person presidential council. The election system for the council effectively ensures that all three of Iraq's major ethnic groups are represented. The constitution also includes basic freedoms like freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and is perceived by some to be more progressive than the U.S. Constitution.[http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/18267/] Controversially, however, it states that all laws that were in effect on the transfer date cannot be repealed. Furthermore, since the coalition forces are currently working to maintain order and create a stable society under the United Nations, coalition troops can remain in control of the country indefinitely despite the transfer of sovereignty. Since Iraqi forces are currently considered not fully trained and equipped to police and secure their country, it is expected that coalition troops will remain until Iraqi forces no longer require their support. However, these rules will be set aside once the Transitional National Assembly is seated. On 5 April 2005, the Iraqi National Assembly appointed Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader, President. It also appointed Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite Arab, and Ghazi al-Yawar, the former Interim President and a Sunni Arab, as Vice Presidents. Ibrahim al-Jaafari a Shiite, whose United Iraq Alliance Party won the largest share of the vote, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Iraq. Most power is vested in him. The new government was faced with two major tasks. The first is to attempt to rein in a violent insurgency, which has blighted the country in recent months, killing many Iraqi civilians and officials as well as a number of U.S. troops. (As of mid-2005, approximately 135,000 American troops remain in Iraq.) The second major task was to re-engage in the writing of a new Iraqi constitution, as outlined above, to replace the Iraqi transitional constitution of 2004. In the meantime, the Iraqi government is considered by many international governments to be a legitimate government. According to the US administration, the judiciary in Iraq operates under the primacy of rule of law, so war criminals from the totalitarian regime of Saddam Hussein will get a fair and open trial, in which their rights will be subjected to due process and be protected by the scrutiny of a free press, the requirements of modern court proceedings. On October 15, 2005, more than 63% of eligible Iraqis came out across the country to vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution. On October 25, the vote was certified and the constitution passed with a 78% majority. [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1248677] The new constitution had overwhelming backing among the Shia and Kurdish communities, as well as among a sizeable minority of the Sunni Arabs of Western Iraq. Three provinces rejected it (Salah ad Din with 82% against, Ninawah with 55% against, and Al Anbar with 97% against), but the final vote against the constitution was not 67%, which would have defeated the constitution. Although fraud is widely believed in the Ninawah results, the results are unlikely to be overturned. Under the terms of the constitution, the country will conduct fresh nationwide parliamentary elections on December 15 to elect a new, permanent government.

Governorates

Main article: Governorates of Iraq Governorates of Iraq Iraq is divided into 18 governorates or provinces (Arabic: muhafadhat, singular - muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). Particularly in Iraqi government documents the term governorate is preferred: #Baghdad Arab, Kurdish #Salah ad Din Arab, Kurdish #Diyala Kurdish, #Wasit Arab #Maysan Arab #Al Basrah Arab #Dhi Qar Arab #Al Muthanna Arab #Al Qadisyah Arab #Babil Arab #Al Karbala Arab #An Najaf Arab #Al Anbar Arab #Ninawa Kurdish #Dahuk Kurdish #Arbil Kurdish ( also called Hewlêr in Kurdish) #At Ta'mim Kurdish #As Sulaymaniyah Kurdish The constitutionally recognized Kurdish Autonomous Region includes parts of a number of northern governorates, and is largely self-governing in internal affairs.

Geography

Kurdish Autonomous Region Main article: Geography of Iraq Large parts of Iraq consist of desert, but the area between the two major rivers Euphrates and Tigris is fertile, with the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. The north of the country is largely mountainous, with the highest point being Haji Ibrahim at 3,600 m (11,811 ft). Iraq has a small coastline with the Persian Gulf. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab (known as arvandrūd: اروندرود among Iranians) there used to be marshlands, but many of these were drained in the 1990s. The local climate is mostly a desert clime with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern mountainous regions experience cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding. The capital Baghdad is situated in the centre of the country, on the banks of the Tigris. Other major cities include Basra in the south and Mosul in the north. Iraq is considered to be the cradle of human civilization.

Economy

Mosul Mosul] Mosul Mosul Mosul Main article: Economy of Iraq Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the 1980s financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran led the government to implement austerity measures, borrow heavily, and later reschedule foreign debt payments; Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. A combination of low oil prices, onerous repayment of the war debts (at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic sanctions, and damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically reduced economic activity. Although government policies supporting large military and internal security forces and allocating resources to key supporters of the Ba`ath Party government have hurt the economy, implementation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program, started in December 1996, was to have improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. For the first six phases of the program (each phase lasting six months), Iraq was allowed to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts. Subsequent investigation of the program has revealed significant corruption, with highly-placed U.N. officials being bribed, Ba'ath Party officials receiving lucrative kickbacks, and much of the money from oil sales being redirected into weapons research and acquisition by the Iraqi military. In December 1999, the UN Security Council authorised Iraq to export under the program as much oil as required to meet humanitarian needs. Iraq changed its oil reserve currency from US dollar to euro in 2000. Oil exports were more than three-quarters of the pre-war level. However, 28% of Iraq's export revenues under the program were deducted to meet UN Compensation Fund and UN administrative expenses. The drop in GDP in 2001 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the economy to a great extent shut down; attempts are underway to revive it from the damages of war and rampant crime. During his year as the chief executive of Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer issued a series of orders designed to restructure Iraq's broadly socialist economy in line with neo-liberal thinking. Order 39 laid out the framework for the privatization of everything in Iraq aside from the "primary extraction and initial processing" of the oil reserves themselves, and permitted 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi assets. Other orders established a flat tax of 15% and permitted foreign corporations to repatriate 100% of profits earned in Iraq. Opposition from senior Iraqi officials, together with the poor security situation meant that Bremer's privatization plan was not implemented during his tenure, though his orders remain in place. Privatization of the oil industry, in addition to around 200 other state-owned businesses, is currently scheduled to begin sometime in late 2005. [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=15131] The second attempt to liberalize Iraq's economy is linked to the Iran-Iraq war debt. The creditors who financed the Iran-Iraq war had presented post-Saddam Iraq with a bill of nearly US$130 billion of debt and past-due-interest, which had not been serviced during the 13 years of sanctions. The Jubilee Iraq campaign argued that these debts were odious (or illegitimate) given that they came from loans to a dictator fighting a war which caused the Iraqi people a great deal of harm, and should therefore be written off unconditionally. The creditors, however, offered only a partial reduction and rescheduling of their claims in return for an Iraqi commitment to implement an International Monetary Fund economic program. This deal, with the Paris Club cartel of creditors including the U.S. and Britain, was signed on 20 November 2004. The following day the interim Iraqi National Assembly issued a strongly worded resolution rejecting the Paris Club's terms and declaring that the debt was odious.

Demographics

2004 Main article: Demographics of Iraq Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq's population (mainly Iraqi but some Hejazi) speaks Arabic; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds (15–20%), Assyrians (4%), and Turkomans (3%), who mostly live in the north and north-east of the country. The Assyrians, Kurds, and Turkomans differ from Arabs in many ways, including culture, history, clothing, and language. Other distinct groups are Persians, Lurs, and Armenians (possible descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian culture). About 2,500 Jews and 20,000–50,000 Marsh Arabs live in Iraq. Arabic and Kurdish are official languages; English is the most commonly spoken Western language. Assyrian is also used by the country's Assyrian population. There are more Arab Iraqi Muslim members of the Shiite sect than there are Arab Iraqi Muslims of the Sunni sect; but there is a large Sunni population as well, made up of mostly Arabs and Kurds. (Shiite 60% of total population made up of mostly Arabs). Iraq's sizable Christian population numbers some 750,000, most of them of the Chaldean rite. Bahá'ís, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. Demographic information from the 2004 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook:
- Ethnic groups: Arab, 75–80%; Kurdish, 15–20%; Assyrian or other, 5%
- Religions: Muslim, 93–95% (Shi'ite, 60%; Sunni 40%); Christian, Yezidi, or other, 5–7%

Culture

Main article: Culture of Iraq
- Music of Iraq

Miscellaneous topics

- Economy: Iraq Stock Exchange, Iraqi Dinar, Economy of Iraq
- Events: 2005 in Iraq, 2004 in Iraq, 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Post-invasion Iraq, 2003-2005, Iraqi insurgency
- Geography: List of places in Iraq, Communications of Iraq, Transportation in Iraq, Arab Tribes in Iraq
- Politics: Politics of Iraq, New Iraqi Army, Foreign relations of Iraq, Human rights violations in Iraq, Iraqi insurgency, M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Religion and Politics in Iraq. Shiite Clerics between Quietism and Resistance, with a foreword by Professor Hamid Algar of the University of California at Berkeley. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2004 (ISBN 9971775131)
- History: List of Kings of Iraq, List of Presidents of Iraq, List of Prime Ministers of Iraq, British Mandate of Iraq, History of the Jews in Iraq
- Others: Postage stamps and postal history of Iraq, Gay rights in Iraq

External links

-
- [http://www.activistmagazine.com/index.php?option=content&task=category§ionid=3&id=152&Itemid=56 ACTivist Magazine] Iraq Article Archive
- [http://www.mourningthevote.com/iraq.htm Mourningthevote.com] Information on US troops in Iraq
- [http://www.iraqigovernment.org/ Iraqi Interim Government] official government site
- [http://www.krg.org/ Kurdistan Regional Government]
- [http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/iraq.htm al-Bab - Iraq]
- [http://www.h-net.org/~museum/iraq.html / H-Museum Iraq site]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791014.stm BBC News Country Profile - Iraq]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz.html CIA World Factbook - Iraq]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3212.htm US State Department - Iraq] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Iraq/ Open Directory Project - Iraq] directory category
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Iraq/ Yahoo! - Iraq] directory category
- [http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Iraq Yahoo! News Full Coverage - Iraq] news headline links
- [http://www.newsxs.com/en/preset/101 Iraq - News and Rss-feed by NewsXS]
- [http://www.newsxs.com/en/preset/396 News on the Iraq Constitution]
- [http://www.newsxs.com/en/preset/424 News on Saddam's Trial]
- [http://www.edinarfinancial.net/news Iraq News]
- [http://www.lawksalih.com Lawk Salih] News on Iraq, Iraqi Music, Kurdish News
- [http://schema-root.org/region/mideast/iraq/ Schema-root.org: Iraq] 300 Iraq related topics, each with its own current news feed
- [http://www.juancole.com/ Informed Comment] Commentary on war in Iraq from Middle East scholar Juan Cole
- [http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/index.php Dahr Jamail Iraq Dispatches] News From Inside Iraq
- [http://www.indepthinfo.com/iraq/index.shtml Indepth Analysis of the Gulf War]
- International Freedom of Expression eXchange monitors [http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/222 attacks on journalists in Iraq]
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xM465D/ A DWELLER IN MESOPOTAMIA], being the adventures of an official artist in the garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921. (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xM465D/1f/dweller_in_mesopotamia.pdf layered PDF] format)
- [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xW684B/ BY DESERT WAYS TO BAGHDAD], by Louisa Jebb (Mrs. Roland Wilkins) With illustrations and a map, 1908 (1909 ed). (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xW684B/1f/desert_ways_to_baghdad.pdf layered PDF] format)
- [http://home.developmentgateway.org/iraq Iraq: Relief and Recovery] Development Gateway's knowledge sharing community on Iraq's development needs and efforts.
- Sourcewatch on [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Reconstruction_of_Iraq_contractors reconstruction of Iraq contractors].
- [http://www.iraqwiki.com Iraq Wiki]
- [http://www.iraqanalysis.org/ Iraq Analysis] Information Source Listings and analysis on post-invasion Iraq
- [http://www.jubileeiraq.org Jubilee Iraq] Campaign to eliminate Iraq's pre-war debt and reparations
- [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engMDE140082001?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIESIRAQ Amnesty International Report on Iraq]
- [http://www.brucegourley.com/iraqtheocracy/ Iraq Theocracy Watch]
- [http://www.cpa-iraq.org/ Coalition Provisional Authority] Now-defunct occupation authority; site is archived
- [http://baghdad.usembassy.gov/ US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq]
- [http://www.ameinfo.com/iraq/ AME Info - Country Guide: Iraq]
- [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/mesopotamia/ Pictures of Iraq (Mespotamia) during World War One, showing the peoples, Red Cross River Ambulances and British Army/Indian taken by Captain Weaver]

Video

- Category:Arab League Category:Southwest Asian countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:Near Eastern countries Category:Persian Gulf states Category:100 most endangered sites zh-min-nan:Iraq ko:이라크 ms:Iraq ja:イラク simple:Iraq th:ประเทศอิรัก

Iran

Iran (Persian: ايران) is a Middle Eastern country located in Southwest Asia bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan including its Nakhichevan exclave and Turkmenistan to the north, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, Turkey and Iraq to the west. Until 1935 the country was referred to in the West as Persia. In 1959, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi announced that both terms could be used. In 1979, the Iranian revolution established a theocratic Islamic Republic, changing the country's official name to the Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ايران). Dispute exists as to the country's current official name.

History

Sometime around 1500 to 1000 BC, the Iranian nomads of Indo-European stock emigrated to the Iranian plateau possibly from Central Asia. In 8th century BC, the first Iranian government was established under the Median dynasty and under the following dynasty, the Achaemenids, Iranians built the first world empire. Their empire emerged in the 6th century BC under Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who called himself "King of Iran and beyond". Indeed, the name Persia is derived from Persis, the ancient Greek name for the empire. The Achaemenid dynasty was followed by the Parthian and Sassanid dynasties as Persia's greatest pre-Islamic empires. Alexander the Great first conquered Persia in 331 BC, followed by Islam's Arab forces in the 7th century, and Genghis Khan, and lastly, Tamerlane who conquered a significant portion of Persia in the middle ages. middle ages The 9th century saw the rise of the Saffarids and then other lines of kings or shahs. During the 19th century Persia came under increasing pressure from both Russia and the United Kingdom, leading to a process of modernization that continued into the 20th century. By the 20th century Iranians were longing for a change and thus followed the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905/1911. In 1953 Iran's elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, was removed from power in a complex plot orchestrated by British and US intelligence agencies (dubbed "Operation Ajax"). Many scholars suspect that this ouster was motivated by British-US opposition to Mosaddeq's attempt to nationalize Iran's oil. Following Mosaddeq's fall, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Iran's monarch) grew increasingly dictatorial. With strong support from the USA and the UK, the Shah further modernized Iranian industry but crushed civil liberties. His autocratic rule, including systematic torture and other human rights violations, led to the Iranian revolution and overthrow of his regime in 1979. After more than a year of political struggle between a variety of different groups, an Islamic republic was established under the Ayatollah Khomeini by a revolution. The new theocratic political system instituted some conservative Islamic reforms and engaged in an anti-Western course. In particular Iran distanced itself from the United States due to the American involvement in the 1953 coup, which supplanted an elected government with the Shah's repressive regime. It also declared its refusal to recognize the existence of Israel as a state. The new government inspired various groups considered by a large part of the Western World to be fundamentalist. As a consequence some countries, currently led by the USA, consider Iran to be a hostile power. In 1980 Iran was attacked by neighbouring Iraq and the destructive Iran-Iraq War continued until 1988. The struggle between reformists and conservatives over the future of the country continues today through electoral politics and was a central Western focus in the 2005 Elections where Conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphed.

Politics

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iran is a constitutional Islamic Republic, whose political system is laid out in the 1979 constitution. Iran's makeup has several intricately connected governing bodies, some of which are democratically elected and some of which are appointed by religious leaders. The concept of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist) plays an influential role in the governmental structure. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for the delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran." In the absence of a single leader, a council of religious leaders is appointed. The Supreme Leader is commander-in-chief of the armed forces; he alone can declare war. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, and the supreme commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also appoints six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians. He, or the council of religious leaders, are elected by the Assembly of Experts, on the basis of their qualifications and the high popular esteem in which they are held. Twelve jurists comprise the Council of Guardians, six of whom are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The head of the judiciary recommends the remaining six, which are officially appointed by Parliament. The Council of Guardians is vested with the authority to interpret the constitution and determines if the laws passed by Parliament are in line with sharia (Islamic law) and the Iranian constitution; if a law passed by Parliament is deemed incompatible, it is referred back to Parliament for revision. After the office of Leadership, the President of Iran is the highest official in the country. His is responsibile for implementing the Constitution and acting as the head of the executive, except in matters directly concerned with the Leadership. All presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running, and are elected to a 4-year term. After his election, the president appoints and supervises the 21-member Council of Ministers (who must then be confirmed by Parliament), coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the parliament. Eight vice presidents serve under the president. The unicameral Iranian parliament consists of 290 members elected to a 4-year term (approved by the Council of Guardians before running). It drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the country's budget. All legislation from the assembly must be reviewed by the Council of Guardians. The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week every year, consists of 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by the public to eight-year terms. Like presidential and parliamentary elections, the Council of Guardians determines eligibility to run for a seat in this assembly. The head of the judiciary is appointed by the Supreme Leader, who in turn appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor. Public courts deal with civil and criminal cases. "Revolutionary" courts try certain categories of offenses, including crimes considered against national security or the republic and narcotics smuggling. Decisions rendered in these courts are final and cannot be appealed. The Special Clerical Court, which functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader, handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving lay people.

Administrative divisions

Provinces

Iran consists of 30 provinces: Provinces are governed from a local center, mostly the largest local city. Provincial authority is headed by a governor (استاندار: ostāndār), who is installed by the Minister of Interior subject to approval of the cabinet. Until 2004 there were 28 provinces. A law passed that year split the province of Khorasan into three new provinces: North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, and South Khorasan.

Major cities

Iran's top four largest cities are: Image:Meydoon sadeghiyeh.jpg|Tehran: 8,601,473 (2005 pop.) Image:Nadershahtomb.jpg|Mashad: 2,307,177 (2005 pop.) Image:IMG 0414 resize.jpg|Isfahan: 1,547,164 (2005 pop.) Image:Poets tomb tabriz.jpg|Tabriz: 1,424,641 (2005 pop.) See also: List of cities in Iran.

Geography

List of cities in Iran Iran borders Azerbaijan (length of border: 432 km / 268 mi ) and Armenia (35 km / 22mi) to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan (992 km / 616 mi) to the northeast, Pakistan (909 km / 565 mi) and Afghanistan (936 km / 582 mi) to the east, Turkey (499 km / 310 mi) and Iraq (1,458 km / 906 mi) to the west, and finally the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south. Iran's total land mass is 1,648,000 km² / ≈636,300 mi² (Land: 1,636,000 km² / ≈631,663 mi², Water: 12,000 km² / ≈4,633 mi²). Iran's landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Zagros and Alborz Mountains, the latter of which also contains Iran's highest point, the Damavand at 5,671 m (18,606 ft). The eastern half consists mostly of uninhabited desert basins with the occasional salt lake. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran borders on the mouth of the Arvand river (Shatt al-Arab). Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. The Iranian climate is mostly arid or semiarid, though subtropical along the Caspian coast. Iran is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity".

Climate

Iran's varied landscape produces several different climates. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) the temperatures nearly fall below freezing and remain humid for the rest of the year. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29°C (84°F). Annual precipitation is 680 mm (26 in) in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1700 mm (75 in) in the western side of the plain. At higher elevations to the west, settlements in the Zagros mountains basins experience lower temperatures. These areas have severe winters, with average daily temperatures below freezing and have heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid. They get less than 200 mm (8 in) of rain and have occasional desert. The average summer temperatures exceed 38°C (100°F). The coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern Iran have mild winters and experience very humid and hot summers. The Annual precipitation ranges from 135 mm to 355 mm (6 to 14 in).

Economy

Gulf of Oman Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. The current administration has continued to follow the market reform plans of the previous one and has indicated that it will pursue diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy. Iran is attempting to diversify by investing revenues in other areas, including petrochemicals. Iran is also hoping to attract billions of dollars worth of foreign investment by creating a more favorable investment climate (i.e., reduced restrictions and duties on imports, creation of free-trade zones). Iran is OPEC's second largest oil producer and holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves. It also has the world's second largest natural gas reserves (after Russia). The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent rise in oil prices in 1999/2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room. Iranian budget deficits have been a chronic problem, in part due to large-scale state subsidies–totaling some $7.25 billion per year–including foodstuffs and especially gasoline. gasoline district.]] On March 20, 2006, Iran plans to participate in a new International Oil Bourse, trading oil priced as Petroeuros, rather than Petrodollars, as oil is traded in all other markets (as of 2005). This attempt to rebalance trading relationships in the world economy may trigger a series of far reaching consequences. A few observers, especially among peak oil production theorists who believe that an oil crisis is imminent, argue that there is a potential for a resource war with the United States of America over the flow of both dollars and oil. Others, including military leaders and peak oil theorists who believe that a crisis is further off, argue that the results of war game scenarios cast doubt on the argument that a war is the most likely result of the Oil Bourse. The services sector has seen the greatest long-term growth in terms of its share of GDP, but the sector remains volatile. State investment has boosted agriculture, however, with the liberalization of production and the improvement of packaging and marketing helping to develop new export markets. Large-scale irrigation schemes, together with the wider production of export-based agricultural items such as dates, flowers and pistachios, produced the fastest economic growth of any sector in Iran over much of the 1990s, although successive years of severe drought in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 have held back output growth substantially. Agriculture remains one of the largest employers, accounting for 22% of all jobs according to the 1991 census. According to the U.N. World Drug Report for 2005, Iran has the highest proportion of opiate addicts in the world–2.8 percent of the population over age 15. Only two other countries–Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan–pass the 2 percent mark. With a population of about 70 million and some government agencies putting the number of regular users close to 4 million, Iran has no real competition as world leader in per capita addiction to opiates, including heroin.

Demographics

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Ethnic groups

The majority of Iran's population speak one of the Iranian languages, though only Persian is an official language. While the number, percentage, and definition of the different Iranian peoples is disputed, the major ethnic groups and minorities in Iran include the Persians (51%), Azeris (24%), Gilaki and Mazandarani (8%), Kurds (7%), Arabs (3%), Baluchi (2%), Lurs (2%), Turkmen people (2%), Qashqai, Armenians, Persian Jews, Assyrians and others.

Religion

Assyrians Most Iranians are Muslims; 89% belong to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion, and about 10% belong to the Sunni branch, which predominates in most Muslim count