The Republic of Iraq (conventional short form: Iraq) (Arabic: العراق (help·info) transliteration: al-‘Irāq,Turkish: Irak, Assyrian: ܥܪܐܩ, Kurdish: عيَراق), is a country in Southwest Asia spanning most of Mesopotamia as well as the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf.
Modern-day Iraq covers a large area of Mesopotamia, which is considered one of the cradles of civilization. It was on the banks of the Tigris, which passes through the capital Baghdad, that writing is believed to have been born. During its long history, it has been part of the Persian, Ottoman and British empires.
Today, Iraq is a developing nation that is the focus of increased attention from the West because of the Iraq War.
