Middle East, South West Asia And Human Geography: Iraq

I have had the privilege to travel all over the Middle East and South West Asia. None of the places that I have been have been as outstanding as my deployment to Iraq. The History amazes me, knowing that the vast deserts once were the Fertile Crescent and the hearth of civilization. The importance of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is invaluable, flowing to a point where the ancient city of Ur lies, giving rise to irrigation techniques still in use today. The history of Iraq is without a doubt invaluable.

A part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq gained its independence in 1932 being declared a republic in 1958. In 1980 an eight year conflict with Iran led economic turmoil. Two years after the end of the Iran-Iraq Contra Iraq invaded and seized Kuwait. This was short lived as US led collation forces expelled Iraq out of Kuwait later that year. In 2003 The US led the invasion to expel long time leader Saddam Husain for failure to comply with UN Security Council rules and regulations of Weapons of Mass Destruction and long range missiles. US military operations continued until December 2011.

Iraq has had success over the past few years concerning its economy. With a GDP of $138.8 billion it ranks number 62 in the world. Iraq has seen a growth rate of 8.9% in 2011, which is number 10 in the world, with a GDP per capita of $4,200. Iraq’s main exports are petroleum, chemicals and textiles with 22.3% of the exports coming to the United States.

The population of Iraq is 31,120,000 (2012 est.) Iraq is an Arab nation with a 75% Arab ethnicity, followed by 15% Kurdish. The official religion of Iraq is Muslim with 97% of the population following the teachings of the Holy Karan.

One very noticeable fact about Iraq is the very impressive cities and urban areas that have been built. Iraq has an urban population of 66% and a urbanization rate of 2.6% each year. Many of the people of Iraq are starting to move into the cities, and out of the fields. As a flyer it is easy to see the layout of most of the cities. Most cities seem to follow the concentric zone model, with the largest parts of the cities in the central business district, followed by a ring of transition with low class housing all the way out to the farming lands that surround the city.

Iraq most certainly has been one of my most interesting deployments. A land bathed in history, and infrastructure. It is very interesting to incorporate what has been learned in Human Geography to the landscape and the people of Iraq. The ever changing structure and face of Iraq is a valuable part of the human history.