Iraq is a country in the Middle East and shares a border with Kuwait, Iran, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Iraq is home to a number of different ethnic groups, and the country is shaped by a number of ethnic, religious, and cultural forces. Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens account for the majority of Iraq’s population. Although there are differences among them, Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens share common religious beliefs because the majority of them are Muslims. Arabs account for 75-80% of the population while Kurdish and Turkmen account for 15-20% and 5% respectively (PBS Org, 2002). 97% of Iraq’s population are Muslims (60-65% are Shi’a, and 32-37% are Sunni), whereas 3% are Christian (PBS Org, 2002). Iraq has a culture that has integrated the cultures of its diverse ethnic groups.
Iraq was administratively divided into eighteen provinces. The borderlines, which form these provinces, were drawn for administrative purposes. However, the ethnic and religious groups reorganized themselves for various reasons, including ethnic and religious reasons. Some provinces in Iraq are regarded as Kurdish provinces, meaning that the Kurds dominate them while Arabs and Turkmen dominate others. Dohuk, Erbil, and Seleimaniya examples of Kurdish provinces are Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) directly rules these provinces (Kirman, 2013). The Arabs dominate most of the other provinces in Iraq, including Muthanna, Najaf, Al-Anbar, Baghdad, Karbala, Al-Qadsiya, and Basra (Kirman, 2013). Generally, Arabs dominate most of the provinces in the west side and southeast of the country while the Kurds dominate provinces located in the northeast.
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With regard to religion, the Sunni Arabs are concentrated in the Midwest and northeast of the country. Al-Anbar and Salah Al-Din are the only two provinces that are dominated by Sunnis (Kirman, 2013). Until the late 1950s, the Sunni Arabs dominated Baghdad province, but afterward, the Shiite Arabs overwhelmed them (Kirman, 2013). The Islamic religion shapes the historical development of Iraq as the majority of its population are Muslims, and Arab countries bordering the country. The history of the country has also been marked by cultural ascendance, which is comparable to that of ancient Egypt as well as to that of Greco-Roman civilizations (State University, 2019).
References
Kirmanj, S. (2013). Identity and nation in Iraq. Boulder, CO; USA. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN: 978-1-58826-885-3 hc.
PBS Org. (2002). Global connections: The Middle East. [Online]. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/maps/demo.html . Accessed 25 th September 2019.
State University. (2019). Iraq: History & background. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/682/Iraq-HISTORY-BACKGROUND.html . Accessed 25th September 2019.
