Countries

Iraq

Iraq lies in ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where Sumerian cities such as Uruk developed some of the earliest known writing. Baghdad, founded in 762 as the Abbasid capital, is the capital today.

A reed house and narrow boats at the water's edge in the Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq at sunset

The Mesopotamian Marshes

Photo: (Ahmed Abdul Amiralem) احمد عبدالاميرلازم, CC BY-SA 4.0

Red, white and black are Pan-Arab colours. The green Kufic script on the white band reads Allahu Akbar (God is Great). The 2008 version dropped three green stars that sat beside it.

How it has changed

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