Al-Baṣrah summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Basra.

Al-Baṣrah, or Basra, Port and city (pop., 2011 est.: 1,200,000), southeastern Iraq. It lies at the head of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab, about 70 mi (110 km) upstream from the Persian Gulf. Founded in 638 ce, it became famous under the ʿAbbāsid dynasty; in The Thousand and One Nights it was the city from which Sindbad the Sailor set sail. In the 17th–18th centuries it became a trading centre. Occupied by the British in World War I (1914–18), the town and port underwent many improvements and grew in importance. After World War II (1939–45) the growth of Iraq’s petroleum industry turned Al-Baṣrah into a major refining centre. It suffered heavy damage in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and the Persian Gulf War (1990–91), and in the early 21st century it was a scene of fighting during the Iraq War.

Iraq Summary

Iraq, country of southwestern Asia. During ancient times, lands that now constitute Iraq were known as Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, including those of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria.