The country of Iraq, known now as The Republic of Iraq, wasn't always known by this name. Back in the medieval era, Iraq was the name of an arab province that made up the southern half of the modern-day country. At 168,754 square miles, which is twice the size of the U.S. state of Idaho, and larger than the countries of Syria and Jordan put together, Iraq is surrounded by even larger countries such as …show more content…
Mesopotamia was centered on the land between the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia went by another commonly reffered to name "The Fertile Crescent". Mesopotamia was an important center of early civilization, and saw the rise and fall of many cultures and settlements. One of the culturally rich civilizations that were lost to time was Mesopotamia. Baghdad, now the capital city of Iraq was first founded as a village that the Arabs chose to develop as their newly founded capital city, which is located in the Central Plains. Iraq is bordered by numerous countries such as, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Turkey as well as the Persian Gulf. The Northern borders near Iran and Turkey are extremely mountainous and experience harsh winters, and extreme colds, whilst the rest of the west is mostly dry hot desert. While it might not seem so, the differences in these climates have influenced the various agriculture and ethnic groups through Iraq's history, especially since a large portion of the economy used to be agriculturally based. Religion also is influenced by the economy and culture as