Iraq

A country of southwest Asia. Site of a number of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, including Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia, the region fell to Cyrus the Great of Persia (6th century B.C.), Alexander the Great (4th century B.C.), Arabs (7th century), and later to the Ottoman Turks (16th century). It was established as an independent kingdom in 1921 and became a republic after the assassination (1958) of Faisal II. Baghdad is the capital and largest city. Population: 27,500,000.