Iraq is a country located in South-West Asia. It borders with Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, with Jordan and Syria. In the south it is washed by the Persian Gulf. It is a unique culture when it comes to its history, culture and what is even more important – its people. The national color of Iraq cannot leave any person indifferent as it causes strong emotions. First of all this country has a type of land to any cultivated taste: rivers, mountains, plains, swamps and even deserts. In fact, Iraq now occupies the territory which was known from the scriptural times as Mesopotamia – the land “between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates”. Its population created the first civilization in the region, which was based on irrigated cropping. This gave a great start for the development of region and historical importance.  Later, Iraq became a part of such great ancient states as Babylonia and Assyria. Bagdad – is the capital of Iraq and basically is the concentration of all the diversity of the country. If these people were able to create such archeological places of interest as Hatra or Al-Ukhaidir, than they cannot be underestimated.

I    It is important to mention the fact that Iraq is a republic and the head of the country is the president. Iraqi people use dinar as a monetary unit. As for the modern people of Iraq, it is necessary to say that many ethnical and religious groups live there. And all these ethnical and religious groups have highly influenced the culture and life of Iraq. Jews and Turks are among the dominating ethnical groups.  The mainly spoken language is the Arabic (which actually is the official language of the state) and the Kurdish language. As for the religious preferences, it might be said that approximately 95% of the population are Muslims with a correspondingly small percentage of Christians and Jews. At the presents moment, around 90% of the Iraqi people can write and read.

As it has been mentioned before, all the diverse ethnical and religious groups living in Iraq have greatly influenced the development, traditions and culture of the country. Nevertheless, the Muslim perception of the world and philosophy remain the base of the social life. The country provides the Iraqi people with free education but with the dominant amount of males in schools. Iraqi people prefer the humanities as the high emotionality often results in creativity.  One of the brightest examples is the popularity of poetry in Iraq as of a way to reflect feelings. This kind of self-expression is accepted and very respected in Iraq.  Theaters are welcomed and attended in Iraq, along with the attempts of the state to revive national music and dance. Nevertheless, the mass audience prefers music in the Arabic language. Historically the Iraqi people play the lute and the zither.  As for the development of the population, the society of Iraq was formed mainly under the influence of the Arabic language, Islam and the Arabic culture, though other ethnical and religious groups influenced it too. During the XX century, under the impact of the western culture, increasing urbanism and the modernization, the traditional social groups were blurred, but did not disappear completely. The communities of small cities and villages survived as separate social units and for the general body of the population the religious belonging remains the most important sign of the group or individual self-consciousness.

     As for the country itself and important fact is that all the establishments in the sphere of social security are under the patronage of the state. The state system of social security provides pensions and disability benefits. In order to give correct picture of the situation in Iraq it is necessary to say that almost all the medical establishments in the country are state establishment. Medical aid is either free or very cheap. Along with the World Health Organization, Iraq participated in the program aimed against malaria, trachoma and other diseases. The state of Iraq tries its best to take care of its diverse population and to cope with the difficulties it faces. Nevertheless, in spite of all the positive moments, The Iraqi people live in poverty and very often their work can provide them only with food and shelter in order to survive. It is very hard to talk about any sort of economic “stability” in Iraq, for now as it is a developing country. Notwithstanding all these aspects, the people of Iraq are friendly and have a unique culture and history.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited:

 

Tripp, Charles.A History of Iraq.Cambridge University Press,2000

 

Iraq. Encyclopedia Britannica. September 5, 2007. October 1, 2008.

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