Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (in modern day Iraq), is often referred to as the cradle of civilization because it is the first place where complex urban centers grew.

Cultural Hearths in History The seven original cultural hearths are located in: Mesopotamia, Nile Valley and the Indus Valley, Wei-Huang Valley, Ganges Valley, Mesoamerica, West Africa, Andean America.

The two main cultural hearths in this realm are located along the rivers in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. Control of and access to water resources to grow excess food were the basis for the success of the empires that flourished in these two areas.

Mesopotamia

In Mesopotamia, a remarkable human civilization emerged along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is present-day Iraq, Syria, and southern Turkey.

The chief crops are barley, wheat, rice, vegetables, corn (maize), millet, sugarcane, sugar beets, oil seeds, fruit, fodder, tobacco, and cotton. Yields vary considerably from year to year, especially in areas of rain-fed cultivation.

Iraqi people are people who originate from the country of Iraq. Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Iraq, while Kurds are the largest ethnic minority.

Iraq is home diverse ethnic groups and has a very long and rich heritage. The country is known for its poets، architects، painters and sculptors who are among the best in the region, some of them being world-class. Iraq is known for producing fine handicrafts, including rugs and carpets among many other things.

Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians, Sabian-Mandaeans, Circassians, and Kawliya. Around 95-98% of the country’s 38 million citizens are Muslims, with small minorities of Christians, Yarsans, Yezidis and Mandaeans also present.

Religion in Iraq

• Religion in Iraq is overwhelmingly Muslim.
• Iraq’s Muslims follow two distinct traditions, Shia and Sunni Islam.
• Smaller sects of Islam exist in the country, such as the small Shia Shaykhist community concentrated in Basra and Karbala.
• Iraqi Kurds are 98% Sunni Muslims, with a Shia Feyli minority of 2%.

Do not travel to Iraq due to COVID-19, terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, and Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens in Iraq are at high risk for violence and kidnapping.

In accordance with Iraqi law, citizens of most countries require a visa to visit Iraq….Visa on arrival

• Bahrain.
• Kuwait.
• Lebanon.
• Oman.