Iraq occupies the ancient region of Mesopotamia, "land amidst the rivers," a fertile lowland created by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Today these rivers sustain large areas of irrigated farmland and one of the highest populations in the Middle East. Beneath the land, Iraq is second only to Saudi Arabia in rich oil reserves. Temperatures range from below freezing in winter to higher than 49°C (120°F) in the summer.

Iraq's diverse population includes some 20 million Arabs consisting of Shiite Muslims (60 percent), Sunni Muslims (35 percent), and Christians (3 percent). Most Shiites live in the southeast, and most Sunnis live in central Iraq. About four million Kurds, a non-Arab Muslim people, live in the mountainous northeast.

Iraq gained independence in 1932 as a monarchy, but a 1958 coup brought a series of military dictatorships. In 1979 Saddam Hussein took control of Iraq; he invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. Iraq lost both resource-draining wars. Iraqis suffered from high war casualties and from Hussein's persecution of Shiites, Kurds, and others who opposed him.

U.S.-led coalition forces drove the Iraqi occupation army from Kuwait in 1991 and patrolled no-fly zones over Iraq from 1992-2003—protecting Kurds and Shiites from Iraqi warplanes. The Kurdish community, defying the Iraqi army, established its own self-governing region in the early 1990s. Iraq ended cooperation with UN weapons inspectors in 1998, creating concern that Iraq was again developing nuclear or chemical weapons.

Another U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, reaching Baghdad by April 9 and capturing Hussein on December 14. After the removal of Hussein, the Coalition Provisional Authority temporarily administered Iraq until June 28, 2004, when it transferred authority to the Iraqi Interim Government. Iraq's permanent constitution was ratified on October 15, 2005, and two months later an election was held for a 275-member Council of Representatives. The council approved most of Iraq's cabinet members on May 20, 2006, marking the transition to Iraq's new constitutional government. On December 30, 2006, former President Hussein was hanged for crimes against humanity.