Wasit Governorate ( ar, واسط, translit=Wāsit) is a

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is often used in translation from ...

in eastern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, south-east of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

and bordering

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. Major cities include the capital Al-Kut,

Al-Hai Al-Hay ( ar, الحي) is a town located in Iraq's Wasit Province. It 45 kilometers south of the Kut and 220 kilometers south of Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab ...

and Al-Suwaira. The governorate contains the

Mesopotamian Marshes The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and in southwestern Iran. The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra, ...

of Shuwayja, Al-Attariyah, and Hor Aldelmj. Its name comes from the Arabic word meaning "middle," as the former city of Wasit lay along the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

about midway between Baghdad and

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

. Wasit city was abandoned after the Tigris shifted course.

History

The ancient

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...

ian city-state of Der is located near the town of Badra. The governorate experienced heavy fighting in the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...

, specifically the

Battle of the Marshes The Battle of the Marshes ( ar, معركة الأهوار, fa, نبرد نیزارها) was a part of the Iran–Iraq War. After the mostly indecisive Dawn operations in 1983, Iran opened a new, surprise amphibious offensive in the lakes of t ...

. During the

Iraq spring fighting of 2004 The 2004 Iraq spring fighting was a series of operational offensives and various major engagements during the Iraq War. It was a turning point in the war: before, the conflict was simply US/Coalition versus insurgents, but the Spring Fighting ma ...

, the

Mahdi Army The Peace Companies ( ar, سرايا السلام, or Saraya al Salam) are an Iraqi armed group linked to Iraq's Shia community. They are a 2014 revival of the Mahdi Army ( ''Jaysh al-Mahdī'') that was created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada a ...

briefly took control of the capital Kut, from April 6 to April 16, before being defeated by US forces.

Demographics

The population is approximately 1,450,000. The majority are

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

. The marshes have traditionally been home to many

Marsh Arabs The Marsh Arabs ( ar, عرب الأهوار ''ʻArab al-Ahwār'' "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as the Maʻdān ( ar, معدان "dweller in the plains") or Shroog (Iraqi ar, شروق, "those from the east")—the latter two often ...

. There are also

Feyli Kurds Feylis ( ku, فه‌یلی ,Feylî, also known as Feyli Kurds), is a Kurdish tribe mainly living in the borderlands between Iraq and Iran, and in Baghdad. They speak Feyli (also known as "Ilami" or "Southern Kurdish Feyli") which is classified ...

in the eastern town of Badra. A small Lurish community exists east of Kut. As of 2007, the unemployment rate is 10% and the poverty rate 35%.

Provincial government

*Governor: Malik Khalaf *Deputy Governor: Ahmed Abdu Salam

Districts

* Al-Aziziyah * Badra *

* Kut * Numaniyah * Suwaira

References

External links

Iraq Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit
Reports, Maps and Assessments of Iraq's Governorates from the UN Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit Governorates of Iraq {{Iraq-geo-stub