The Iraqi–Syrian border is the border between

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and runs for a total length of across

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...

and the

Syrian desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

, from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

in the south-west to the tripoint with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the north-east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Jordan at , with the initial section being a continuation of the long straight line that forms the eastern section of the Jordan–Syria border. The boundary then shifts in the vicinity of the

Euphrates river The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

and the Al-Qa'im border crossing, proceeding northwards via a series of short straight lines, and then north-eastwards to the

Tigris river The Tigris ( ; see below) is the eastern 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, before merging ...

. The Tigris then forms a short 3-4 mile section of the border up to the Turkish tripoint at the confluence with the Khabur river at .

History

At the start of the 20th century, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

controlled what is now Syria and Iraq. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, an

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

- supported by Britain - succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East. As a result of the Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement, Britain gained control of the Ottoman

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

s of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, which it organised into the mandate of Iraq in 1920, with France organising a mandate over Syria. In the period 1920-23 France and Britain signed a series of agreements, collectively known as the Paulet–Newcombe Agreement, which created the modern Jordan-Syria and Iraq–Syria borders, as an amendment to what had been designated the ''A zone'' in the Sykes–Picot Agreement. In 1932, it was finalised following a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

commission review. Since the beginning of the 2003

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, the border region has become unstable, exacerbated since 2011 by the ongoing Syrian Civil War. Most of the border region on both sides was part of the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

(IS) for some years, although its northernmost portion remained under Kurdish control, forming the border between

Rojava Rojava may refer to: * Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava, the geographical region where Kurds historically settled within present-day Syria * Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administ ...

and

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

. The Islamic State has since lost control of the border, which is controlled by Rojava and the

Syrian government The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

on the Syrian side, and the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the official executive body of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdish poli ...

and

Iraqi government The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as a democratic, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branche ...

on the Iraqi side.

Border crossings

There are three official border crossings between

and

, and one makeshift crossing: * The Rabia border crossing, on the Al-Shaddadah–

road, is the most northerly official crossing. *The Al-Qa'im border crossing between

Abu Kamal Abu Kamal (), also known as Al-Bukamal (), is a city in eastern Syria located on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the Abu Kamal District and the local subdistr ...

in Syria and Al Qa'im in Iraq. The crossing was reopened on 30 September 2019, after eight years of closure due to Syrian Civil War and Iraqi Civil War. Since the reopening of the border crossing, the Iranian-backed militia

Kata'ib Hezbollah Kata'ib Hezbollah (), also known as the Hezbollah Brigades, is an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group which is a part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), staffing the 45th, 46th, and 47th Brigades. During the Iraq War (2003–11), the g ...

, a group under the Popular Mobilization Units, has played an important military and security role on the Iraqi side of the border. *The Al Waleed border crossing, known in Syria as al-Tanf, is located in the Ar-Rutba District of the

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

, close to the westernmost point of Iraq and the northeasternmost point of

, in the desert Badia region. It serves as the main border checkpoint on the highway between

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and

. The al-Tanf checkpoint is on the Syrian side of the border, in Homs province. There are

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

refugee camps on both sides: the Al-Waleed camp on the Iraqi side and the Al Tanf camp on the Syrian side. The crossing was captured by ISIL in May 2015 and repelled in March 2016. *The Semalka Border Crossing is a pontoon bridge across the Tigris established by the

during the Syrian Civil War about downstream from the Iraqi–Syrian–Turkish tripoint, and just north of Faysh Khabur in Iraq.

References

External links

* Kathy Gilsinan
The Many Ways to Map the Islamic 'State'
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', 27 August 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq-Syria border 1932 establishments in Iraq 1932 establishments in Mandatory Syria 1932 in international relations Borders of Iraq Borders of Syria International borders

Description

History

Border crossings

See also

References

External links