The Sunni Triangle is a densely populated region of

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 ...

to the north and west of

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 ...

inhabited mostly by

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

s. The roughly triangular area's points are usually said to lie near

(the southeast point),

Ramadi Ramadi ( ''Ar-Ramādī''; also formerly rendered as ''Rumadiyah'' or ''Rumadiya'') is a city in central Iraq, about west of Baghdad and west of Fallujah. It is the capital and largest city of Al Anbar Governorate which shares borders with Syri ...

(the southwest point) and Tikrit (the north point). Each side is approximately 125 kilometers (80 miles) long. The area also contains the cities of Samarra,

Fallujah Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...

, Balad, Hīt, Al-Taji and Al-Karmah. Iraq_ethno_2003

The area was a center of strong support for

Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi state between 1968 and 2003 under the one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Iraqi regional bra ...

; from the 1970s on, many government workers, politicians, and military leaders came from the area. Saddam was born just outside Tikrit. After the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the area became a focus of armed Sunni opposition to

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

rule. On December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured in a raid on the village of

Ad-Dawr Ad-Dawr () is a small agricultural town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, near Tikrit. It includes a great number of people from four tribes, al-Shuwaykhat, al-Mawashet, al-Bu Haydar and al-Bu Mdallal. Al-Mawashet tribe is famous for supporting Saddam ...

about south of Tikrit. The term "Sunni triangle" was used intermittently from the 1970s among academic Iraq specialists, usually to differentiate it from

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 ...

in the north and the

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

regions to the south. An early use in mainstream media is a ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' article of September 14, 2002, in which former

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

weapons inspector

Scott Ritter William Scott Ritter Jr. (born July 15, 1961) is an American former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, former United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspector, author, and commentator. Ritter was a junior military ...

says: "We may be able to generate support for an invasion among some of the Shiites and some of the

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, but to get to Baghdad you must penetrate the Sunni Triangle." However, it didn't come into widespread use until a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' article of June 10, 2003, popularized the term in a report on "a new U.S. effort to quell nascent armed resistance in Sunni Muslim-dominated areas north and west of Baghdad n anarea known as the 'Sunni triangle'." It became commonplace in reports on the US-led Multi-National Force – Iraq's efforts to control the region. The lack of economic diversity within the region is a deterrent to Sunni separatism in Iraq as most of the

oil reserves An oil is any chemical polarity, nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable ...

are in Kurdish and Shia regions, and the port cities of

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 ...

and Umm Qasr are far away from the triangle. The "Sunni Triangle" is distinct from the Triangle of Death, a similarly Sunni area south of

which saw major combat activity in late 2004.

References

See also