The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S.
Nasiriyah ' onMouseout='HidePop("98784")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/United_States_Board_on_Geographic_Names">BGN
The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...
:
An Nāşirīyah; also spelled
Nassiriya or
Nasiriya) is a city in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
. It is on the Euphrates River about 225 miles (370 km) southeast of
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
, near the ruins of the ancient city of
UrUr was a city in ancient Sumer, located at the site of modern Tell el-Mukayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate....
. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar. According to the 1987 census the city had a population of 265,937 people; the estimated population in 2003 was 560,200. Nasiriyah is Iraq's fourth most populated city after Baghdad,
BasraAl-Baṣrah is the capital of Basra Province, and had an estimated population of 3,800,200 as of 2009. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it is incapable of deep water access, which is handled at the the port of Umm Qasr...
and
MosulMosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad...
.
The population of Nasiriyah is nearly exclusively Shī‘a
MuslimsIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. It is made up of Shī‘a clans including the Shuwaili tribe led by the Khairallah
sheikhSheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh and other variants , is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder". It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar...
s. After the failed uprising of 1991, many families were massacred by Saddam Hussein's forces whilst thousands fled from Iraq to other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Sweden.
Nasiriyah is the centre of a date-growing area, but many other agricultural products are produced here as well. The city's industries include boatbuilding, carpentry and silver working.
The old parts of the town are built mainly from sun-dried brick and this part of the town is still enclosed by a mud wall. The newer parts are dominated by standard Iraqi block buildings.
The city museum has a large collection of
SumeriaSumeria may refer to:*A misnomer for Sumer, the city states of Ancient Mesopotamia....
n,
AssyriaAssyria was a civilization centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n,
BabyloniaBabylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad...
n, and
AbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al Andalus....
artifacts. The ruins of the ancient cities of
UrUr was a city in ancient Sumer, located at the site of modern Tell el-Mukayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate....
and
LarsaLarsa , was an important city of ancient Sumer...
are located nearby.
History
The city was founded in 1840 by
SheikhSheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh and other variants , is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder". It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar...
Nasir Sadun of the Muntafiq tribal confederation, after whom it is named. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
conquered the city, controlled at the time by the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, in July 1915. Some 400 British and Indian and up to 2,000
TurkishTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
soldiers were killed in the battle for Nasiriyah on 24 July 1915.
Nasiriyah is where the
Iraqi Communist PartySince its foundation in 1934, the Iraqi Communist Party has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a fundamental role in shaping the political history of Iraq between its foundation and the 1970s. The Party was involved in many of the most important national uprisings and demonstrations...
was founded around 1932. It was mostly dominated by secular and leftist groups, and the founder of the Iraqi Baath Party, Foud al-Rikaby, was from Nasiriyah. During 1932-1963 the city was the center for liberal and progressive thinking. Some of the leading thinkers who grew up in that area were Aziz al-Syed Jasim, Aziz Abdul Sahab, Sadiq Atemish and many other poets (e.g., Ayniah al-Husewani, Aryan Syed Khalif, etc), singers (e.g., Hazery Abu Aziz, Taleb al-Qayraqwli, Hussein Nameh, etc) and artists (Huessien al-Halali, Majed al-Najar, etc.).
During 1940s the city was the chamber for oppositions to monarchy and to the feudal system. Students union, Peasants association, and workers played an important role in sensitizing people to the nature of corruption and abuses which were committed by the government in Baghdad and its supporters. These associations under the leadership of the Communist Party were instrumental in setting the stage for July 14, 1958 Revolution. Hassan al-atybai and Aziz Al-Syed Jasim along with many intellectuals led the public celebrations which took place in many part of the governorate immediately after the Revolution.
During the 1991
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
, Nasiriyah marked the furthest point to which coalition forces penetrated Iraq, with the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
82nd Airborne Division reaching the main road just outside the city. In March 1991, following the American withdrawal at the war's end, the Shia population of Nasiriyah took part in the revolt against the rule of
Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the President of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. The revolt was violently subdued by the Iraqi military with heavy loss of life and much physical damage.
Until the 2003 war, Nisiriyah was home to one of the biggest communities of Mandeans in Iraq.
Iraq War (2003-present)
In March 2003 Nasiriyah was a battle ground in the
2003 Invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1...
. Phillip Mitchell of the
International Institute for Strategic StudiesThe International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict". Since 1997 its headquarters have been Arundel House, in London.The IISS was founded in...
described Nasiriyah's strategic importance to
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
: "Nasiriyah is a major administrative headquarters and is also [Iraqi General] Majid's military district headquarters. It is a major strategic crossing point of the Euphrates. For all those reasons Nasiriyah will be well defended, which will slow the Mech [invasion] down for a while."
On March 23, a US convoy was ambushed near the city, killing 11 soldiers and resulting in multiple soldiers, including Private
Jessica LynchJessica Dawn Lynch is a former Private First Class in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. Lynch served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003 she was injured and captured by Iraqi forces, but was recovered on April 1 by U.S...
, becoming prisoners of war during the conflict.
Heavy fightingThe Battle of Nasiriyah was one of the first major battles of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Heavy fighting took place in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah between Iraqi forces and U.S. Marines over control of key bridges over the Euphrates River and the Saddam Canal.The battle began early on March...
took place between Iraqi forces and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade under the call sign "
Task Force TarawaTask Force Tarawa was the name given to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. They were a Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanded by Brigadier General Richard Natonski that was attached to the I Marine Expeditionary Force during the course of the invasion and were...
" of the US Marine Corps between about March 23 and March 29, in which 18 Marines were killed and over 150 were wounded, including a number hit by friendly fire from Air Force A-10 aircraft, but the Iraqi resistance was crushed fairly rapidly thereafter.
Nasiriyah has been relatively calm since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A truck bomb killed 17
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
soldiers and 11 civilians in November 2003 (see
2003 Nasiriyah bombingThe 2003 Nasiriyah bombing was a suicide attack on the Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah, Iraq, south of Baghdad on November 12, 2003.-Prelude:...
), and clashes erupted here in April 2004 during the Mahdi uprising.
See also
- List of places in Iraq
- Battle of Nasiriyah
The Battle of Nasiriyah was one of the first major battles of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Heavy fighting took place in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah between Iraqi forces and U.S. Marines over control of key bridges over the Euphrates River and the Saddam Canal.The battle began early on March...
- Ali Air Base
Ali Air Base is a military airbase located near Nasiriyah, Iraq. It was formerly known as Tallil Air Base. It is called Camp Adder by the U.S. Army; the name "Ali Air Base" is used chiefly by the U.S. Air Force; the installation, however, is still commonly referred to as "Tallil"...
- Minorities in Iraq
External links