Hostility between the United States and Iraq intensified in
the autumn of 1997 in a showdown over arms inspections.
The standoff began October 29 when Iraq announced it would
expel U.S. weapons inspectors working for the United Nations.
On November 13, Iraq kicked out six Americans. The United
Nations protested by withdrawing its remaining 68 inspectors.
The Iraqi action was condemned by the U.N. Security Council.
The United States held out the possibility of a military
strike in retaliation.
A week later, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein agreed to allow
U.S. arms inspectors back into the country. Iraq said it had
decided to reverse its ban on the Americans after assurances
by Russia that it would work toward lifting U.N. economic
sanctions.
Iraq must destroy all of its nuclear, chemical, biological
and ballistic weapons before sanctions imposed after Iraq's
1990 invasion of Kuwait can be lifted.
Land and People | History |
| Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Population:
- 22,219,289
- Average life span:
- 66 male, 69 female
- Average income ($US):
- $1,800
- GDP per capita ($US):
- $2,000
- Literacy rate:
- 60%
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Capital:
- Baghdad
- Size:
- 169,235 square miles (438,317 square km)
- (Slightly larger than California)
- Government type:
- Republic
- Political leaders:
- President and Prime Minister Saddam Hussein
- Religions:
- Islam (60-65% Shiite, 32-37% Sunni), Christian and other (3%)
- Languages:
- Arabic, Kurdish
HISTORY
- 4000 BC -- Advanced civilizations already flourishing in Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates).
- After 2000 BC -- Reign of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires.
- 331 BC -- Region conquered by Alexander the Great.
- 762 AD -- The Caliphate, the center of Islamic rule, moves to the newly founded city of Baghdad.
- 1258 -- Mongol invaders sack Baghdad.
- 1534-1900s -- Ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
- 1915 -- Occupied by British troops.
- 1921 -- Monarchy organized under British protection.
- 1932 -- "Kingdom of Iraq" granted nominal independence from Britain, but the British retain control over the lucrative oil industry.
- 1948 -- Iraq joins the Arab league and participates in the first Arab-Israeli war.
- 1958 -- Leftist pan-Arab coup overthrows the monarchy and nationalizes most industry.
- 1968 -- Local faction of the international Baath Arab Socialist Party takes control of the government and establishes rule by decree.
- 1975-1979 -- Iraqi forces repress a rebellion by the Kurdish minority in northern Iraq.
- 1979 -- General Saddam Hussein takes control of the government.
- 1980-1988 -- Iran-Iraq War.
- 1990 -- Iraq invades and annexes its neighbor Kuwait.
- 1991 -- Iraq is driven from Kuwait and decisively defeated in six weeks -- with just one week of ground warfare -- by a U.S.-led multinational force.
- 1991-present -- The U.N. maintains sanctions on Iraq over a dispute about its weapons stockpile and its continued repression of Kurdish and Sunni minorities.
- 1993 -- U.S. launches missile attack aimed at Iraqi
intelligence headquarters.
- 1996 -- Iraq sends troops into country's north to aid an
allied Kurdish faction in its fight against another faction;
U.S. retaliates with a missile strike on air defense sites in
southern Iraq.
- 1997 -- U.N. weapons inspectors briefly leave Iraq as part of
dispute over the nationalities of team members.
FINANCIAL
- Monetary unit:
- Dinar
CNN currency converter
CNN WEATHER INFORMATION
- Forecasts:
- --Baghdad
- --Basra
- Forecast and satellite maps
- --Africa forecast map (includes Iraq)
- --Middle East satellite image: