Basra Governorate

Basra (Arabic: البصرة) is one of the eighteen governorates that make up the republic of Iraq. Its capital is the homonymous Basra. Located in the extreme south of the country, it borders Di Car and Mesena to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the south, and Mutana to the west. With 2,532,000 inhabitants in 2011, it is the third most populous governorate, behind Baghdad and Nineveh. In Basra is also the city and important port of Um Kasar.

History

In 1920, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the United Kingdom took over the former Ottoman valiats of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul, which together had formed the historic region of Iraq Arabi or Iraq Babeli, and called it the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. The mandate was succeeded by the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932.

The city of Basra had suffered considerably during the war with Iran and Allied bombing, and in 1991 during the Gulf War, the governorate ventured into an uprising after the United States promised them aid. According to popular legend, it was started in Basra by angry soldiers, who shot at a giant public portrait of Saddam Hussein. Massive support in the streets followed, chanting slogans, executing Baath party members, leaders and secret police, and destroying images and monuments of Saddam Hussein. The participants hoped for the support of US troops. but the allied army at that time was occupied, despite the fact that the 24th Infantry Division was stationed a few kilometers from the city. The city of Basra did not completely succumb to the rebels; a counterattack by some 6,000 Republican Guard loyalists held off 5,000 Iraqi Army deserters. After about three days, the Republican Guard began to take control, destroying "everything in front of them", killing many of the rebels on the streets and carrying out mass executions in public squares.

Since 2003, the governorate was one of the war centers during the invasion of the British and Americans during the Iraq war. The Battle of Basra took place between March 23 and April 7 between British forces of the 1st Armored Division under the command of Major General Robin Brims, and Iraqi forces under the command of General Ali Hassan al-Majid. Much of the heaviest fighting of the war took place in the province in the weeks that followed. Several outbreaks of violence between secular Iraqis and Shia Muslims broke out in the summer of 2006, and in September 2007, British troops withdrew to Basra airport and withdrew completely from the city in December 2007. Following the lead of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in northern Iraq, Basra has proposed joining Di Car and Meshena Governorates as an autonomous region. On October 15, 2005, 691,024 people, 96.02%, voted in favor of a new constitution.

During the Gulf War, part of Kuwait became part of the Basra Governorate, receiving the name Saddamiyat al-Mitla' district.

Population