Iraq (Double Collapse)

Republic of Iraq جمهورية العراق Jumhūriyyat al-ʽIrāq Timeline: Double Collapse: The Entire Collapse of Communism OTL equivalent: Iraq
Coat of arms of Iraq (Double Collapse) Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  الله أكبر Allāhu akbar ("God is the Greatest")
Anthem:  أرض الفراتين ("Land of the Euphrates")
Iraqi territory in dark green; disputed territory in light green.
Capital		Baghdad
Official languages		Arabic
Demonym		Iraqi
Government		Federal parliamentary republic under military junta
-	President	TBD
-	Prime Minister	TBD
Legislature		Council of Representatives
Independence from the United Kingdom
-	Declared	3 October 1932
-	Republic proclaimed	14 July 1958
Population
-	2022 estimate	44,222,503
Currency		Iraqi dinar (IQD)
Calling code		+964

Iraq (Arabic: الْعِرَاق), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق), is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north; Iran to the east; the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast; Saudi Arabia to the south; Jordan to the southwest; and Syria to the west. The capital and largest city is Baghdad. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic, with other recognized regional languages being Kurdish, Neo-Aramaic, Turkish and Armenian.

During ancient times, lands that now constitute Iraq were known as Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world's earliest civilizations and empires since the 6th millennium BC, including those of Akkad, Babylon, Assyria and Sumer, the earliest known civilisation. The "Cradle of Civilisation" is a common term for the area comprising modern Iraq and was the birthplace of many valuable inventions and discoveries, including writing system, mathematics, time, calendar, astrology and law code. It was here that mankind began first to read, write, create laws and live in cities under an organised government—notably Uruk. Following the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, Baghdad became the capital and the largest city of the Abbasid Caliphate, and during the Islamic Golden Age, the city evolved into a significant cultural and intellectual center, and garnered it a worldwide reputation for its academic institutions, including House of Wisdom. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258 during the Siege of Baghdad, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires.

Modern Iraq dates back to 1920, when the British Mandate for Mesopotamia, joining three Ottoman vilayets, was created under the authority of the League of Nations. A British-backed Kingdom was established in 1921 under Faisal I of Iraq. The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from the UK in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was ruled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1968 until 2022, led by Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, then by Saddam Hussein and later Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking a protracted war which would last for almost eight years, and end in a stalemate with devastating losses for both countries. Iraq also attempted to invade Kuwait in 1990 but was defeated by an American-led coalition. In 2022, after a major crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran, war broke out as Iraq invaded and occupied parts of Kuwait, From October to December 2022, An invasion by the NATO-led coalition in 2022, as part of its Second Arab Cold War, that ended on December 2022 with a victory for the opposition, officially abolishing the Ba'athist regime and subsequent collapse of the Baghdad Pact.

Iraq was a one-party Saddamist socialist republic under a totalitarian regime. The president was the head of state, the prime minister the head of government, and the constitution provided for one deliberative body, the Revolutionary Command Council. A military junta in conjunction with a deliberative legislative body made up of political parties and civilian officials (Iraqi Governing Council) has ruled Iraq since 2022. This body issued the 2023 Provisional Constitution which created a federal state with the main subdivision from the central government being the Kurdistan Region. Elections for a legislative body is planned for 2024 after which the official constitution will be issued.