Basra

(2002 est. pop. 1.0 million). Located on the west bank of the Shatt al Arab River 116 kilometers from the Persian Gulf, Basra is Iraq's only outlet to the sea. Most of the population are Shiʿite Muslims originating from the surrounding countryside, while the indigenous inhabitants have remained largely Sunni. The original city, located about 13 kilometers southwest of modern Basra, was founded on the orders of the Caliph ʿUmar bin al-Khattab (586?–644) in 638 CE. During its first two centuries Basra was the site of numerous conflicts including the first major inter-Muslimbattle in 656 CE. Despite this instability Basra was home to some of classical Islam's greatest thinkers, including the theologian Hasan al Basri, the belletrist al-Jahiz, the poet Abu Nuwasand, and the Muʾtazilah school of Islamic interpretation. Basra's fortunes declined with the waning of the Abbasid dynasty (749/750–1258).

By the fourteenth century the dwindling population was already relocating to the more secure site of the present city. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Basra vacillated between Persian, Ottoman, and independent tribal control. By the eighteenth century Ottoman control was well established, and for the next two centuries Basra witnessed a rise in commercial activity, particularly through its growing ties with Europe. These ties were further strengthened after British occupation in 1914, when the introduction of modern port facilities allowed Basra to become the world's leading exporter of dates. In 1948 major oil deposits were discovered nearby and Basra was soon transformed into a center for oil refining and export. The Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and the 1991 Persian Gulf War caused extensive damage to the city. U.N. sanctions, imposed since 1991, have not allowed the city to rebuild.

In January 2001 an Iraqi woman views the ruins of her house, destroyed by air raids in Basra during the 1991 Gulf War. (REUTERS NEWMEDIA INC./CORBIS)