Iraqis

Iraqi people

File:Iraqipeople3.jpg Ancient: Gudea of Sumer, Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi of Babylonia, Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria, Medieval: Harun al-Rashid, al-Kindi, al-Masudi, Alhazen, Modern: Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, Ilham al-Madfai, Zaha Hadid, Viola Haqi
Total population
over 25,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Iraq	20 million+
Syria	2 million+
Jordan	1 million+
UK	450,000+
Brazil	70,000–340,000+
United States	37,000–230,000+
Iran	203,000+
Egypt	150,000+
Germany	150,000+
Lebanon	100,000+
UAE	100,000+
Yemen	100,000+
Turkey	60,000–90,000+
Australia	80,000+
Sweden	70,000+
Netherlands	40,000+
Cuba	40,000+
Greece	5,000–40,000+
.	more countries.
Languages
Vernacular Iraqi Arabic, North Mesopotamian Arabic and Neo-Aramaic Traditional Sumerian succeeded by Akkadian succeeded by Aramaic
Religion
Predominantly Islam Others Bahá'í Faith, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism as well as several minority religions
Related ethnic groups
Other Semitic ethnic groups and others (see "Genetics" and "Identitiy")

The Iraqi people (Arabic: للعراقين) are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common ancient culture, descent, and speaking a Semitic language as a mother tongue. The population was a non-Arabic speaking people prior to the arrival of Islam from the Arabian Peninsula, but gradually adopted Arabic due to Arabic being the only language of the Quran (a process known as Arabization during the Islamic Conquest of Mesopotamia). This change was facilitated by the fact that Arabic, being a Semitic language, shared a close resemblance to Iraq's traditional languages of Akkadian and Aramaic. While Arabic was the common language spoken by Iraqi Muslims from the 8th century AD onwards (Iraqi Arabic, North Mesopotamian Arabic as well as Literary Arabic), many of Iraq's Christians had no need of completely adopting the language, as prayers were not held in Arabic, which is the reason why, even nowadays, many Christian Iraqis speak mainly Neo-Aramaic ("Modern Aramaic") but also Arabic (usually only Iraqi Arabic or North Mesopotamian Arabic).

Culture

Like many of its Semitic and non-Semitic neighbours, the Iraqi people developed a number of significant civilizations. These civilizations were incorporated into four great empires (or six - if counting the Neo-Babylonian Empire and Neo-Assyrian Empire as separate empires) known as the ancient Sumerian Empire, Akkadian Empire, Babylonia (who brought a significant number of Jews into the land between the two rivers who would eventually form the Jewish population of Iraq), Assyrian Empire and medieval Islamic Abbasid Caliphate. All four empires enjoyed great cultural achievements and in fact, the Sumerian Empire is the World's oldest civilization which the reason why Iraq is referred to as the cradle of civilization. Furthermore the Abbasid Caliphate was one of the most advanced empires of the medieval times which is the reason why Baghdad is often referred to as the centre of the so called "golden age of Islam".

Further information on Iraq's extensive culture which has influenced and was influenced by many other great civilizations up to this day can be found under the following articles and the sub-links found within the respective pages:

• Mesopotamia
• Islamic Golden Age

Genetics

Iraq has been conquered and assimilated with so many invading armies over the course of history, that Iraqis share a very mixed genetics. However it has been suggested that Iraq may have been the homeland of Y haplogroup J,[1] as Iraqis have (33%) rate of Haplogroup J1 (Y-DNA). There have been several published studies displaying the genealogical connection between the modern day Iraqi people (Arabic speaking Muslims as well as Christians) and DNA extracted from ancient Mesopotamian corpses. Advanced genetic testing concludes that 24% are R, with most of them (15%) R1ab,[2] which is East Anatolian Caucasian in origin, which is due to the Hittite invasion on Mesopotamia.

The Beni Delphi (sons of Delphi) tribe of Iraq is believed to be related to the ancient Greek site of Delphi by the (Macedonian) soldiers of Alexander the Great.

Many historians and archeologists, provide strong circumstantial evidence to posit that Iraq's Marsh Arabs share the strongest link to the ancient Sumerians.

From a historical perspective, Iraqi people also share Jewish, Persian (and other Iranian people), Greek, Roman, Gulf Arab, Mongolian, Turkish and other Asian and European genetics due to the multiple number of empires and civilizations that have not been developed by the Iraqi people but ruled and invaded Mesopotamia. This is part of a general Iraqi identity beyond its Mesopotamian and Islamic heritage.

Identity

Due to the extensive spreading of Islam and the mass adoption of Arabic, Iraq has seen a continuous divide between its Christian and Muslim population - a divide that nowadays resulted in the belief that both groups are ethnically unrelated groups. This divide has been further catalysed by the Islamic divide into the Sunni and Shia belief, as well as the arrivel of Iraqi Turkmen and the expansion of the mountaineous Kurdish people into Mesopotamia. These events have seriously damaged Mesopotamian identitiy most recently seen in the idea of Arab nationalism - an idea formed in the early 20th century.

This ideology reached Iraq at the time during and after World War II, when the Arab Nationalists in Iraq were supporting Germany because they shared mutual hatred towards the United Kingdom and its support of the Israeli state.

Once the Baath Party was implemented in 1963, Arab nationalism in Iraq reached an all time high, with the nation being led by pan-Arabist Saddam Hussein.

Ghazi Yawar, Iraq's former interim president, summed Saddam Hussein's pan-Arab nationalistic regime as he who "worked systematically to erase Iraqi identity over the course of three decades and replace it with an inflated and sinister version of Arab nationalism", in which he followed to add "[e]ven if we are [Arabic speaking people], we cannot have any identity but an Iraqi identity".

American journalist Jim Hoagland, also shed light on the topic, by stating that "[a]n Iraqi identity that is not bound up with perpetuating the long progression of wars that Saddam Hussein started, supported or invited will change the face of the region. It will also contribute decisively to redefining the nature of Arab nationalism, which is under enormous historical pressure to adapt or die".

Another follower of Yawar's theory is Kanan Makiya, an Iraqi American academic, who himself has expressed that "Iraq can no longer be an "Arab" country. Iraq's national identity can only be Iraqi, and a complete divorce from the disastrous ideology of Arab nationalism is imperative for the well-being of the emergent, pluralist Iraqi state".[3][4] Often dubbed the "Iraqi Solzhenitsyn", he is well known for his anti-Arab publications.

Furthermore, in a novel written by Salim Matar, entitled The Women of the Flask, the author claims that most Iraqis claim that "[they] are Iraqis. [They] go back to the [ancient Mesopotamians]".

Nowadays, the definition "Iraqi" sometimes extends to include non-Semitic people in the country, such as the Kurds and Armenians. Kurds are an ethnic Indo-Iranian speaking people who lived in the mountains of northern Iraq but gradually spread towards and beyond the bank of the river Tigris. This group greatly suffered under the very brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, including deaths from poison gas clouds in their villages to put down a rebellion in the late 1980s. Iraqi Armenians form a significant community, but their size was reduced after the Ottoman Turkish massacres against Armenians during World War I (when Iraq was still part of the Ottoman Empire).

The single identity of the Iraqi people is most commonly seen in the Iraqi cuisine. Iraqi cuisine has changed and evolved since the time of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. The cuisine has been influenced by those ancient civilizations, which also influenced and has been influenced by Greek and Persian cuisines. With the coming of Islam and the spread of Arab culture, which influenced the region, the food was enhanced to combine old and new sets of tastes. As Baghdad became the centre of the medieval Islamic world, scholars from all over visited Iraq, which gave Iraq new twists to its food. As Iraqis traveled, trading absorbed Mediterranean flavors. With the Ottoman rule of Iraq, influences of the Turkish cuisine also became incorporated into Iraqi recipes. Furthermore, the fact that - unlike many of its neighbours - Iraq is nourished by two rivers (the Tigris and the Euphrates) fresh water fish dishes are among Iraq's most unique recipes, such as its national dish Masgouf.

Diaspora

Main articles: Iraqi diaspora and Refugees of Iraq

The Iraqi diaspora is not a sudden exodus but one that has grown exponentially through the 20th century as each generation faced some form of radical transition or political conflict. There were at least two large waves of expatriation of both Christians and Muslims alike. A great number of Iraqis left the country during the regime of Saddam Hussein and large numbers have left during the Second Gulf War and its aftermath. The United Nations estimates that roughly 40% of Iraq's remaining and formerly strong middle-class has fled the country during and after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

From 1950 to 1952 Iraq saw a great exodus of roughly 120,000 - 130,000 of its Jewish population under the Israel-led "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah".

Even though more then 120,000 Iraqi Jews left the country between 1950 and 1952, the recent Iraqi diaspora represents the largest exodus of refugees in the Middle East since the state of Israel was created in 1948.

Religion

Iraq has many devout followers of its religions. In 1968 the Iraqi constitution established Islam as the official religion of the state as the majority of Iraqis are Muslim (both Sunni and Shia).

In addition, about 3% of the Iraqi people are Christians most of them following the various denominations of Syriac Christianity.

Iraqi people also belong to the Bahá'í Faith and Mandaeist Faith. Furthermore Jews (although most Iraqi Jews live in Israel), Shabaks, Yezidis and followers of other minority religions are also present in Iraq although not necessarily Iraqi.

Languages

The two main regional dialects of Arabic spoken by the Iraqi people are Mesopotamian Arabic (spoken by approximately 15.1 million Iraqis and thus commonly known as simply "Iraqi Arabic") and North Mesopotamian Arabic (spoken by approximately 6.3 million Iraqis in Iraq's north around the city of Mosul and thus commonly known as "Moslawi")¹.

In addition to Arabic, Christian Iraqis speak Neo-Aramaic, a modern version of the ancient Aramaic language spoken by the Prophet Jesus and the Iraqi people before the arrival of Islam during the Islamic Conquest of Mesopotamia.

The Mandaic language is a dialect of the Eastern Aramaic language, which is derived from the Semitic family of languages. All religious manuscripts of the Mandaeist Faith concerning rites were written in this language.[5].

See Also

• Abbasid Caliphate
• Assyria
• Babylonia
• Christian Iraqis
• Culture of Iraq
• List of Iraqis
• Iraq
• Iraqi diaspora
• Iraqi Jews
• Iraqi Turkmen
• Mesopotamia
• Sumer

External Links

• Babylon Jewry
• Iraqi identity after the fall of Saddam
• Iraqi identity - Forces for Integration/ Divisiveness
• Iraqi Jews
• Iraqi people photos
• The Genographic Project - Human Migration, Population Genetics, Maps, DNA - Ancient Mesopotamia
• Y-chromosome and mtDNA polymorphisms in Iraq, a crossroad of the early human dispersal and of post-Neolithic migrations