Country of the Week - Iraq The Republic of Iraq     Iraq, officially known as the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: العراق, is a country in the Middle East spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range and the eastern part of the Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. The country has two major flowing rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. These rivers provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and are a contrast to the desert landscape which composes the majority of the Middle east.  CIA Factbook Link   Click here for factual information on this country.