Name: 現在就去地理!伊拉克 (Geography Now! IRAQ)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T10:28:51.000Z
Duration: 13 min 32 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

Guys, let's be honest - when I say 'Iraq', all you think of is:

So, where do we go from there? Let's find out.

♫ It's time to learn Geography (NOW)! ♪

We live in a generation that has almost never known a time

in which Iraq wasn't synonymous with war.

The funny thing is, it was like 'the Dubai of the '60s' -

tourists were flocking in, people had mansions, it was crazy.

Well first we have to explain where Iraq is.

One thing that makes in Iraq such a pivotal player in geopolitical strife

is its incredibly blessed yet cursed location. Let's explain:

Iraq is located in the Middle East, bordered by six other countries,

with their southernmost port, Um-Qasr on the Khawe az-Zubayr Waterway

(which by the way, they used to have an airport

but it literally got spliced in half by the Kuwaiti border).

This one guy: Uh, you said 'Persian Gulf'...isn't it 'Arabian Gulf'?

Barby: Didn't we literally just go over this in the last episode?

Okay I'm sorry, I'm sticking with history, and history says 'Persian'.

The country is divided into 19 governates or provinces

with the capital, Baghdad, the second largest city in the Arab world after Cairo

located in the heart of the historic Tigris River Valley

and with nearly 50,000 people per square kilometer,

the city makes the most dense country subdivision in the world.

After the obvious Baghdad, the next largest cities in the country are

and Hillah in the fertile Euphrates region

and the largest airports are Baghdad, Basra and Erbil International.

And yes, you can still fly to Iraq and visit,

it's not like the whole country is completely closed off

They keep moving forward despite the war-

Barby: Yep! Although it's highly advised that you stay in the large cities

and don't make a spectacle of yourself, be respectful to the people

and you'll be fine, just like anywhere else-

Now keep in mind these borders were pretty much a product of post-UK colonialism

from when Winston Churchill kind of helped establish what the Iraqis like to call an 'artificial monarchy'-

Guy: *rages* You keep making me wait for stuff!

Barby: I- I- I know! Ju- j- just just hold on.

Here's where things get a little confusing.

Taking the governates out of the picture,

there's kind of, technically, another way you could split up the regions of Iraq

After war times, ethno-linguistic and religious people groups started to kind of segregate themselves

into three distinct areas: The south, which is where the majority of the Shias live,

the middle, which is where most of the minority Sunnis live

and the north where most of the Kurds live amongst other groups

Now here's a strange part - these three governates in the north: Erbil, Dahūk and Sulaymānīyah

which is an incredibly autonomous zone from the rest of the country, where the majority of Kurds live.

They have their own government, prime minister and 'quasi-army',

which means the Iraqi army has no access to this area.

If you don't know anything about the Kurds,

basically they are one of the largest minority groups in the Middle East.

We'll talk about that another time, let's move on.

Now let's just get it over with and cover what you're all thinking.

Yes, there are some parts of Iraq that are kind of like no-go zones,

specifically in the west and central areas.

As of 2017, numerous international travel boards have advised 'strongly against travel' in the Red Zone,

Keep in mind this information is applicable to the time this video was uploaded

so I don't know what the future holds or if this video would be outdated soon...?

It looks like tension and conflict are dying down but for now we can't be completely sure.

Otherwise, some top notable sites in Iraq might include places like

Eridu and Uruk, two of the oldest cities in the world,

Ur, the home of Abraham and the Sumerian Ziggurat,

Ctesiphon, the ancient capital of Persia,

Lalesh, which is like the holiest site to the Yazidis,

Ninevah, the ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire,

the Al-Najaf cemeteries, the largest in the world,

the shopping districts of Al Mansour and Al Karradda,

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現在就去地理!伊拉克 (Geography Now! IRAQ)

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