The Iraqi–Syrian border is the border between
Syria and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and runs for a total length of across
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been ...
and the
Syrian desert, from the
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
with
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
in the south-west to the tripoint with
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
in the north-east.
Description
The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Jordan at , with the initial section being a continuation of the long straight line that forms the eastern section of the
Jordan–Syria border
The Jordan–Syria border is 362 km (225 m) in length and runs from the tripoint with Israel in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east.
Description
The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Israel, though the precise locatio ...
. The boundary then shifts in the vicinity of the
Euphrates river and the
Al-Qa'im border crossing, proceeding northwards via a series of short straight lines, and then north-eastwards to the
Tigris river
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
. The Tigris then forms a short 3-4 mile section of the border up to the Turkish tripoint at the confluence with the
Khabur river at .
History
At the start of the 20th century, the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
controlled what is now Syria and Iraq.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
an
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...
, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East. As a result of the Anglo-French
Sykes-Picot Agreement, Britain gained control of the Ottoman
vilayet
A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...
s of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
,
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
and
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
, which it organised into the
mandate of Iraq in 1920, with France organising a
mandate over Syria.
In the period 1920-23 France and Britain signed a series of agreements, collectively known as the
Paulet–Newcombe Agreement
The Paulet–Newcombe Agreement or Paulet-Newcombe Line, was a 1923 agreement between the British and French governments regarding the position and nature of the boundary between the Mandates of Palestine and Iraq, attributed to Great Britain, ...
, which created the modern Jordan-Syria and Iraq–Syria borders, as an amendment to what had been designated the ''A zone'' in the Sykes–Picot Agreement.
In 1932, it was finalised following a
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
commission review.
Since the beginning of the 2003
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
, the border region has become unstable, exacerbated since 2011 by the ongoing
Syrian Civil War. Most of the border region on both sides was part of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
(ISIL) for some years, although its northernmost portion remained under
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
control, forming the border between
Rojava
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, ...
and
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...
. The Islamic State has since lost control of the border, which is controlled by Rojava and the
Syrian government on the Syrian side, and the
Kurdistan Regional Government
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
The cabinet is selected by the m ...
and
Iraqi government
The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as w ...
on the Iraqi side.
Border crossings
There are three official border crossings between
Syria and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, and one makeshift crossing:
* The
Rabia border crossing, on the
Al-Shaddadah
Al-Shaddadah or al-Shaddadi ( ar, ٱلشَّدَّادَة \ ٱلشَّدَّادِي, aš-Šaddādah / aš-Šaddādī) is a town in southern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The town is the administrative center of the al-Shaddadah Su ...
–
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
road, is the most northerly official crossing.
*The
Al-Qa'im border crossing between
Abu Kamal
Abu Kamal ( ar, أَبُو كَمَال, ʾAbū Kamāl) or Al-Bukamal ( ar, ٱلْبُوكَمَال, al-Būkamāl) is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administra ...
in Syria and
Al Qa'im in Iraq. The crossing was reopened on 30 September 2019, after eight years of closure due to
Syrian Civil War and
Iraqi Civil War. Since the reopening of the border crossing, the Iranian-backed militia
Kata'ib Hezbollah
Kata'ib Hezbollah ( ar, كتائب حزب الله, lit=Battalions of the Party of God)—or the Hezbollah Battalions—is a radical Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces backed by Iran. During the Ir ...
, a group under the
Popular Mobilization Units, has played an important military and security role on the Iraqi side of the border.
*The
Al Waleed border crossing
Al-Waleed border crossing ( ar, نقطة الوليد الحدودية العراقية, also spelled al-Walid), known in Syria as al-Tanf, is one of three official border crossings between Iraq and Syria. It is located in the Ar-Rutba Distric ...
, known in Syria as al-Tanf, is located in the
Ar-Rutba District
Ar-Rutba District ( ar, قضاء الرطبة) is the largest district by area in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq, covering 93,445 km2, and the least populated in relative and absolute terms, with a population of 24,813 (estimate January 2003), o ...
of the
Al Anbar Governorate, close to the westernmost point of Iraq and the northeasternmost point of
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, in the desert
Badia region. It serves as the main border checkpoint on the highway between
Damascus and
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
. The al-Tanf checkpoint is on the Syrian side of the border, in
Homs province. There are
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
refugee camps on both sides: the
Al-Waleed camp on the Iraqi side and the
Al Tanf camp on the Syrian side. The crossing was captured by ISIL in May 2015 and
repelled in March 2016.
*The
Semalka Border Crossing is a pontoon bridge across the Tigris established by the
Kurdistan Regional Government
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
The cabinet is selected by the m ...
during the Syrian Civil War about downstream from the Iraqi–Syrian–Turkish tripoint, and just north of
Faysh Khabur in Iraq.
See also
*
Iraq–Syria relations
*
Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Iraqi civil war may refer to:
* Iraqi–Kurdish conflict (1918–2003), wars and rebellions by Iraqi Kurds against the government
** First Iraqi–Kurdish War (1961–70)
** Second Iraqi–Kurdish War (1974–75)
* 1991 Iraqi uprisings, rebellio ...
*
Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...
*
Syrian Civil War
References
External links
* Kathy Gilsinan
The Many Ways to Map the Islamic 'State' ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', 27 August 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq-Syria border
1932 establishments in Iraq
1932 establishments in Mandatory Syria
1932 in international relations
Borders of Iraq
Borders of Syria
International borders