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The Iraq–Saudi Arabia border is 811 km (504 mi) in length and runs from the
tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...
with
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
in the west to the tripoint with
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
in the east.


Description

The border starts on the west at the tripoint with Jordan, and consists of six straight lines broadly orientated to the south-east, eventually reaching the tripoint with Kuwait on the Wadi al-Batin.


History

Historically there was no clearly defined boundary in this part of the Arabian peninsula; at the start of the 20th century the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
controlled what is now Iraq, with areas further south consisting of loosely organised Arab groupings, occasionally forming emirates, most prominent of which was the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa ruled by the al-Saud family.
Madawi Al-Rasheed Madawi al-Rasheed, (; born ) is a British citizen of Saudi origin and a professor of social anthropology. Al-Rasheed has held a position at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in King's College London and as a Visiting Professor a ...
. ''A History of Saudi Arabia''. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. 40.
During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
an
Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...
, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East. As a result of the secret 1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement Britain gained control of the Ottoman Vilayets of
Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
,
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
and
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
, which it organised into the mandate of Iraq in 1920. In the meantime Ibn Saud had managed to expand his domains considerably, eventually proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. In December 1922
Percy Cox Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, (20 November 1864 – 20 February 1937) was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creati ...
, British High Commissioner in Iraq, met with ibn Saud and signed the Uqair Protocol, which finalised Saudi Arabia's borders with both
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
and Iraq. The border thus created differed slightly from the modern frontier, with a Saudi 'kink' in the middle-south section. It also created a Saudi–Iraqi neutral zone, immediately west of Kuwait. This border was confirmed by the Bahra Agreement in November 1925. The Saudi-Iraq neutral zone was split in 1975 and a final border treaty signed in 1981, which also appears to have 'ironed out' the Saudi kink. The details of this treaty were not revealed until 1991 when Saudi Arabia deposited the agreements at the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
following the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. The Gulf War seriously strained relations between the two countries; Iraq fired scud missiles into Saudi territory and also
breached Breached was a Canadians, Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario, active from 2010 to 2015. Its members were Bobby Noakes (vocals), Age of Days, Mike Diesel (guitar/vocals), Ryan Alexander (bass), and Dear Jane, I..., Neil Uppal (drums). Mike ...
the Kuwait–Saudi Arabia border.


Barrier

In April 2006, while Iraq was experiencing a high level of sectarian violence,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
began to call for tenders to construct a
border barrier A border barrier, border fence or border wall is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, a ...
in the form of a
fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...
along the border in an attempt to prevent the violence in Iraq spilling over into its territory. The proposed fence would run for approximately along Saudi Arabia's isolated northern desert border with Iraq. It was part of a larger package of fence-building to secure all of the Saudi Arabia's 6,500 km (4,039 mi) of border. It would supplement the existing 7-meter-high sand berm that runs along the border, in front of which there is an 8-km stretch of no-mans-land which is regularly swept smooth so that trespassers can be tracked. The proposals were not implemented until September 2014, when the Iraqi Civil War had escalated following the rise of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...
. ISIL's occupation of much of western Iraq had given it a substantial land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, and the barrier is intended to keep ISIL militants from entering Saudi Arabia. The line consists of a multi-layered fence and ditch barrier wall. The border zone includes five layers of fencing with includes 78 monitoring watch towers, night-vision cameras, and radar cameras, eight command centres, 10 mobile surveillance vehicles, 32 rapid-response centres, and three rapid intervention squads. The works were completed with the assistance of
Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...
, a European multinational aerospace corporation.


Border Crossings

* Arar


See also

* Iraq–Saudi Arabia relations * Saudi–Iraqi neutral zone


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq-Saudi Arabia border 2014 establishments in Saudi Arabia Border barriers Borders of Iraq Borders of Saudi Arabia Buildings and structures completed in 2014 War in Iraq (2013–2017) Fortifications in Saudi Arabia Fortification lines International borders