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A second region is the desert plateau, which is located in western and southwestern Iraq on the borders of Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The third region is the Jazirah (from the Arabic word for “island”). The Jazirah is a wedge-shaped territory in the northwest that touches Syria; it is bounded on the west by the Euphrates and on the east by the Tigris. A final region, the northeastern highlands, includes the Zagros Mountains, which are located along the border with Iran. Vivian Block, who once taught English in the southern city of Basra, vividly remembers her impressions of the alluvial plain as she traveled by train north to Baghdad. “Looking out the window,

Quick Facts: The Geography of Iraq

Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait Area: (slightly more than twice the size of Idaho)

total: 168,754 square miles (437,072 sq km) land: 166,858 square miles (432,162 sq km) water: 1,896 square miles (4,910 sq km) Borders: Iran, 906 miles (1,458 km); Jordan, 113 miles (181 km); Kuwait, 149 miles (240 km); Saudi Arabia, 506 miles (814 km); Syria, 376 miles (605 km); Turkey, 219 miles (352 km) Climate: mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq Terrain: mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey Elevation extremes: lowest point: Persian Gulf, 0 feet highest point: Mt. Ebrahim, 11,811 feet (3,600 meters) Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms, floods

Source: CIA World Factbook, 2015.