The Rural World

Abstract

The Iraqi rural world can be divided into two parts: the urban-controlled sedentary areas and the areas under the control of several tribal aristocracies. Of the former the most important were the generally thin, predominantly agricultural strips around Hīt and other small towns on the line Hīt-Fallūjah, the lands of the Khāliṣ valley and the Diyalah plains, the surroundings of Kirkūk, Arbīl and Mosul, of the towns along the garrison-line Kirkūk-Qarā Tepe, the surroundings of Ḥillah, Dīwāniyyah, Najaf and Karbalā’, and the Shaṭṭ-al-’Arab district. The tribal areas consisted of steppes and deserts, marshes and riverain areas beyond the direct control of the government.