Basra province - Definition and Overview

Basra province, or Al Basrah province, is a province in the nation of Iraq. Its capital is Basra, the largest city of southern Iraq.

The province has international borders with Kuwait to the south and Iran to the east.

Basra province has an area of 19,070 km&sup2, with an estimated population of about 1,500,000 people in 2000.

Historically, under the Ottoman Empire, Basra province included Kuwait. After defeating the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Britain combined the old Ottoman provinces of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul to form the state of Iraq, which Britain controlled as a League of Nations mandate. (Kuwait had become a separate British protectorate shortly before the outbreak of World War I.)

This was the first stop for the United States and United Kingdom during Iraq's Liberation War on March 19, 2003.

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Provinces of Iraq
Al Anbar | Arbil | Babil | Baghdad | Al Basrah | Dahuk | Dhi Qar | Diyala | Al Karbala | Maysan | An Najaf | Ninawa | Al Muthanna | Al Qadisyah | At Ta'mim | Salah ad Din | As Sulaymaniyah | Wasit