Basra Governorate

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Basra Governorate
Country	Iraq
Capital	Basra
Area
- Governorate	19,070 km²  (7,363 sq mi)
Population
- Governorate	2,600,000
Main language(s)	Arabic

Basra province, or Al Basrah province, is a province in the nation of Iraq. Its capital is Basra, the second largest city in Iraq. Other major cities include Corna (Eden), Az Zubayr, Umm Qasr and Abu Al Khaseeb .

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

Basra province has an area of 19,070 square kilometers (7,363 sq mi), with an estimated population of about 2,600,000 people in 2003.

[edit] History

[edit] After World War I

Historically, under the Ottoman Empire, Basra province included Kuwait. After defeating the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the United Kingdom combined the old Ottoman provinces (vilayets) 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.)

[edit] After Baath regime

A proposal to join Basra with the neighbouring governorates of Dhi Qar and Maysan to form a southeastern state in an eventual Iraqi federation is currently in the talking stages.[1]

In October 2006, Parliament approved a law that allows, from April 2008, the possibility of fusion between two or more provinces.

The British may transfer Basra's security to the Iraqi Security Forces in spring of 2007. [2]