Iraq

Iraq is a religiously diverse country, and although the modern Middle Eastern nation-state of Iraq is a 20th-century invention, the ancient Mesopotamian region that it occupies has been host to—and often the origin of—many religious traditions over the past several millennia. According to estimates in 2003, approximately 97% of the Iraqi population of 22–28 million was Muslim. Shi'a Muslims—predominantly Arab but also including Turkoman, Faili Kurds, and other groups—constituted a 60%-65% majority. Sunnis made up 32%-37% of the population (approximately 18%-20% were Sunni Kurds, 12%-15% Sunni Arabs, and the rest were Sunni Turkomen). The remaining 3% of the overall population consisted of Christians (Assyrians, Chaldeans, Roman Catholics, and Armenians), Yazidis, Mandaeans, and a small contingent of Jews (the religious and ethnic makeup of Iraq at the time of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime is described in the U.S. Department of State document Iraq, International Religious Freedom Report, 2003).

The country's Shi'a Arabs live primarily in the south of Iraq; however, they also constitute a majority in Baghdad and other communities throughout the country. Sunnī Arabs are a majority in the center of Iraq and Sunnī Kurds in the north. Many Arabs consider the Assyrians and Chaldeans as ethnic groups distinct from Arabs since they are descendants of some of the early Christian communities. These Christians are concentrated in Baghdad and in the north. The Yazidis are a syncretistic religious group, many of whom consider themselves ethnically Kurdish. Some Yazidis consider themselves ethnically and religiously distinct from Muslim Kurds. Yazidis predominantly reside in the north of Iraq. The small sect of Mandaeans is mostly in southern Iraq, with small communities in Kirkuk, Baghdad, and elsewhere. These are the same Mandaeans who have been present in the region since pre-Christian or early Christian times.

The Iraq region has never been monolithic in its religious or social makeup. The territory that is present-day Iraq has been a seat for pagan religious communities, Gnostic communities (including Manicheans, Marcionites, and proto-Mandeans), Magians (Zoroastrians), Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Often the different communities came into contact and were, in varying capacities, subsumed, assimilated, altered, autotomized, or augmented according to the tides and currents of [Page 573]global history. The remainder of this entry will explore Iraq's long religious history.