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The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and southwestern Iran. [ 6 ] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra , Nasiriyah , Amarah and a portion of southwestern Iran.
A further canal, the Prosperity Canal, was constructed to prevent any overflow into the marsh from the main channel of the Tigris as it ran southwards from Qalat Saleh. [15] By the late 1990s, the Central Marsh had become completely desiccated, suffering the most severe damage of the three main areas of wetland.
The Ahwar [a] of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Southern Iraq. The Ahwar currently consists of seven sites, including three cities of Sumerian origin and four wetland areas of the Mesopotamian Marshes: Huwaizah Marshes; Central Marshes; East Hammar Marshes
The Hawizeh marsh is critical to the survival of the Central and Hammar marshes also make up the Mesopotamian Marshes, because they are a refuge for species that may recolonize or reproduce in other marshlands. Hawizeh Marshes are drained by the Al-Kassarah.
The Mesopotamian Marshlands were once the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East, covering an area of 15,000 to 20,000 square kilometers. [27] In the 1980s and 1990s, this marshland was drained by upstream dams and water control structures, down to 10% of the original area. [27] The marshland is located on the intercontinental flyway of ...
The Central or Qurna Marshes are a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that, along with the Hawizeh and Hammar marshes, make up the Mesopotamian Marshes of the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Formerly covering an area of around 3000 square kilometres, they were almost completely drained following the 1991 uprisings in Iraq and have in recent ...
After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's President Saddam Hussein initiated a drainage project on these marshes, leading to degradation of ecosystem services that caused economic and social issues for civilians. [17] The Mesopotamian Marshes, which were inhabited by the Marsh Arabs, were almost completely drained.
Agriculture was the main economic activity in ancient Mesopotamia.Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the first known empires, under the supervision of the institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and provincial palaces, the temples, and the domains of the ...