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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.
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 ...
The marsh cities were built on water. The people who live there lead simple lives. They make houses out of reeds without electricity or cars, and generally have no education. The people fish, hunt, and cultivate buffalo. [2] The area where the fresh waters reaches the marshes is far from the cities.
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 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 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 ...
In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Hussein's regime – drained to permit military access and greater political control of the native Marsh Arabs. Canals, dykes and dams were built routing the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around the marshes, instead of allowing water to move slowly through the marshland.