Umm Qasr
Encyclopedia
Umm Qasr is a port
city in southern Iraq
. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah
estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf
. It is separated from the border of Kuwait
by a small inlet. A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War
.
town, but was used as a military port on several occasions before advancing trades and jobs by building a deep-water port on the coast. It was said to have been the site of Alexander the Great's landing in Mesopotamia
in 325 BC. During the Second World War a temporary port was established there by the Allies to unload supplies to dispatch to the Soviet Union
. It fell back into obscurity after the war, but the government of King Faisal II
sought to establish a permanent port there in the 1950s.
After the Iraqi Revolution of 1958, a naval base was established at Umm Qasr. The port was subsequently founded in 1961 by the Iraqi ruler General Abdul-Karim Qassem. It was intended to serve as Iraq's only "deep water" port, reducing the country's dependence on the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway that marks the border with Iran
. The port facilities were built by a consortium of companies from West Germany
, Sweden
and Lebanon
, with a railway line connecting it to Basra
and Baghdad
. The port opened for business in July 1967.
in 1986. However, the port never fell during the Iran–Iraq War.
which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War
. Both countries contested ownership of the inlet leading to Umm Qasr as well as control of the nearby Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. After the war, during which the port was bombed, control of the inlet was transferred to Kuwait, and a large trench and sand berm was constructed along the border of the two nations. The Iraqi government rejected the border changes and continued to claim Kuwaiti territory near the port. Meanwhile the Iraqi government shifted much commerce to Umm Qasr away from Basra
in order to punish the Basrans economically for their support of the post-war rebellions
against the rule of Saddam Hussein
.
Umm Qasr was the target of one of the first major military operations
in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
, on March 29, 2003. The assault on the port was spearheaded by British
Royal Marines
and Polish
GROM
troops, but Iraqi forces put up unexpectedly strong resistance, requiring several days' fighting before the area was cleared of defenders. After the waterway was de-mined by Australian Clearance Diving Team Three, Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron FOURTEEN Detachment ONE and Naval Special Clearance Team ONE of the U.S. Navy and a Royal Navy Clearance Diving Detachment and reopened, Umm Qasr played an important role in the shipment of humanitarian supplies to Iraqi civilians.
During a debate in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in late March 2003, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon
compared Umm Qasr to the southern English
city of Southampton
, saying that it is a dangerous, horrible, depressing place, that no one in there right mind would want to visit.
In January 2006, the 100th British soldier to die in Iraq, Corporal Gordon Pritchard, was killed in a bomb explosion in the town.
, scene of a major anti-government uprising. A mapping project shortly thereafter stated "In total, the town is composed of 82 streets; each street has 72 houses. Up to three to four families live in each house." It then described three main neighborhoods:
Today the population of Umm Qasr communities become around 55,000 people. There are shortage in the higher education services in the city. And most of the students are traveling to Basra’s one public university about 57 km, or to the Technical Institute in Al-Zubair region. However, the city has also many of its people who had been migrated to European Union, Canada and Austria. The town has a nice and multicultural community, and the borders with neighbored country and sea borders had offered the people More understanding to the port cities life style.
line connects Umm Qasr to Basra
from Shouaiba Junction (near Basra) via the port of Khawr az-Zubayr.
Public Sports :
Generally, soccer is the most popular sport among the youth in Umm Qasr. There are many local teams, but the greatest public support is for the Port Culp team in the mother port of Maqel in downtown Basrah. Some of the youth are involved in swiming in the gulf water because of the limited number of swimming pools; also, some people are focusing on the running sports. Female participation in sports is limited in the public schools.
, a U.S.-operated prison camp, is located approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) outside of Umm Qasr.
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
city in southern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah
Khawr Abd Allah
The Khawr Abd Allah is today an estuary, but once was the point where the great Euphrates and Tigris rivers emptied into the Persian Gulf. Located in the south of Iraq, the Iraq-Kuwaiti border divides the lower portion of the estuary, but adjacent to the port of Umm Qasr the estuary becomes wholly...
estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. It is separated from the border of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
by a small inlet. A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
Village to Port
Umm Qasr was originally a small fishingFishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
town, but was used as a military port on several occasions before advancing trades and jobs by building a deep-water port on the coast. It was said to have been the site of Alexander the Great's landing in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
in 325 BC. During the Second World War a temporary port was established there by the Allies to unload supplies to dispatch to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. It fell back into obscurity after the war, but the government of King Faisal II
Faisal II of Iraq
Faisal II was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the "14 July Revolution" together with several members of his family...
sought to establish a permanent port there in the 1950s.
After the Iraqi Revolution of 1958, a naval base was established at Umm Qasr. The port was subsequently founded in 1961 by the Iraqi ruler General Abdul-Karim Qassem. It was intended to serve as Iraq's only "deep water" port, reducing the country's dependence on the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway that marks the border with Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The port facilities were built by a consortium of companies from West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, with a railway line connecting it to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
and Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The port opened for business in July 1967.
Iran - Iraq War
During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) its importance increased as fighting restricted access to other ports further east. Umm Qasr was threatened after the successful Iranian invasion and occupation of the al-Faw peninsulaAl-Faw Peninsula
The Faw peninsula is a marshy region adjoining the Persian Gulf in the extreme south-east of Iraq, between and to the south-east of the cities of Basra and Abadan ....
in 1986. However, the port never fell during the Iran–Iraq War.
First Gulf War
Access to the port was a significant issue in the territorial dispute with KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. Both countries contested ownership of the inlet leading to Umm Qasr as well as control of the nearby Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan and Warbah. After the war, during which the port was bombed, control of the inlet was transferred to Kuwait, and a large trench and sand berm was constructed along the border of the two nations. The Iraqi government rejected the border changes and continued to claim Kuwaiti territory near the port. Meanwhile the Iraqi government shifted much commerce to Umm Qasr away from Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
in order to punish the Basrans economically for their support of the post-war rebellions
1991 uprisings in Iraq
The 1991 uprisings in Iraq were a series of anti-governmental rebellions in southern and northern Iraq during the aftermath of the Gulf War. The revolt was fueled by the perception that the power of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was vulnerable at the time; as well as by heavily fueled anger at...
against the rule of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
.
Second Gulf War
- See: Battle of Umm QasrBattle of Umm QasrThe Battle of Umm Qasr was the first military confrontation in the Iraq War. At the start of the war one of the first objectives was the port of Umm Qasr. On March 21, 2003, allied forces advanced across Southern Iraq and after an amphibious landing forces captured the new port area of Umm Qasr...
Umm Qasr was the target of one of the first major military operations
Battle of Umm Qasr
The Battle of Umm Qasr was the first military confrontation in the Iraq War. At the start of the war one of the first objectives was the port of Umm Qasr. On March 21, 2003, allied forces advanced across Southern Iraq and after an amphibious landing forces captured the new port area of Umm Qasr...
in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, on March 29, 2003. The assault on the port was spearheaded by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
GROM
GROM
GROM is one of five special forces units of the Polish Armed Forces. It was officially activated on July 8, 1990...
troops, but Iraqi forces put up unexpectedly strong resistance, requiring several days' fighting before the area was cleared of defenders. After the waterway was de-mined by Australian Clearance Diving Team Three, Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron FOURTEEN Detachment ONE and Naval Special Clearance Team ONE of the U.S. Navy and a Royal Navy Clearance Diving Detachment and reopened, Umm Qasr played an important role in the shipment of humanitarian supplies to Iraqi civilians.
During a debate in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in late March 2003, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon
Geoff Hoon
Geoffrey "Geoff" William Hoon is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Ashfield from 1992 to 2010...
compared Umm Qasr to the southern English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
city of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, saying that it is a dangerous, horrible, depressing place, that no one in there right mind would want to visit.
In January 2006, the 100th British soldier to die in Iraq, Corporal Gordon Pritchard, was killed in a bomb explosion in the town.
Town
Population estimates are around 46,000 people living in Umm Qasr town at the outbreak of the 2003 war. Having grown from a tiny fishing village in 1958, the town is laid out in planned housing tracts, with workers living near the previously state-owned industries which employed them. Almost the entire population were relocated from other parts of Iraq to work in state-run industries. The port (and its workforce) were dramatically expanded following the first Gulf War, in part to remove vital functions from BasraBasra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, scene of a major anti-government uprising. A mapping project shortly thereafter stated "In total, the town is composed of 82 streets; each street has 72 houses. Up to three to four families live in each house." It then described three main neighborhoods:
- North Indian Camp (Hindi Court) in the north, with 6,600 people and 37 streets
- South Indian Camp to the west of town, mostly to house port workers.
- Port/Customs Office with housing and offices for the Iraqi Ministry of Industry; housing for workers in the pipe, steel, and cement factories.
Public services
Prior to the 2003 war, Umm Qasr had 13 primary schools (four for boys, four for girls, and five coeducational), two intermediate schools for boys, and five secondary schools (two for boys, one night school for boys, and two for girls). There was a single hospital for the town.Today the population of Umm Qasr communities become around 55,000 people. There are shortage in the higher education services in the city. And most of the students are traveling to Basra’s one public university about 57 km, or to the Technical Institute in Al-Zubair region. However, the city has also many of its people who had been migrated to European Union, Canada and Austria. The town has a nice and multicultural community, and the borders with neighbored country and sea borders had offered the people More understanding to the port cities life style.
Rail line
A branch of the main Iraqi Republic RailwaysIraqi Republic Railways
Iraqi Republic Railways Company ' is the national railway operator in Iraq.-Network:...
line connects Umm Qasr to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
from Shouaiba Junction (near Basra) via the port of Khawr az-Zubayr.
Public Sports :
Generally, soccer is the most popular sport among the youth in Umm Qasr. There are many local teams, but the greatest public support is for the Port Culp team in the mother port of Maqel in downtown Basrah. Some of the youth are involved in swiming in the gulf water because of the limited number of swimming pools; also, some people are focusing on the running sports. Female participation in sports is limited in the public schools.
Airport
Umm Qasr has a Civil aviation airport, with the ICAO Code of ORUQ.U.S. presence
Camp BuccaCamp Bucca
Camp Bucca was a detention facility maintained by the United States military in the vicinity of Umm Qasr, Iraq. As of June 2011, a group of entrepreneurial Iraqis and Americans are re-building Camp Bucca as Basra Gateway, a logistics city and environmentally-friendly industrial hub to lead the new...
, a U.S.-operated prison camp, is located approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) outside of Umm Qasr.
External links
- Iraq Image - Umm Qasr Satellite Observation
- Umm Qasr, Iraq
- MSN Map
- At Iraqi Port, Chaos and Corruption Reign - slideshow by The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...