Iraq's six World Heritage properties, from Hatra to Babylon

Background

Iraq, whose federal politics and oil economy are in the news this week, carries six properties on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Five are cultural: Hatra, inscribed in 1985; Ashur or Qal'at Sherqat, 2003; Samarra Archaeological City, 2007; Erbil Citadel, 2014; and Babylon, 2019. The sixth, The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities, was inscribed in 2016 and is a mixed property, recognised for both cultural and natural value. Iraq accepted the World Heritage Convention on 5 March 1974. Erbil Citadel sits in the Kurdistan Region, the federal region whose laws have just been before the Federal Supreme Court.