Dhi Qar

Nasiriyah is the capital of Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate and the main gateway to the ancient Sumerian cities of Ur and Eridu. It lies on the Euphrates River in southern Iraq, about 370 km southeast of Baghdad, and works as an administrative, agricultural and transport hub for a region with some of the world's oldest urban history.

The city was founded in the early 1870s by Nasir al-Sadoon Pasha, a leader of the Muntafiq tribal confederation, during the late Ottoman period. It was captured by British forces in July 1915 and later became part of modern Iraq. Nasiriyah remains closely connected to its surrounding farmland, date groves and marsh communities.

Nasiriyah's strongest draw is its ancient setting. The Nasiriyah Museum, one of Iraq's largest museums after Baghdad's, holds Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Abbasid artefacts. Nearby, the Great Ziggurat of Ur stands as a partly restored landmark of the Third Dynasty of Ur, while the ruins of Eridu and the Al-Hammar Marshes extend the region's cultural landscape.

The city centre stretches along the Euphrates, with its old souq, riverside corniche and a mix of traditional and modern neighbourhoods. Around the governorate, towns such as Al-Shatrah and Suq al-Shuyukh and marsh villages near Chibayish offer a view of southern Iraqi life, while agriculture, oil-related industry and trade drive the local economy.

For travellers, Nasiriyah works well as a base for exploring Ur, the marshes and the broader Dhi Qar region. Business visitors come for trade, construction and energy-related projects, while leisure travellers are drawn by the archaeological sites and the chance to experience southern Iraq away from the larger cities.