ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of Iraq

Okay kiddo, so a long time ago, Iraq wasn't really Iraq yet. It was just a bunch of different groups of people living on the same land. These groups had their own cultures and ways of doing things.

Eventually, some big empires formed and took control of the area. One of the most famous empires was the Babylonian empire, which had a really smart ruler named Hammurabi who made some really important laws.

After that, the area went through a bunch of different rulers and empires like the Assyrian empire and the Persian empire.

In the early 20th century, the country that we now call Iraq was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. But then, during World War I, some other countries like Britain and France wanted to take control of the area. They made a deal called the Sykes-Picot Agreement and divided up the land between them.

In 1932, Iraq became its own independent country with a king as its leader. But things weren't always peaceful. There were a lot of political and economic problems, and the country was often ruled by military leaders.

In 2003, the United States and other countries invaded Iraq because they believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. This war lasted for many years and caused a lot of destruction and suffering.

Today, Iraq is still trying to rebuild and find a stable government that can support its people. It has a lot of history and culture, and it's important for us to learn about and understand what has happened there in the past and present.