1.
Iraqi Republic Railways
–
Iraqi Republic Railways Company is the national railway operator in Iraq. IRR comprises 1,905 kilometres of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard gauge, IRR has one international interchange, with Chemins de Fer Syriens at Rabiya. The first section of railway in what was then the Ottoman Empire province of Mesopotamia was a 123 kilometres length of the Baghdad Railway between that city & Samarra opened in 1914, Britain defeated the Ottomans and Mesopotamia became a League of Nations mandate under British administration. In April 1920 the British military authorities transferred all railways to a British civilian administration, the metre gauge line from Basra to Nasiriyah was the most important section constructed during the war in terms of its significance as part of later efforts to construct a national railway network. Soon after the end of World War I this was extended northwards from Ur Junction outside Nasiriyah up the Euphrates valley with the complete Basra to Baghdad route being opened on 16 January 1920. The other section of metre gauge line built during World War I that had ongoing significance was that from Baghdad East north eastwards to the Persian border. After the war the eastern end of line was diverted to Khanaqin. In 1932 Iraq became independent from Britain, in March 1936 Britain sold Mesopotamian Railways to Iraq, which renamed the company Iraqi State Railways. Work resumed on the extension of the Baghdad Railway between Tel Kotchek on the Syrian frontier and Baiji, the through route was opened and completed on 15 July 1940. In 1941 the Iraqi State Railways PC class 4-6-2 steam locomotives were introduced to haul the Baghdad — Istanbul Taurus Express on the Baghdad Railway between Baghdad and Tel Kotchek. In 1947 the Iraq Petroleum Company opened a branch at Kirkuk, ISR opened a new metre gauge line from Kirkuk to Arbil in 1949. A joint road & rail bridge was opened across the River Tigris in Baghdad in 1950, in 1958 when Iraqs Hashemite monarchy was overthrown and a republic declared, ISR was renamed Iraqi Republic Railways. In 1961 IRR began to replace its standard gauge locomotive fleet with diesels from ČKD. In 1972 several classes of locomotive were still in service on the standard gauge system. IRR did not begin to replace its metre gauge steam locomotives until after 1983, in 1964 IRR extended its standard gauge network with a line from Baghdad to Basrah which opened for freight in 1964 and for passengers in 1968. It has since been extended from Shouaiba Junction to the port of Umm Qasr, from 1980 until 2003 IRR suffered approximately one billion United States dollars worth of war and looting damage. In around October 2008, a commuter service resumed between Baghdad Central and the suburb of Doura. There is a service between Baghdad and Basra and a Friday-only pilgrims service to Samarra
2.
Standard gauge
–
The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge, as railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a gauge of 1435 mm. In North East England, some lines in colliery areas were 4 ft 8 in. All these lines had been widened to standard gauge by 1846, parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. However, until well into the half of the 19th century, Britain. The American gauges converged as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent, notably, all the 5 ft broad gauge track in the South was converted to standard gauge over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States, snopes categorized this legend as false, but commented that. It is perhaps more fairly labelled as True, but for trivial, the historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 feet apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Others were 4 ft 4 in or 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, the Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephensons Stockton and Darlington railway was primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge, George Stephenson used the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The success of this led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, authorised 1824 and opened 1825, used 4 ft 6 in, Dundee and Newtyle Railway, authorised 1829 and opened 1831, used 4 ft 6 1⁄2 in
3.
Rapid transit
–
Rapid transit, also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside the trains and they are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities. However, some transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. It is unchallenged in its ability to transport large numbers of people quickly over short distances with little use of land, variations of rapid transit include people movers, small-scale light metro, and the commuter rail hybrid S-Bahn. The worlds first rapid-transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened as a railway in 1863. In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, china has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world. The worlds longest single-operator rapid transit system by length is the Shanghai Metro. The worlds largest single rapid transit service provider by both length of revenue track (665 miles and number of stations is the New York City Subway. The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Tokyo subway system, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the Moscow Metro, the Beijing Subway, Metro is the most common term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. One of these terms may apply to a system, even if a large part of the network runs at ground level. In Scotland, however, the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway, in the US, underground mass transit systems are primarily known as subways, whereas the term metro is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area. In that vein, Chicagos commuter rail system, serving the area, is called Metra. Exceptions in naming rapid transit systems are Washington DCs subway system the Washington Metro, Los Angeles Metro Rail, and the Miami Metrorail, the opening of Londons steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked the beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant, experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. Electric traction was more efficient, faster and cleaner than steam, in 1890 the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Both railways were merged into London Underground. The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset, budapest in Hungary and Glasgow, Chicago and New York all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services, hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems
4.
Baghdad
–
Baghdad is the capital of the Republic of Iraq. The population of Baghdad, as of 2016, is approximately 8,765,000 making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab world, and the second largest city in Western Asia. Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century, within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic world. This, in addition to housing several key institutions, garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the Centre of Learning. Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with a population of 1,200,000 -3,000,000 people. The city was destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state in 1938, in contemporary times, the city has often faced severe infrastructural damage, most recently due to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the subsequent Iraq War that lasted until December 2011. In recent years, the city has been subjected to insurgency attacks. As of 2012, Baghdad was listed as one of the least hospitable places in the world to live, the site where the city of Baghdad developed has been populated for millennia. By the 8th century AD, several villages had developed there, including a Persian hamlet called Baghdad, the name is of Indo-European origin and a Middle Persian compound of Bagh god and dād given by, translating to Bestowed by God or Gods gift. In Old Persian the first element can be traced to boghu and is related to Slavic bog god, a similar term in Middle Persian is the name Mithradāt, known in English by its Hellenistic form Mithridates, meaning gift of Mithra. There are a number of locations in the wider region whose names are compounds of the word bagh, including Baghlan. The name of the town Baghdati in Georgia shares the same etymological origins, when the Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name Madinat al-Salaam or City of Peace. This was the name on coins, weights, and other official usage. By the 11th century, Baghdad became almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis, after the fall of the Umayyads, the first Muslim dynasty, the victorious Abbasid rulers wanted their own capital whence they could rule. They chose a site north of the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, on 30 July 762, the caliph Al-Mansur commissioned the construction of the city, mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic empire under the Abbasids. Mansur loved the site so much he is quoted saying, This is indeed the city that I am to found, where I am to live, and where my descendants will reign afterward. The citys growth was helped by its excellent location, based on at least two factors, it had control over strategic and trading routes along the Tigris, the abundance of water in a dry climate
5.
Tunnel
–
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods, a tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. The central portions of a transit network are usually in tunnel. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers, utility tunnels are used for routing steam, chilled water, electrical power or telecommunication cables, as well as connecting buildings for convenient passage of people and equipment. Secret tunnels are built for military purposes, or by civilians for smuggling of weapons, contraband, special tunnels, such as wildlife crossings, are built to allow wildlife to cross human-made barriers safely. A tunnel is relatively long and narrow, the length is much greater than twice the diameter, although similar shorter excavations can be constructed. The definition of what constitutes a tunnel can vary widely from source to source, for example, the definition of a road tunnel in the United Kingdom is defined as a subsurface highway structure enclosed for a length of 150 metres or more. In the United States, the NFPA definition of a tunnel is An underground structure with a length greater than 23 m. The place where a road, railway, canal or watercourse passes under a footpath, cycleway, or another road or railway is most commonly called a bridge or, if passing under a canal, an aqueduct. Where it is important to stress that it is passing underneath, it may be called an underpass, a longer underpass containing a road, canal or railway is normally called a tunnel, whether or not it passes under another item of infrastructure. An underpass of any length under a river is usually called a tunnel. In the US, the term means an underground rapid transit system. Rail station platforms may be connected by tunnels or footbridges. Much of the technology of tunneling evolved from mining and military engineering. The etymology of the mining, military engineering, and civil engineering reveals these deep historic connections. A major tunnel project must start with an investigation of ground conditions by collecting samples from boreholes. An informed choice can then be made of machinery and methods for excavation and ground support, in planning the route, the horizontal and vertical alignments can be selected to make use of the best ground and water conditions. It is common practice to locate a tunnel deeper than otherwise would be required and this may be a particular concern in large-diameter tunnels
6.
Baghdad Metro
–
The Baghdad Metro is a surface commuter train that operates in the Iraqi city of Baghdad. It is operated by the state owned Iraqi Republic Railways and it resumed operation in October,2008. The train runs about 24 kilometres between Baghdad Central Station and the neighborhood of Dora. It operates two round trips a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Baghdad Metro and the train that runs between Baghdad and Basra, which resumed service in 2007, were the first two regular passenger services to resume in Iraq since the Iraq War. The Baghdad Metros rolling stock entered service in 1983, in February 2009 Iraqi Republic Railways introduced a passenger service between Baghdad and Fallujah. IRR intends in future to extend the service to Ramadi, Saddam Hussein launched the multi-billion-dollar subway project in 1983 to alleviate traffic congestion in Baghdads streets. During the Iran-Iraq war the project was halted. Hussein al-Shahristani, a scientist imprisoned by Saddam, told CBSs 60 Minutes, We believe now it is more than 100 kilometers of very complex network, multilayer tunnels. Since the 2003 Iraq War, traffic problems in Baghdad have increased significantly, because of the creation of the Green Zone, and the reduction of car-ownership regulation. In November 2008, Baghdad mayor Sabir al-Isawi announced plans for a 2-line $US3 billion expansion of services in the city which would be built pending funding. One line would run from Sadr City to Adhamiya, while the other would link the center of Baghdad with its western suburbs, each line would have 20 stations. In February 2011, an agreement was signed with Alstom, for the construction of a 25 km line from central Baghdad to the suburbs of Adhamiya, Al-Hurriya, Kadhimiya. Later in 2011 Alstom and the Iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding for Alstom to design, build and operate a Baghdad–Basra high-speed rail line
7.
Basra
–
Basra, also al-Baṣrah, is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab between Kuwait and Iran. It had an population of 1.5 million in 2012. Basra is also Iraqs main port, although it not have deep water access. The city is part of the location of Sumer, one of the ports from which Sinbad the Sailor journeyed. It played an important role in early Islamic history and was built in 636, Basra is consistently one of the hottest cities in Iraq, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 50 °C. The city was called by many throughout its history, Basrah being the most common. In Arabic the word means the overwatcher, which might have been an allusion to the citys origin as an Arab military base against the Sassanids. Some sources claim that the name is derived from the Persian word Bas-rah, others have argued that the name is derived from the Aramaic word basratha, meaning place of huts, settlement. During the pre-Islamic era, the area was known to the Arabs as al-Khariba due to the existence of an ancient city called al-Kharba. After the present city was built, it was called by names, including the mother of Iraq, the reservoir of Arabs, the prosperous city. The name Al-Basrah, which in Arabic means the over watching or the seeing everything, was given to it because of its role as a base against the Sassanid Empire. However, other sources claim the name originates from the Persian word Bas-rāh or Bassorāh meaning where many ways come together, in 639 Umar established this encampment as a city with five districts, and appointed Abu Musa al-Ashari as its first governor. Abu Musa led the conquest of Khuzestan from 639 to 642 and was ordered by Umar to aid Uthman ibn Abu al-ʿAs, then fighting Iran from a new, more easterly miṣr at Tawwaj. In 650, the Rashidun Caliph Uthman reorganised the Persian frontier, installed ʿAbdullah ibn Amir as Basras governor, Ibn Amir led his forces to their final victory over Yazdegerd III, the Sassanid King of Kings. In 656, Uthman was murdered and Ali was appointed Caliph, Ali first installed Uthman ibn Hanif as Basras governor, who was followed by ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas. These men held the city for Ali until the death in 661. The Sufyanids held Basra until Yazid Is death in 683, the Sufyanids first governor was Umayyad ʿAbdullah, a renowned military leader, commanding fealty and financial demands from Karballah, but poor governor. In 664, Muʿawiyah I replaced him with Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan, often called ibn Abihi, on Ziyads death in 673, his son ʿUbaydullah ibn Ziyad became governor
8.
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. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries, the state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraqs economy to grow at a rapid pace, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population. Saddam formally rose to power in 1979, although he had been the de facto head of Iraq for several years prior. He suppressed several movements, particularly Shia and Kurdish movements, seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, and maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. Whereas some in the Arab world lauded Saddam for his opposition to the United States, the total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddams government in various purges and genocides is unknown, but the lowest estimate is 250,000. Saddams Baath party was disbanded and elections were held, following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shiites and his execution was carried out on 30 December 2006. His mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, named her newborn son Saddam and he is always referred to by this personal name, which may be followed by the patronymic and other elements. He never knew his father, Hussein Abd al-Majid, who disappeared six months before Saddam was born, shortly afterward, Saddams 13-year-old brother died of cancer. The infant Saddam was sent to the family of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah until he was three and his mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, at about age 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Kharaillah Talfah. Later in his relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle he attended a high school in Baghdad. After secondary school Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Baath Party, during this time, Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher. Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, in Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites. Moreover, the nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Baathists like Saddam. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya
9.
Umm Qasr
–
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 and 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, Umm Qasr was originally a small fishing 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 Greats 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 founded in 1961 by the Iraqi ruler General Abdul-Karim Qassem. It was intended to serve as Iraqs only deep water port, 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, during the Iran–Iraq War 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 Peninsula in 1986, however, the port never fell during the Iran–Iraq War. Access to the port was a significant issue in the dispute with Kuwait which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Both countries contested ownership of the leading to Umm Qasr as well as control of the nearby Kuwaiti islands of Bubiyan. After the war, during which the port was bombed, control of the inlet was transferred to Kuwait, the Iraqi government rejected the border changes and continued to claim Kuwaiti territory near the port. Umm Qasr was the target of one of the first major operations in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The analogy was met with scepticism among the troops on the ground, a British soldier was widely quoted as retorting, Theres no beer, no prostitutes and people are shooting at us. In January 2006, the 100th British soldier to die in Iraq, population estimates are around 46,000 people living in Umm Qasr town at the outbreak of the 2003 war. Having grown from a fishing village in 1958, the town is laid out in planned housing tracts. Almost the entire population were relocated from parts of Iraq to work in state-run industries. The port were dramatically expanded following the first Gulf War, in part to remove vital functions from Basra, a mapping project shortly thereafter stated In total, the town is composed of 82 streets, each street has 72 houses
10.
Memorandum of understanding
–
A memorandum of understanding describes a bilateral or multilateral agreement between two or more parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating a common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a commitment or in situations where the parties cannot create a legally enforceable agreement. It is a formal alternative to a gentlemens agreement. Whether a document constitutes a binding contract depends only on the presence or absence of well-defined legal elements in the proper of the document. The required elements are, offer and acceptance, consideration, in the U. S. the specifics can differ slightly depending on whether the contract is for goods or services. Many companies and government agencies use MoUs to define a relationship between departments, agencies or closely held companies, in the United Kingdom, such an MoU is often called a concordat. An example is the 2004 Concordat between bodies inspecting, regulating and auditing health or social care, the term is often used in the context of devolution, for example the 1999 concordat between the central Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Environment Directorate. In international relations, MoUs fall under the category of treaties. In practice and in spite of the United Nations Legal Sections insistence that registration be done to avoid secret diplomacy, as a matter of law, the title of MoU does not necessarily mean the document is binding or not binding under international law. To determine whether a particular MoU is meant to be a legally binding document, a careful analysis of the wording will also clarify the exact nature of the document. The International Court of Justice has provided insight into the determination of the legal status of a document in the landmark case of Qatar v. Bahrain,1 July 1994. Hence, MoUs are often used to modify and adapt existing treaties, the decision concerning ratification, however, is determined by the parties internal law and depends to a large degree on the subject agreed upon. MoUs that are kept confidential cannot be enforced before any UN organ, as was obvious in Qatar v. Bahrain, disputes may arise concerning the status of the document once one of the parties seeks to enforce its provisions. Although MoUs in the field are seldom seen, the transnational aviation agreements are actually MoUs. S. Such an understanding has been criticised for its inability to be legally enforced and this has been highlighted in the current deportation process of the suspected terrorist Abu Qatada, who is wanted by Jordan in connection with a terrorist attack. However, at present, the Court of Appeal has rejected the UK Governments appeal based on the Courts concern of Jordan obtaining evidence potentially incriminating Qatada through the use of torture
11.
Alstom
–
A merger with parts of the General Electric Company plc formed GEC-Alstom in 1989, the company became Alstom in 1998. In 2014, Alstom and General Electric announced that a US$17 billion bid for the power and grid divisions had been made. The GE acquisition deal for the power and grid division was accepted by EU and US anticompetition authorities in mid 2015, in 1932, Alsthom expanded into transportation by acquiring Constructions Electriques de France, Tarbes, a manufacturer of electric locomotives as well as electrical and hydraulic equipment. In 1969, Compagnie Générale dElectricité became the majority shareholder of Alsthom, in 1976, Alsthom merged with Chantiers de lAtlantique, becoming Alsthom Atlantique. Thus, the business expanded into marine, the next year, it constructed the first 1300 MW generator set for the Paluel power station, setting a world record with an output of 1500 MW. In 1978, Alsthom delivered its first TGV to SNCF, the TGV went on to break world rail speed records in 1981 and in 1990. It also set the endurance record for high-speed train lines in 2001. In 1986, Alsthom Belfort received an order from EDF for the largest gas turbine in the world, in 1988–89, holding company CGEE Alstom acquired ACEC Energie and ACEC Automatisme from the dissolution of Belgian electrical engineering company ACEC SA. Alstom acquired 100% of ACECs transport division, renaming it ACEC Transport, in 1991, Alstoms parent company CGE was renamed Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Générale dElectricité, or Alcatel Alsthom for short. In 1994, GEC Alsthom acquired the vehicle manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch from Salzgitter AG. In 1995, the acquired the remaining shares in the steam turbine manufacturer MAN Energie. In early 1998, GEC Alsthom acquired the electrical contractor Cegelec, in 1998, GEC-Alsthom bought Italian firm SASIB SpAs rail signalling subsidiary Sasib Railways, which included the former General Railway Signal. In June 1998, GEC Alsthom was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, GEC, at the same time, the company name was changed to Alstom. In 1999, Alstoms energy division merged with ABB in a 50–50 joint company known as ABB Alstom Power, Alstom also bought Canadas Télécité, a passenger information and security solutions company, and sold its heavy-duty gas turbine business to General Electric. The next year, it bought out ABBs share in ABB Alstom Power, in 2000, Alstom sold its diesel engine businesses to MAN Group. It also acquired a 51% stake in Fiat Ferroviaria, the Italian rail manufacturer, in April 2003, Alstom sold its industrial turbine business to Siemens for €1.1 billion. By 2003, Alstom was facing a crisis due to poor sales and over $5 billion of debt liabilities. Alstoms share price had dropped 90% over two years, in 2004, the French state took a 21% stake in Alstom and received an EU-approved French government bailout worth €2.5 billion
12.
Railway coupling
–
A coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the gauge, since flexibility. The equipment that connects the couplings to the stock is known as the draft gear. The different types of coupling do not always have formal or official names and these couplings followed earlier tramway practice but were made more regular. The vehicles are coupled by hand using a hook and links with a turnbuckle that draws the vehicles together, in Britain, this is called a screw coupling. Vehicles have buffers, one at each corner on the ends and this arrangement limits the slack in trains and lessens shocks. The earliest buffers were fixed extensions of the frames. This coupling is still the standard in European countries, the link-and-pin coupling was the original style of coupling used on North American railways. After most railroads converted to semi-automatic Janney couplers, the link-and-pin survived on forestry railways, while simple in principle, the system suffered from a lack of standardisation regarding size and height of the links, and the size and height of the pockets. The link-and-pin coupler consisted of a body that received an oblong link. During coupling, a worker had to stand between the cars as they came together and guide the link into the coupler pocket. Once the cars were joined, the employee inserted a pin into a hole a few inches from the end of the tube to hold the link in place. This procedure was exceptionally dangerous and many brakemen lost fingers or entire hands when they did not get out of the way of the coupler pockets in time. Many more were killed as a result of being crushed between cars or dragged under cars that were coupled too quickly, brakemen were issued with heavy clubs that could be used to hold the link in position, but many brakemen would not use the club, and risked injury. The link-and-pin coupler proved unsatisfactory because, It made a connection between the cars, with too much slack action. There was no design, and train crews often spent hours trying to match pins. Crew members had to go between moving cars during coupling, and were injured and sometimes killed. The links and pins were often pilfered due to their value as scrap metal, john H. White suggests that the railroads considered this to be more important than the safety issue at the time
13.
25kVAC
–
25 kV alternating current electrification is commonly used in railway electrification systems worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. This electrification is ideal for railways that cover long distances or carry heavy traffic, after some experimentation before World War II in Hungary and in the Black Forest in Germany, it came into widespread use in the 1950s. Railways using older, lower-capacity direct current systems have introduced or are introducing 25 kV AC instead of 3 kV DC/1.5 kV DC for their new high-speed lines. The first successful operational and regular use of the 50 Hz system dates back to 1931 and it was developed by Kálmán Kandó in Hungary, who used 16 kV AC at 50 Hz, asynchronous traction, and an adjustable number of poles. The first electrified line for testing was Budapest–Dunakeszi–Alag, the first fully electrified line was Budapest–Győr–Hegyeshalom. Although Kandós solution showed a way for the future, railway operators outside of Hungary showed a lack of interest in the design. The first railway to use system was completed in 1951 by SNCF between Aix-les-Bains and La Roche-sur-Foron in southern France, initially at 20 kV but converted to 25 kV in 1953. The main reason why electrification at this voltage had not been used before was the lack of reliability of mercury-arc-type rectifiers that could fit on the train. This in turn related to the requirement to use DC series motors, until the early 1950s, mercury-arc rectifiers were difficult to operate even in ideal conditions and were therefore unsuitable for use in the railway industry. It was possible to use AC motors, but they did not have a characteristic for traction purposes. This was because control of speed is difficult without varying the frequency and this is why DC series motors were the best choice for traction purposes, as they can be controlled by voltage, and have an almost ideal torque vs speed characteristic. In the 1990s, high-speed trains began to use lighter, lower-maintenance three-phase AC induction motors. The N700 Shinkansen uses a converter to convert 25 kV single-phase AC to 1,520 V AC to 3,000 V DC to a maximum 2,300 V three-phase AC to run the motors. The system works in reverse for regenerative braking, the choice of 25 kV was related to the efficiency of power transmission as a function of voltage and cost, not based on a neat and tidy ratio of the supply voltage. For a given level, a higher voltage allows for a lower current. The Indian Traction Power uses a 25 kV autotransformer system to achieve greater than the 25 kV system. Supply, in terms, the supply for the electric trains run by the Indian Rail uses only two phases of the normal three-phase electric power supply. The usage of the two phases is a one, feeding a single phase transformer with the two phases instead of the conventional feeding of a phase and a neutral
14.
Turkey
–
Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
15.
Transportation in Turkey
–
This article deals with the system of transport in Turkey, both public and private. The TCDD - Türkiye Devlet Demir Yolları possess 10,984 km of 1,435 mm gauge, there are daily regular passenger trains all through the network. TCDD has started an investment program of building 5.000 km high-speed lines until 2023, by February 2014, three high speed train routes are running. The freight transportation is mainly organized as block trains for domestic routes, in 2004, Marmaray project started on a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus straits. Between Istanbul and Ankara, a high speed line is being constructed now next to the normal speed railroad which is being renovated. When finished, travel time between the two cities will reduce from 6,5 hours to 3 hours and 10 minutes. The high speed line between Ankara and Konya was finished on 3 June 2011 and was put into service on 23 August 2011. Several other high speed and normal railroad projects are currently in the planning stage, because of works connected with the Marmaray and Istanbul-Ankara high speed line there are currently no rail services linking Istanbul with the rest of Anatolia. The suburban services from Haydarpaşa terminate at Pendik where the tracks end. After almost 30 years without any trams, Turkey is experiencing a revival in trams, established in 1992, the tram system of Istanbul earned the best large-scale tram management award in 2005. Another award winning tram network belongs to Eskişehir, a city with a new system opened in 2004. Several other cities are planning or constructing tram lines, usually with modern low-floow trams, by 2014, there have been 12 cities in Turkey using metro, light rail and tram systems. They are Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Bursa, Eskisehir, Kayseri, Gaziantep, Konya, Samsun, Adana, Antalya, the total network is more than 500 kilometers and the rolling stock exceeds 1800 by now. Even if they mostly possess dual carriageways and interchanges, they also have some traffic lights, - The second type of roads are controlled-access highways that are officially named Otoyol. But it isnt uncommon that people in Turkey call them Otoban as this types of roads enterred in popular culture by the means of Turks in Germany and they also depend on the General Directorate of Highways except the newest Otoyol 5 that is financed with a BOT model. Total network,426,906 km Paved,177,550 km Motorways,2,080 km Dual carriageways,16,784 km Unpaved,249,356 km As of 2010, there are numerous private bus companies providing connections between cities in Turkey. For local trips to villages there are dolmuşes, small vans that seat about twenty passengers, as of 2010, number of road vehicles is around 15 million. The number of vehicles by type and use is as follows.023 million as of November 2010, total number of motor vehicles was 11,695,611 at the end of 2007
16.
Iran
–
Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
17.
Transportation in Iran
–
Transport in Iran is inexpensive because of the governments subsidization of the price of gasoline. The downside is a draw on government coffers, economic inefficiency because of highly wasteful consumption patterns, contraband with neighboring countries. In 2008, more than one million people worked in the transportation sector, Iran has a long paved road system linking most of its towns and all of its cities. In 2011 the country had 173,000 kilometres of roads, in 2008 there were nearly 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants. Trains operate on 11,106 km of railroad track, the country’s major port of entry is Bandar-Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz. After arriving in Iran, imported goods are distributed throughout the country by trucks, the Tehran-Bandar-Abbas railroad, opened in 1995, connects Bandar-Abbas to the railroad system of Central Asia via Tehran and Mashhad. Other major ports include Bandar e-Anzali and Bandar e-Torkeman on the Caspian Sea and Khorramshahr, dozens of cities have airports that serve passenger and cargo planes. Iran Air, the airline, was founded in 1962 and operates domestic. All large cities have mass transit systems using buses, and several companies provide bus service between cities. Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, Ahwaz and Esfahan have underground mass transit rail lines, the Ministry of Roads and Transportation is in charge of studying and deciding pricing policy of the transportation, as well as issuing licenses for the establishment of transportation firms. In addition, the Ministry is in charge of implementing comprehensive, as of 2016, plans for foreign direct investment in the transport sector include over 5,600 km of highways,745 km of freeways, and close to 3,000 km of main roads. These projects and others are worth $25 billion, Iran says it needs more than $40 billion to complete 258 major unfinished transportation projects. Total,11,106 km Plan to increase total railways length from 13,500 km in 2016 to 20,000 km by 2025, the majority of transportation in Iran is road-based. The government plans to transport 3. 5% of the volume and 8. 5% of the freight volume by rail. The railway network expands by about 500 km per year according to the Ministry of R&T, in December 2014, a rail line from Iran opened to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Afghanistan - planned Azerbaijan - break-of-gauge 1,435 mm /1,520 mm Armenia - planned - break of gauge 1,435 mm /1,520 mm Iraq - part under construction, part planned. One long link from Arak via Kermanshah to Baghdad one short link of about 50 km links Khorramshahr to Basra and is due for completion in 2006, pakistan - break-of-gauge 1,435 mm /1,676 mm - missing link from Bam to Zahedan completed 2009. The metro will have a length of 430 kilometres once all nine lines are constructed by 2028
18.
Iraq
–
The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
19.
Diyala Governorate
–
Diyala Governorate or Diyala Province is a governorate in eastern Iraq. Governor, Muthana al-Timimi Deputy Governor, Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Diyala Governorate extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border and it covers an area of 17,685 square kilometres. A large portion of the province is drained by the Diyala River, because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diyalas main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large groves. The province also contains one of the largest olive groves in the Middle East and it is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East. The Hamrin Mountains pass through the governorate and this changed drastically starting in 2003. It is now the Sunni Arabs that are exposed to expulsion and loss of house, presently, an estimated population of some 1,224,000 people live in this province. Sunni Arabs, once a majority until 2003, have been losing their positions due to violence of the Iraqi Civil War and since summer of 2014. Nearly half the Sunni Arab population has been pushed out of the province, presently, they constitute no more than 25 percent of the population of the Diyala Governorate. In contrast, the Feyli Kurds who were deported from this area from the 1960 to 1990s by various Sunni Arab governments in Baghdad are returning-as have other Kurds and they now dominate the entire Khanaqin district and all others bordering on Iran in this province. At the lowest point during the rule of Saddam Hussein, their numbers had fallen to just 7% of the total, today, they boast to around 30% and increasing as they take up their old homes in places such a Jalula/Jalawla and Al-Sadiyah. The rest of the residents are Iraqi Sunni Turkmen predominantly in Kifri, the Diyala Media Center was built under contract by a Japanese architectural firm in 1989. It is one of Iraqs few independent radio and television stations offer local television. There is evidence that Al-Qaeda in Iraq has recently moved its base of operations from Anbar province to Diyala, during late 2006 Baqubah and much of the Diyala province were reported to have come under Sunni insurgent control. This insurgent control is reported to have continued through 2007 and into early 2008, on May 11,2007, Army Maj. Gen. S. Military, and the debate about the level of commitment from the U. S. government. By mid-2007 the Islamic State of Iraq, already holding Baqubah and most of the province under its control, there is already strong evidence the Islamic State of Iraq has moved most of its command and control operations to Diyala. In June 2007, US forces launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper with night air assaults in Baquba, by August 19, Baquba was largely secured, although some insurgent presence remained in the city and surrounding areas. Fighting continued in the Diyala River valley but by the beginning of October, US and Iraqi forces held most of the province while the insurgents were in retreat to the north, Diyala is still a contested province
20.
Kuwait
–
Kuwait /kuːˈweɪt/, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people,1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates, expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in 1938, from 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability, in 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces, at the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a political system. It has an income economy backed by the worlds sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world, according to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most democratic country in the region, in the Arab world, Kuwait is frequently dubbed the Hollywood of the Gulf due to the popularity of its soap operas and theatre. During the Ubaid period, Kuwait was the site of interaction between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Neolithic Eastern Arabia, mainly centered in As-Subiya in northern Kuwait. The earliest evidence of habitation in Kuwait dates back 8000 B. C. where Mesolithic tools were found in Burgan. As-Subiya in northern Kuwait is the earliest evidence of urbanization in the whole Persian Gulf basin area, mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in 2000 B. C. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur inhabited Failaka and ran a mercantile business, the island had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B. C. The Neolithic inhabitants of Kuwait were among the worlds earliest maritime traders, one of the worlds earliest reed-boats was discovered in northern Kuwait dating back to the Ubaid period. In 3rd century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great, according to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean island of that name in size and shape. Remains of Greek colonization include a large Hellenistic fort and Greek temples, in 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan, Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site, the Sassanid religions tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz
21.
Transportation in Kuwait
–
As an oil rich nation, Transport in Kuwait is largely road based, one car for every 2.25 people. Bus services make up Kuwaits entire public transport network, as the country has no rail infrastructure, several railways are being planned from many years but none whatsoever have gone into effect, including a Kuwait City metro. Kuwait has several ports along the Persian Gulf. There are seven airports, the largest and only for civil-use is Kuwait International Airport, Kuwait does not have railways, though increasing congestion on the countrys roads has led to several railway projects being planned. A privately owned railway track of unknown length is proposed as part of a project called The Boulevard. This park is set to be open in April 2016, the Kuwait Metropolitan Rapid Transit System Project is a planned four-line metro network which will total 160 km with 69 stations. As a nation with one car to every 2.25 people, the total length of paved and unpaved roads was 6, 524km in 2009. Traffic congestion is common throughout the day, particularly in Kuwait City, as there are no railways countrys public transport network consists almost entirely of bus routes. The state owned Kuwait Public Transportation Company was established in 1962 and it runs local bus routes across Kuwait as well as longer distance services to other Persian Gulf states. The main private bus company is CityBus, which operates about 28 routes across the country, another private bus company, Kuwait Gulf Link Public Transport Services, was started in 2006. It runs local bus routes across Kuwait and longer distance services to neighbouring Arab countries
22.
Saudi Arabia
–
Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
23.
Transportation in Saudi Arabia
–
As a result, the country now boasts an extensive transportation network. Total,221,372 km Paved,47,529 km Unpaved,173,843 km Roads in Saudi Arabia vary from eight-laned roads to small two-lane roads in rural areas. The city highways and other highways are well maintained, especially the roads in the capital Riyadh. The roads have been constructed to resist the high temperatures. The other city such as the one linking coast to coast are not as great as the inner-city highways. In October 2013, a group of auto enthusiasts drove some 2,000 km through Saudi Arabia in search of the best driving road, Saudi Arabia encourages road transport as it has maintained one of the lowest petrol prices in the world, at $0.48 per gallon. Saudi Ports Authority is the management organization in the country. However, there are now plans to add more tracks and develop new railway routes, there is a large scale railway project Haramain High Speed Rail Project underway in the Western province, connecting Makkah with Jeddah and Madinah city. The primary objective of this line is to provide an alternative for the Muslim pilgrims travelling between the three cities. The Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Southern Line is part of the Makkah Metro rail transit system and this is a 18.1 kilometers track developed as exclusive shuttle a forecasted 8 million pilgrims between Mecca, Mount Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina in the annual Hajj pilgrimage
24.
Transportation in Jordan
–
With the exception of a railway system, Jordan has a developed public and private transportation system. There are three airports in Jordan. The Hedjaz Jordan Railway runs one train a day each way. In 2009, it was estimated that Jordan had 7,891 kilometres of paved highways, some of the major highways in Jordan are, Highway 15, connects the Syrian border with Amman and to the port city of Aqaba on the Gulf of Aqaba. It is a four-lane, double carriageway road almost on its entirety, Highway 35, connects Irbid in the northern region to Aqaba, it takes the name and route of the historic Kings Highway. It has four lanes on double carriageway on its stretch from Irbid until Amman, Highway 65, connects Aqaba to the northwestern region of Jordan. The first part of the highway was constructed in 1978 as part of the Red Sea - Dead Sea Access and it connected Safi, the south end of Dead Sea to Aqaba, the north point of Red Sea. It is narrow gauge, the rest of the Syrian network uses 1,435 mm standard gauge, Aqaba Railway Corporation The Jordanian government has begun acquiring land for new rail routes. Following a study by BNP Paribas, three routes are planned, which are expected to be tendered later in 2010, therefore, it is unclear when the ambitions railway expansion plan will be carried out. There are also plans for a rail system operating between Amman and Zarqa and a funicular and metro line in Amman. Currently, two connected but non-contiguously operated sections of the Hedjaz Railway exist, from Amman in Jordan to Syria, from phosphate mines near Maan to the Gulf of Aqaba as the Aqaba Railway. In August 2011, Jordanian government approved the construction of the railway from Aqaba to the Iraqi border, the Iraqis in the meantime started the construction of the line from the border to their current railhead at Ramadi. 2007- China to rebuild Hejaz line 2006- Various rail proposals, 2005-2005 in rail transport - Jordanian Transport Minister Saoud Nseirat responds to comments made on Monday, December 12, by Israeli Transport Minister Meir Shitrit. Shitrit plans to make his proposal at a conference for Mediterranean transport ministers in Marrakesh on December 20. This light rail project, to be operational by 2011, will be the first urban rail public-private partnership in the Middle East, the system will be operated using 1,435 mm electrically propelled light rail vehicles on a double track. The total length of the LRS system will be approximately 25 kilometres, the majority of the LRS route, between Al-Mahatta and New Zarqa will be constructed within the existing Hedjaz Railway right-of-way. The Public Transport Regulatory Commission estimates that the new system will carry about 45,000 passengers a day in its first year, canadas CPCS was the lead advisor to the PTRC in this PPP transaction. CPCS is also advising the Government of Jordan in the privatization of the Aqaba Railway Corporation and this railway is used to transport phosphate from mines located in Maan
25.
Break of gauge
–
With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transhipped. A break-of-gauge adds delays, cost, and inconvenience, narrow gauges tend to be associated with smaller loading gauges and sharper curves, which tend to reduce initial capital costs. This offsets the costs of any affected by the break-of-gauge. Historically narrow gauge railways were built on marginal lines, mostly through hilly and mountainous terrain to cut costs. Associated disadvantages were not recognized as much as rail lines were operated independent of potentially connecting lines regardless of gauge as competing companies built. Only the building of union stations or the nationalization of railroads changed this, an advantage is that invading armies may be severely hampered. Another advantage might be if the different gauges have different loading gauges. Similarly, if the larger and smaller gauges use different couplers or brakes, for passenger trains the inconvenience is less, especially at major stations where many passengers change trains or end their journeys anyway. Therefore, some railways have been built with gauges otherwise not used in the concerned countries. For example, the railways in Japan and Spain use 1,435 mm while their respective mainline railroad systems use 1,067 mm and 1,668 mm. For night trains, which are common in places like Russia. For these, often the bogies are replaced, even if it takes more time than having passengers change trains. If local government has influence over the construction of railways, some may see it as desirable for trains to stop in rather than pass through their town. Transhipping freight from cars of one gauge to cars of another is very labour- and time-intensive, if the capacity of the freight cars on both systems does not match, additional inefficiencies can arise. If the frequency is low, trains might need to wait a time for its counterpart to arrive before transshipping. This is avoided by storing the goods, but that is also an inconvenience, technical solutions to avoid transhipping include variable gauge axles, replacing the bogies of cars, and using transporter cars that can carry a car of a different gauge. Talgo and CAF have developed dual-gauge axles which permit through running between broad gauge and standard gauge, in Japan the Gauge Change Train, built on Talgo patents, runs on standard and narrow 1,067 mm gauge
26.
Syria
–
Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
27.
Transportation in Syria
–
This article deals with the system of transport in Syria, both public and private. Total,2,052 kmstandard gauge,1,801 km of 1,435 mm gaugenarrow gauge,251 km of 1,050 mm gauge See also Hejaz railway. CFS An overland trans-desert bus service between Beirut, Haifa, Damascus and Baghdad was established by the Nairn Transport Company of Damascus in 1923. Total,68,157 kmpaved,61,514 km unpaved,6,643 km Syria has a system of motorways in the western half of the country. The eastern part nevertheless has only connection through two lanes due to the sparsity of the population. The main motorways in Syria are the following, M1 - Runs from Homs to Latakia and it also connects Tartus, Baniyas and Jableh. M2 - Runs from Damascus to Jdaidit Yavus, on the border with Lebanon, m4 - Runs from Latakia to Saraqib. It also connects Arihah and Jisr ash Shughur, assuming that it shares some 60 km. M5 - This is the most important motorway in all the country, due to its length and it connects the border with Jordan in the south with Damascus, the capital, and continues further north to Aleppo, the countrys second largest city. Other cities connected by this motorway are Daraa, Al Nabk, Homs and Hamah. Its length is 474 km.900 km, minimal economic importance crude oil 1,997 km, petroleum products 3,161 km Main international seaport at Latakia with additional ports at Baniyas, Jablah, and Tartus. Total,19 ships totaling 429,005 GRT/626,069 tonnes deadweight ships by type, bulk carrier 4, cargo ship 14, carrier 1 As of 2012, Syria had a total of 99 airports. The major airports are, Aleppo International Airport, Bassel Al-Assad International Airport, Damascus International Airport, Deir ez-Zor Airport, Kamishly Airport, and Palmyra Airport. Total, 29over 3,047 meters in length,52,438 to 3,047 meters,16914 to 1,523 meters, 3under 914 meters,5 total,701,524 to 2,437 m,1914 to 1,523 m, 14under 914 m,55 Syria
28.
Rabiya
–
Mtaileb or Mtayleb is a suburb north of Beirut in the Matn District of Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. Mtaileb I or Rabiya is a site located 1.5 kilometres east northeast of Antelias in a wooded ravine next to a road that zig-zags upwards to the Rabiya Club. N. E. The tools were studied by Jacques Cauvin and said to be made of impure Upper Jurassic flint, the area is now well built up with widely spaced villas and contains flint outcrops under the soil. Mtaileb II is located 900 metres west northwest of Mtaileb on the facing, wooded, sandstone slopes. A small Neolithic assemblage of tools was collected in beige and grey flint with small axes, one slightly polished trapezoidal axe was found. The material is stored in the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory marked 1500 m S. W
29.
Beirut
–
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanons Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the countrys largest and it is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC, the Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city. Beirut is Lebanons seat of government and plays a role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beiruts cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction, identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Beirut I, or Minet el Hosn, was listed as Beyrouth ville by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orent, the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Beirut II, or Umm el Khatib, was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level, the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948. Beirut III, Furn esh Shebbak or Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticized by Lorraine Copeland, P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site. The area was covered in red sand that represented Quaternary river terraces, the site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy, Describes and another Jesuit, a large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river. They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, Henri Fleisch also found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Levallois flints and bones and similar material were found amongst brecciated deposits. The area has now built on
30.
Haifa
–
Haifa, is the third-largest city in the State of Israel, with a population of 278,903 in 2015. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area and it is also home to the Baháí World Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Bahai pilgrims. Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years, the earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age. In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center, over the centuries, the city has changed hands, being conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British, and the Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Haifa Municipality has governed the city, as of 2016, the city is a major seaport located on Israels Mediterranean coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7 square kilometres. It lies about 90 kilometres north of Tel Aviv and is the regional center of northern Israel. According to researcher J. Kis-Lev Haifa is considered a haven for coexistence between Jews and Arabs. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion, are located in Haifa, in addition to the largest k-12 school in Israel, the city plays an important role in Israels economy. It is home to Matam, one of the oldest and largest high-tech parks in the country, Haifa also owns the underground rapid transit system located in Israel. Haifa Bay is a center of industry, petroleum refining. Haifa formerly functioned as the terminus of an oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan. With locals using it to refer to a tell at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contains its remains. The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, some time after the end of the 1st century, Haifa is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud, a work central to Judaism. Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius of Caesareas 4th-century work, Onomasticon, is said to be another name for Sycaminus, references to this city end with the Byzantine period. Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tel Shikmona upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon. Haifa is mentioned by the mid-11th-century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw, the Crusaders, who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Aramaic name of Simon Peter. Other spellings in English have included Caipha, Kaipha, Caiffa, Kaiffa and Khaifa.5 miles to the east. The new village, the nucleus of modern Haifa, was first called al-imara al-jadida by some, but others residing there called it Haifa al-Jadida at first, the ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear
31.
Damascus
–
Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the ongoing battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as ash-Sham and nicknamed as the City of Jasmine, in addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant. The city has an population of 1,711,000 as of 2009. Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a metropolitan area of 2.6 million people. The Barada River flows through Damascus, first settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad, Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the government and all of the government ministries. The name of Damascus first appeared in the geographical list of Thutmose III as T-m-ś-q in the 15th century BC, the etymology of the ancient name T-m-ś-q is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-ḳw in Egyptian, Dammaśq in Old Aramaic, the Akkadian spelling is found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC. Later Aramaic spellings of the name include a intrusive resh, perhaps influenced by the root dr. Thus, the English and Latin name of the city is Damascus which was imported from originated from the Qumranic Darmeśeq, and Darmsûq in Syriac, meaning a well-watered land. In Arabic, the city is called Dimašqu š-Šāmi, although this is shortened to either Dimašq or aš-Šām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbours. Aš-Šām is an Arabic term for Levant and for Syria, the latter, the Anti-Lebanon mountains mark the border between Syria and Lebanon. The range has peaks of over 10,000 ft. and blocks precipitation from the Mediterranean sea, however, in ancient times this was mitigated by the Barada River, which originates from mountain streams fed by melting snow. Damascus is surrounded by the Ghouta, irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, maps of Roman Syria indicate that the Barada river emptied into a lake of some size east of Damascus. Today it is called Bahira Atayba, the hesitant lake, because in years of severe drought it does not even exist, the modern city has an area of 105 km2, out of which 77 km2 is urban, while Jabal Qasioun occupies the rest. The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, to the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages, Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These neighbourhoods originally arose on roads leading out of the city and these new neighbourhoods were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule
32.
Nairn Transport Company
–
The Nairn Transport Company was a pioneering motor transport company that operated a trans-desert route from Beirut, Haifa and Damascus to Baghdad, and back again, from 1923. Their route became known as The Nairn Way, the firm continued, in various guises, until 1959. The company was formed by Norman Nairn and his brother Gerald of Blenheim, in 1905, their father had been one of the first in New Zealand to own a motor car, a Reo, and the brothers had a successful motorcycle dealership there prior to World War I. Among other brands, they were the agents for Harley-Davidson. There followed a process of experimentation with different vehicles and the brothers came into conflict with the owners of horse-drawn vehicles to whose business they were a threat. In 1920 they began a mail and passenger service between Beirut and Haifa, in 1923, the British consul in Damascus, C. E. S. Palmer, asked them to examine the possibility of crossing the Syrian Desert by car, iraq was under a British League of Nations mandate at the time and a quicker route home would a great advantage to the British staff there. Plans for a link to the Mediterranean coast had faltered. The Nairns also received encouragement from local traders who were using camels which were slow, one was local sheik and gold smuggler Mohammad Ibn Bassam who had made trial runs of different routes using his own cars. In April 1923, the Nairns made the first of six runs from Damascus to Baghdad. The first trip took three days for a journey of 880 kilometers using a Buick, an Oldsmobile and a Lancia. Having demonstrated the feasibility of the plan, Norman Nairn proposed to British officials in Baghdad that the start a postal service between Damascus and Baghdad. The British agreed, as did the French in Damascus, the brothers signed a five-year contract with the Iraqi government to transport mail from Baghdad to Damascus and Haifa, and back again. With the help of the Nasser trading family, the Nairn Transport Company was established, the new arrangements cut the transit time for mail from Baghdad to Europe to around 10 days from the 30 days previously required. Mail had previously travelled by ship from Port Said, via the Suez Canal, around the Arab Peninsula to the port of Basrah, the ground route was also seen as more comfortable than the air route. The cars could travel at up to 70 mph over flat, sun-baked, ground for around two-thirds of the route as the desert was a mud, mud and standing water in the rainy season, and rocky ground, were sometimes a problem however. On one occasion Gerald Nairn journeyed from Rutbah to an Iran Petroleum Company post more quickly than an Imperial Airways aircraft that left at the same time. The cars were also cheaper, costing £30 per passenger from Beirut to Baghdad, at first only two cars made the trip weekly, but by 1925, eight or nine, or even twelve, cars were travelling at the same time
33.
Euphrates River
–
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia, originating in eastern Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Ancient Greek form Euphrátēs was borrowed from Old Persian Ufrātu, the Elamite name is ultimately derived from the Sumerian Buranuna, possibly through the Akkadian name. In Akkadian the river was similarly called Purattu, which has been perpetuated in Semitic languages, the Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language. The earliest references to the Euphrates come from texts found in Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq. In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called Buranuna, the name could also be written KIB. NUN. or dKIB. NUN, with the prefix d indicating that the river was a divinity. In Sumerian, the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also a written UD. KIB. NUN, the Euphrates is the longest river of Western Asia. It emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates, the same figures are given by Isaev and Mikhailova. The length of the Shatt al-Arab, which connects the Euphrates, both the Kara Su and the Murat Su rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations of 3,290 metres and 3,520 metres amsl, respectively. At the location of the Keban Dam, the two rivers, now combined into the Euphrates, have dropped to an elevation of 693 metres amsl, from Keban to the Syrian–Turkish border, the river drops another 368 metres over a distance of less than 600 kilometres. The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall and melting snow, discharge in these two months accounts for 36 percent of the total annual discharge of the Euphrates, or even 60–70 percent according to one source, while low runoff occurs in summer and autumn. The discharge regime of the Euphrates has changed dramatically since the construction of the first dams in the 1970s, data on Euphrates discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal of water for irrigation. Average discharge at Hīt after 1990 has dropped to 356 cubic metres per second, the seasonal variability has equally changed. The pre-1990 peak volume recorded at Hīt was 7,510 cubic metres per second, the minimum volume at Hīt remained relatively unchanged, rising from 55 cubic metres per second before 1990 to 58 cubic metres per second afterward. In Syria, three rivers add their water to the Euphrates, the Sajur, the Balikh and the Khabur and these rivers rise in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains along the Syro–Turkish border and add comparatively little water to the Euphrates. The Sajur is the smallest of these tributaries, emerging from two streams near Gaziantep and draining the plain around Manbij before emptying into the reservoir of the Tishrin Dam. The Balikh receives most of its water from a spring near Ayn al-Arus. In terms of length, drainage basin and discharge, the Khabur is the largest of these three and its main karstic springs are located around Ras al-Ayn, from where the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah, where the river turns south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah
34.
Tigris River
–
The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq, the Tigris is 1,850 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey and this stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels, First, the artificial Shatt al-Hayy branches off, to join the Euphrates near Nasiriyah. Second, the Shatt al-Muminah and Majar-al-Kabir branch off to feed the Central Marshes, further downstream, two other distributary channels branch off, which feed the Hawizeh Marshes. The main channel continues southwards and is joined by the Al-Kassarah, finally, the Tigris joins the Euphrates near al-Qurnah to form the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris, Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab, in ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2400 B. C, the Tigris has long been an important transport route in a largely desert country. Shallow-draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul, General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which sank, Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft. Later, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company and they had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river, tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaeological tourism, and the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular to European travelers. In the First World War, during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia, Indian, see Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad. The Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Espiegle, Lawrence, Odin, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Miner, Shaitan, Sumana, and stern wheelers Muzaffari/Mozaffir. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly-class gunboats Butterfly, Cranefly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, Sawfly, Snakefly, and Mantis, Moth, the Ancient Greek form Tigris was borrowed from Old Persian Tigrā, itself from Elamite Tigra, itself from Sumerian Idigna. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, and from there into the other Semitic languages, another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud, literally swift river. Today, however, Arvand Rud refers to the confluence of the Euphrates, in Kurdish, it is also known as Ava Mezin, the Great Water
35.
Umm Qasr Port
–
Umm Qasr Port is Iraqs only deep water port, part of the city of Umm Qasr. It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet, prior to the Persian Gulf War, traffic between Kuwait and Iraq flowed over a bridge. Umm Qasr was originally a fishing town, but was said to have been the site of Alexander the Greats 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 and 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. In 1958 after the coup detat of the Iraqi Army known as the 14 July Revolution, the new regime of General Abdul-Karim Qassem undertook mass planning of the economy of Iraq, based on oil export and factory based production, which required new shipping facilities. Founded in 1961, it was intended to serve as Iraqs only deep water port, the port facilities were built by a consortium of companies from West Germany, Sweden and Lebanon, with Iraqi Republic Railways services connecting it to Basra and Baghdad. The port opened for business in July 1967, during the Iran–Iraq War, the ports importance increased as fighting restricted access to other ports further east along the Shatt al-Arab. The port of Basra, located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, after the 1991 First Gulf War, during which the port was bombed, control of the inlet leading to Umm Qasr was transferred to Kuwait. Under control of Allied Forces for a period, in planning for Kuwait, the bridge was removed. The Battle of Umm Qasr was the first military confrontation in the Iraq War, Iraqi forces put up unexpectedly strong resistance, requiring several days fighting before the area was cleared of defenders. The port was declared safe and open on March 25th 2003, after Royal Marines took over control of the port, on 28 March a 200-yard-wide channel was declared safe, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Sir Galahad docked to begin offloading hundreds of tons of food and water. Work continued for six weeks after that, widening the channel, on 23 May 2003, control of the facility was transferred from the Spanish Army operating under the Royal Marines, to Stevedoring Service of America. The company is responsible for operations as well as restoration and renovation of the facility, which will be turned over to Iraqi civilian control when it is fully operational. The prime contractor was Weston Solutions, Inc. of West Chester, Pennsylvania, at Iraqi Port, Chaos and Corruption Reign - slideshow by The New York Times
36.
Deadweight tonnage
–
Deadweight tonnage or tons deadweight is a measure of how much mass a ship is carrying or can safely carry, it does not include the weight of the ship. DWT is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, DWT is often used to specify a ships maximum permissible deadweight, although it may also denote the actual DWT of a ship not loaded to capacity. Deadweight tonnage is a measure of a weight carrying capacity. It should not be confused with displacement which includes the ships own weight, nor other volume or capacity measures such as gross tonnage or net tonnage
37.
Cargo ship
–
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the worlds seas and oceans each year, cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built by welded steel, cargo ships/freighters can be divided into five groups, according to the type of cargo they carry. Tankers carry petroleum products or other liquid cargo, dry bulk carriers carry coal, grain, ore and other similar products in loose form. Multi-purpose vessels, as the name suggests, carry different classes of cargo – e. g. liquid, a Reefer ship is specifically designed and used for shipping perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled, mostly fruits, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foodstuffs. Specialized types of cargo vessels include ships and bulk carriers. Cargo ships fall into two categories that reflect the services they offer to industry, liner and tramp services. Those on a published schedule and fixed tariff rates are cargo liners. Tramp ships do not have fixed schedules, users charter them to haul loads. Generally, the shipping companies and private individuals operate tramp ships. Cargo liners run on fixed schedules published by the shipping companies, each trip a liner takes is called a voyage. However, some cargo liners may carry passengers also, a cargo liner that carries 12 or more passengers is called a combination or passenger-cum-cargo line. The desire to trade routes over longer distances, and throughout more seasons of the year. Before the middle of the 19th century, the incidence of piracy resulted in most cargo ships being armed, sometimes heavily, as in the case of the Manila galleons. They were also escorted by warships. Piracy is still common in some waters, particularly in the Malacca Straits. In 2004, the governments of three nations agreed to provide better protection for the ships passing through the Straits. The waters off Somalia and Nigeria are also prone to piracy, while smaller vessels are also in danger along parts of the South American, Southeast Asian coasts, the words cargo and freight have become interchangeable in casual usage
38.
Passenger ship
–
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight, only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been eliminated. While typically passenger ships are part of the merchant marine, passenger ships have also used as troopships. An ocean liner is the form of passenger ship. Once such liners operated on scheduled line voyages to all inhabited parts of the world, with the advent of airliners transporting passengers and specialized cargo vessels hauling freight, line voyages have almost died out. Her success demonstrated that there was a market for large cruise ships, successive classes of ever-larger ships were ordered, until the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth was finally dethroned from her 56-year reign as the largest passenger ship ever built. Both the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 and her successor as Cunards flagship RMS Queen Mary 2, QM2 was superseded by the Freedom of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean line as the largest passenger ship ever built, however, QM2 still hold the record for the largest ocean liner. The Freedom of the Seas was superseded by the Oasis of the Seas in October 2009, by convention and long usage, the size of civilian passenger ships is measured by gross tonnage, which is a dimensionless figure calculated from the total enclosed volume of the vessel. Gross tonnage is not a measure of weight, although the two concepts are often confused, weight is measured by displacement, which is the conventional means of measuring naval vessels. Often a passenger ship is stated to weigh or displace a certain tonnage, but the figure given nearly always refers to gross tonnage, gross tonnage normally is a much higher value than displacement. However, by the conventional and historical measure of gross tonnage, the Oasis of the Seas measures over 225,000 GT, over twice as large as the largest cruise ships of the late 1990s. Power is also unavailable to the crew of the ship to operate electrically powered mechanisms, lack of an adequate backup system to propel the ship can, in rough seas, render it dead in the water and result in loss of the ship. It is believed some owners and operators of ships built before 1980, fred Olsens Black Prince, built in 1966 was one such ship, but was reported to be headed for inter-island service in Venezuelan waters. The International Ice Patrol was formed in 1914 after the sinking of the RMS Titanic to address the issue of iceberg collision
39.
Oil tanker
–
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two types of oil tankers, crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined oil from its point of extraction to refineries. Product tankers, generally smaller, are designed to move refined products from refineries to points near consuming markets. Oil tankers are often classified by their size as well as their occupation, the size classes range from inland or coastal tankers of a few thousand metric tons of deadweight to the mammoth ultra large crude carriers of 550,000 DWT. Tankers move approximately 2,000,000,000 metric tons of oil every year, second only to pipelines in terms of efficiency, the average cost of oil transport by tanker amounts to only two or three United States cents per 1 US gallon. Some specialized types of oil tankers have evolved, one of these is the naval replenishment oiler, a tanker which can fuel a moving vessel. Combination ore-bulk-oil carriers and permanently moored floating storage units are two variations on the standard oil tanker design. Oil tankers have been involved in a number of damaging and high-profile oil spills, as a result, they are subject to stringent design and operational regulations. The technology of oil transportation has evolved alongside the oil industry, although anthropogenic use of oil reaches to prehistory, the first modern commercial exploitation dates back to James Youngs manufacture of paraffin in 1850. In the early 1850s, oil began to be exported from Upper Burma, the oil was moved in earthenware vessels to the river bank where it was then poured into boat holds for transportation to Britain. In the 1860s, Pennsylvania oil fields became a supplier of oil. Break-bulk boats and barges were used to transport Pennsylvania oil in 40-US-gallon wooden barrels. But transport by barrel had several problems, the first problem was weight, the standard empty barrel weighed 64 pounds, representing 20% of the total weight of a full barrel. Other problems with barrels were their expense, their tendency to leak, the expense was significant, for example, in the early years of the Russian oil industry, barrels accounted for half the cost of petroleum production. In 1863, two tankers were built on Englands River Tyne. These were followed in 1873 by the first oil-tank steamer, Vaderland, the vessels use was curtailed by U. S. and Belgian authorities citing safety concerns. By 1871, the Pennsylvania oil fields were making limited use of oil tank barges, the modern oil tanker was developed in the period from 1877 to 1885
40.
Roll-on/roll-off ship
–
This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo. RORO vessels have either built-in or shore-based ramps that allow the cargo to be rolled on. While smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances often have built-in ramps, the ramps and doors may be located in stern, bow or sides, or any combination thereof. At first, wheeled vehicles carried as cargo on oceangoing ships were treated like any other cargo, automobiles had their fuel tanks emptied and their batteries disconnected before being hoisted into the ship’s hold, where they were chocked and secured. This process was tedious and difficult, and vehicles were subject to damage, an early roll-on/roll-off service was a train ferry, started in 1833 by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, which operated a wagon ferry on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland. The first modern train ferry was Leviathan, built in 1849, the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was formed in 1842 and the company wished to extend the East Coast Main Line further north to Dundee and Aberdeen. The company hired the civil engineer Thomas Bouch who argued for a train ferry with an efficient roll-on/roll-off mechanism to maximise the efficiency of the system. Custom-built ferries were to be built, with lines and matching harbour facilities at both ends to allow the rolling stock to easily drive on and off the boat. To compensate for the tides, adjustable ramps were positioned at the harbours. The wagons were loaded on and off with the use of steam engines. ”The company was persuaded to install this train ferry service for the transportation of goods wagons across the Firth of Forth from Burntisland in Fife to Granton. The ferry itself was built by Thomas Grainger, a partner of the firm Grainger and Miller, the service commenced on 3 February 1850. Train-ferry services were used extensively during World War I and this involved three train-ferries to be built, each with four sets of railway line on the main deck to allow for up to 54 railway wagons to be shunted directly on and off the ferry. These train-ferries could also be used to transport vehicles along with railway rolling stock. Later that month a second train-ferry was established from the Port of Southampton on the South East Coast, in the first month of operations at Richborough,5,000 tons were transported across the Channel, by the end of 1918 it was nearly 261,000 tons. There were many advantages of the use of train-ferries over conventional shipping in World War I and it was much easier to move the large, heavy artillery and tanks that this kind of modern warfare required using train-ferries as opposed to repeated loading and unloading of cargo. The increase of traffic because of the war effort meant that economies. After the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, train ferries were used extensively for the return of material from the Front, indeed, according to war office statistics, a greater tonnage of material was transported by train ferry from Richborough in 1919 than in 1918. As the train ferries had space for motor transport as well as rolling stock, thousands of lorries, motor cars
41.
Baghdad International Airport
–
Baghdad International Airport, previously Saddam International Airport, is Iraqs largest international airport, located in a suburb about 16 km west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate. It is the base for Iraqs national airline, Iraqi Airways. The present airport was developed under a consortium led by French company, Spie Batignolles, the Iran/Iraq war delayed full opening of the airport until 1982. The airport at the time was opened as Saddam International Airport, bearing the name of the former Iraqi Dictator, most of Baghdads civil flights stopped in 1991, when the United Nations imposed restrictions on Iraq after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. Because of the no-fly zone imposed on Iraq by the United States, internationally, Baghdad was able to receive occasional charter flights carrying medicine, aid workers, and government officials. Royal Jordanian Airlines operated regular flights from Amman to Baghdad, in April 2003, US-led forces invaded Iraq and changed the airports name from Saddam International Airport to Baghdad International Airport. Civilian control of the airport was returned to the Iraqi Government in 2004, terminal C has been refreshed with three active gate areas for carriers operating from the airport. In January 2017 a FlyDubai jet carrying 154 passengers was struck by gunfire as it landed at the airport, one passenger was injured when at least three bullets struck the plane. After the incident, UAE carriers FlyDubai and Emirates suspended their flights from Dubai to Baghdad, flights by Turkish Airlines and Royal Jordanian were also temporarily suspended. Sather Air Base or Camp Sather was a United States Air Force base on the west side of the airport occupied from 2003 to 2011 during the Iraq War. It was named in memory of Combat Controller Staff Sergeant Scott Sather, Sather was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his leadership of a 24th Special Tactics Squadron reconnaissance task force during the initial stages of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The airport officially reverted to control on 25 August 2004. Iraqi Airways resumed regular flights, and courier carriers also began flights, on October 2008, Turkish Airlines launched nonstop service to Baghdad from Istanbul Atatürk International Airport with three weekly flights. On 9 October 2009, Middle East Airlines announced flights to Beirut from Baghdad, flights will operate 4x weekly from 29 October and soon after upgraded to daily service. They will use Airbus A320 aircraft for the flights, on 17 April 2010, Etihad Airways announced they will launch passenger flights to Baghdad from Abu Dhabi from 26 April. In June 2011, EgyptAir announced the launch of flights connecting Cairo International Airport to Baghdad from 27 August 2011, the airline previously served the city in the early 1990s. Flights will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft, on June 2011, Emirates again announced the launch of flights connecting Dubai International Airport to Baghdad from 13 November 2011. On 7 June 2012, Qatar Airways launched direct flights from Doha, on 16 February 2013, Iraqi Airways resumed flights from Baghdad International Airport to Kuwait International Airport
42.
Basra International Airport
–
Basrah International Airport is the second largest international airport in Iraq, and is located in the southern city of Basra. The airport was built in the 1980s and then developed in the 1980s by the Iraqi Government department State Organisation for Roads and Bridges as a gateway to the only port in Iraq. This second phase of development was completed by a joint venture comprising Strabag Bau AG of Cologne and it is claimed that the airport was built only as a facility for VIPs and was only used rarely. Renovation of the airport was supposed to proceed with the construction of a new terminal under German contract, actual development proceeded in the airport only after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some facilities were refurbished under a contract by United States Agency for International Development, the project is broad as it includes building air traffic control towers and other navigational facilities, as well as the construction of transportation and communications facilities. The airport was reopened in June 2004. The event was marked by the traditional sheep sacrifice as an Iraqi Airways Boeing 727 jet landed from Baghdad and it was the beginning of a new domestic service in Iraq between Baghdad and Basrah. However, many of the passengers complained about the lack of basic facilities, problems included air conditioning and toilets. Reconstruction of the airport is still under way to improve the facilities, Iraqi Airways has already operated routes from this airport, and was its second hub. The airport is currently in the process of civilianisation as part of the rebuilding of the country as part of Operation Telic of the Multi-National Force – Iraq. Http, //www. ia. gov. iq/index. php. name=PortalNews&file=article&sid=473 Airport information for ORMM at World Aero Data, Data current as of October 2006
Turkey - via Syria
Iran - one link partially under construction and a second link planned
Kuwait - no railways
Saudi Arabia -
Jordan - partially constructed - break of gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge/1,050 mm (3 ft 5 11⁄32 in) gauge
Syria - same gauge - at Rabiya/Nurabiya
