Kut
Kut
ٱلْكُوت | |
|---|---|
    | |
  Kut Location Iraq | |
| Coordinates:32°30′20″N45°49′29″E/ 32.50556°N 45.82472°E | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Governorate | Wasit |
| Elevation | 23 m (75 ft) |
| Population (2019)[1] | |
| • Total | 315,162 |
Kūt(Arabic:ٱلْكُوت,romanized:al-Kūt), officiallyAl-Kut,also spelledKutulamareorKut al-Imara,is a city in easternIraq,on the left bank of theTigris River,about 160 kilometres (99 miles) south east ofBaghdad.As of 2018[update]the estimated population is about 389,400 people. It is the capital of the province long known as Al Kut, but since the 1960s renamedWasit.
The old town of Kut is within a sharp "U" bend of the river, opposite from the point where theShatt al-Gharrafbranches off from the Tigris.[2]This U-shaped bend almost makes it an island but for a narrow connection to the shore. For centuries Kut was a regional center of thecarpettrade. The area around Kut is a fertilecereal graingrowing region. TheBaghdad Nuclear Research Facility,looted following the2003 US invasion of Iraq,is located near Kut.
Geography
[edit]Climate
[edit]Kut has ahot desert climate(BWh) in theKöppen–Geiger climate classification system.Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Kut is 23.4 °C (74.1 °F). About 138 mm (5.43 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Kut | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.1 (62.8) |
19.6 (67.3) |
25.0 (77.0) |
34.3 (93.7) |
39.9 (103.8) |
45.4 (113.7) |
46.4 (115.5) |
46.3 (115.3) |
42.0 (107.6) |
35.8 (96.4) |
25.8 (78.4) |
18.8 (65.8) |
33.0 (91.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.1 (41.2) |
6.6 (43.9) |
10.1 (50.2) |
14.9 (58.8) |
20.4 (68.7) |
23.6 (74.5) |
25.7 (78.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
21.6 (70.9) |
16.6 (61.9) |
11.1 (52.0) |
6.4 (43.5) |
15.6 (60.1) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 26 (1.0) |
32 (1.3) |
19 (0.7) |
12 (0.5) |
5 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
17 (0.7) |
26 (1.0) |
138 (5.4) |
| Source:climate-data | |||||||||||||
History
[edit]The medieval city ofMadharayawas at the site of modern Kut.[3][2][4]It lay at the point where theNahrawan Canalflowed out into theTigris.[2]Madharaya has been identified as the hometown of theSasanian-eraZoroastrianreligious leaderMazdak.[5]By the early 1200s, however,Yaqut al-Hamawiwrote that Madharaya was in ruins.[3]
Modern Kut owes much of its prosperity to the advent ofsteamboattransportation on the Tigris in the 1800s.[2]
World War I
[edit]
Kut was the scene of a fierce battle duringWorld War I.TheBritishMesopotamian Expeditionary Force, led by Major GeneralCharles Townshend,marched north fromBasrain September 1915 in what became known as theMesopotamian Campaign.They reached Kut on September 26, where after three days of fighting they drove theOttomanforces from the town.
After a halt of nearly nine months, Townshend then headed up river toCtesiphon.Following abattlethere, the British forces withdrew back to Kut. On December 7, 1915, theTurks,under their commander, the Colonel Nurettin Pasha, arrived at Kut and began asiegethat lasted 147 days. The British cavalry under ColonelGerard Leachmansucceeded in breaking out, but Townshend and the bulk of the force remained besieged. Many attempts were made to relieve Townshend's forces, but all were defeated. Some 23,000 British and Indian soldiers died in the attempts to retake Kut, probably the worst loss of life for the British away from the European theater. Near the end of the siege,T. E. LawrenceandAubrey Herbertof British Intelligence unsuccessfully tried to bribeKhalil Pashato allow the troops to escape. Townshend, with some 8,000 surviving soldiers, finally surrendered Kut on April 29, 1916. The captured soldiers were divided, where the officers were sent to separate facilities, and many of the enlisted soldiers were impressed intohard labouruntil the surrender of the Ottoman Empire; more than half of them died. The British went back on the offensive in December 1916 with a larger and better-supplied force under General SirFrederick Stanley Maudeand with steep casualties retook Kut on February 23, 1917.
Kut suffered heavy damage during the First World War, and was almost entirely rebuilt afterward.[2]
Modern history
[edit]TheKut Barragewas constructed in the city in the 1930s to provide irrigation water for the surrounding area. The barrage supports a road and includes a lock for boats passing up and down the Tigris. Its purpose is to maintain a sufficiently high water level in the Tigris to provide water for the Gharraf irrigation canal.
In 1952, 26,440 hectares (65,300 acres) were irrigated from water provided by the Gharraf Canal. Of this newly reclaimed land, 14,080 hectares (34,800 acres) was distributed to small farmers as part of a social land reform program. These farmers received 10 hectares (25 acres) per family and were required to live on the land they farmed. In 2005, repairs and maintenance works were carried out at the Kut Barrage and the Gharraf Head Regulator for a total cost of US$3 million.
In 2021, a major car crash occurred inside the city in a travel route fromAmarah(a neighboring city) toBaghdad,causing fatalities. The local hospital was reportedly ill-equipped to deal with the incident and could not air-lift victims back to Amarah for treatment and the large hospitals there, resulting in 5 casualties. The driver was pronounced dead from major injuries 4 days afterwoods, the incident rocked the town.
Contingency Operating Base Delta (COB Delta)
[edit]
In the early 21st century, the Contingency Operating Base (COB) Delta was an American military installation located on the right bank of the Tigris southwest from Kut. Designated as aForward operating base(FOB) in the early stages ofOperation Iraqi Freedom,Delta was centered on a former Iraqi Air Force base,Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base.In 2005 Delta was selected to become an "enduring" FOB, remaining open after other FOBs had closed.[6]During the Operation Iraqi Freedom, FOB Delta was manned by Polish, Kazakhstan, El Salvadorian, Georgian, Lithuanian, British, and USMulti-National Forces.Sometime after 2009 the FOB was re-designated as a COB.[7]COB Delta was closed on October 24, 2011 and officially turned over to the IAF in a handover ceremony that afternoon in the main flight line hangar/terminal. Later that evening, approximately 2,200, the last Force Pro civilians flew out by helicopter.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Geonames".geonames.org.Retrieved30 September2019.
- ^abcdeNaval Intelligence Division guidebook (1944), p. 543
- ^abLe Strange (1905), pp. 38, 60
- ^El-Samarraie (1970), p. 29
- ^Madelung (1988), p. 3
- ^"FOB Delta not just enduring – it's growing".
- ^"Saber Squadron arrives at COB Delta".
Sources
[edit]- Le Strange, Guy (1905).The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia, from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.OCLC458169031.
- Madelung, Wilferd (1988).Religious Trends in Early Islamic Iran.Albany: Bibliotheca Persica.ISBN0-88706-701-8.
- [1]
External links
[edit]
Media related toAl Kutat Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
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| National | |
- ^El-Samarraie, Husam Quam (1970).Agriculture in Iraq During the 3rd Century, A.H.London: University of London.Retrieved12 March2020.