Umm Qasr

Umm Qasr (Arabic: أم قصر, Umm Qasr DMG; alternative spelling Umm Qasr ) is a port city in Iraq, the western part of the Fau peninsula in the Persian Gulf. It has 107 620 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2005) and is located in a small bay, is one whose opposite shore to Kuwait. The actual frontier in the bay is controversial. There is also a village of the same in Kuwait, on the other side of the border. The U.S. prison camp Bucca camp was located near the city.

History

Formerly a small fishing port, the harbor after the 1958 revolution in Iraq has been turned into a military port and an international port with modern port facilities. It is the only deep-water port of Iraq.

During the First Gulf War from 1980 to 1988 between Iran and Iraq, Umm Qasr got a special significance, since the other ports of Iraq were no longer usable for Iraq in the Shatt al-Arab.

In the Third Gulf War in 2003, the city was one of the targets of the American, British and Polish troops.