Leg 384 ORMM Basrah (Iraq) to ORBS Baghdad (Iraq)
ORMM - Airport Info
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ICAO code: ORMM
Airport name: Basrah Intl
Location: Basrah
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Basrah Info
Al-Basrah is the capital of Basra Province, and had an estimated population of 1,052,200 as of 2003. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it is incapable of deep water access, which is handled at the the port of Umm Qasr. The city is the historic location of Sumer, the home of Sinbad the Sailor, and a proposed location of the Garden of Eden. It also played an important role in early Islamic history, being built in 636 CE, or 14 AH. It is Iraq's third largest and most populous city after Baghdad and Mosul.
The city is located along the Shatt al-Arab waterway near the Persian Gulf, 55 kilometers (34 mi) from the Persian Gulf and 545 kilometers (339 mi) from Baghdad, Iraq's capital and largest city.
The area surrounding Basra has substantial large petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city also has an international airport, which recently began restored service into Baghdad with Iraqi Airways—the nation's flag airline. Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat, dates, and livestock. The city's oil refinery has a production capacity of about 140,000 barrels a day (22,300 m³). Iraq has the worlds fourth largest oil reserves estimated to be 360 billion barrels, most of it from Basra. 80% of Basra is unexplored.
In Basra 99.9% of the population are ethnically Arabs. All the Arabs in Basra belong to the Adnanite or the Qahtanite tribes. The main tribes that are located in Basra are Bani Tamim, Bani Assad, Bani Ka'ab, Bani Malik, Shammar, Bani Khalid, Bani Sa'ad, Al-shwelat Anniza, Suwa'id, Al-bo Mohammed, Al-Jboor, Duwasir, Dhufair, Shreefat, Al-Badr, Al-Ubadi, Ruba'ah and hundreds of Arab tribes. Muslim adherents of the area are primarily members of the Jafari Shi`a sect. A sizable number of Sunnis, around 35%[2] of Basra, also live there as well as a small number of Christians. There are also remnants of the pre-Islamic gnostic sect of Mandaeans, whose headquarters were in the area formerly called Suk esh-Sheikh and they are a small community of 3000 people or less.
A network of canals flowed through the city, giving it the nickname "The Venice of the Middle East" at least at high tide. The tides at Basra fall by about 2.7 meters (9 ft). For a long time, Basra was known for the superior quality of its dates.
ORBS - Airport Info
ICAO code: ORBS
Airport name: Baghdad Intl
Location: Baghdad
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Baghdad Info
Baghdad or Bagdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest (after Cairo) in the Arab World.
Located on the River Tigris, the city dates back to the 8th century and was once the centre of the Muslim world.
During the 1970s, Baghdad experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the price of petroleum, Iraq's main export. New infrastructure including modern sewerage, water, and highway facilities were built during this period. However, the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money was diverted by Saddam Hussein to the army and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of missile attacks against Baghdad.
In 1991 and 2003, the Gulf War and the Second Gulf War caused additional damage to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure. Little effort was made by Saddam Hussein to fix the damages between the wars.
Most Iraqi reconstruction efforts have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure. More visible efforts at reconstruction through private development, like architect and urban designer Hisham N. Ashkouri's Baghdad Renaissance Plan and Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center. There are also plans to build a giant Ferris wheel akin to the London Eye. Iraq's Tourism Board also is seeking investors to develop a "romantic" island on the River Tigris in Baghdad that was once a popular honeymoon spot for newlywed Iraqis. The project would include a six-star hotel, spa, an 18-hole golf course and a country club. In addition, the go-ahead has been given to build numerous architecturally unique skyscrapers along the Tigris that would develop the city's financial centre in Kadhehemiah.
In October, 2008, the Baghdad Metro resumed service. It connects the center to the southern neighborhood of Dora.