What Basra has, many covet

[buzzsaw_23]

What Basra has, many covet

By James Glanz The New York Times
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2005

The funnel-shaped southern region of Iraq contains energy, water and strategic wealth without parallel anywhere else in the country. In fact, some analysts think Iraq would not be viable without it.

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Oil:
About 70 percent of Iraq's proven oil reserves are in the south - a crucial geographic fact considering that 98 percent of Iraq's budget relies on crude-oil exports.

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Electricity:
A concentration of power plants in the oil-rich south also allows it to produce a disproportionate share of Iraq's spotty electrical power.

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Port:
Iraq's two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, converge just north of Basra to form the Shatt al-Arab, which flows into the Gulf. A dispute over the international boundary on the Shatt helped set off the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. The short stretch of coastline south of Basra is Iraq's only access to international waters.

 http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/09/25/news/basra.php