Afro-Iraqis
Country · Iraq
The Zanj of Basra, whose ninth-century revolt shook the Abbasid caliphate — their descendants still live along the Shatt al-Arab.
Afro-Iraqis at a glance
- Country
- Iraq
- Main centres
- Basra · Zubair · Shatt al-Arab
- Region
- West Asia
- How many
- Estimated in the hundreds of thousands around Basra
- Languages
- Arabic
- Dialling code
- +964
The African connection
East Africans were brought in vast numbers to drain the salt marshes of southern Iraq. The Zanj Rebellion, beginning in 869, held southern Iraq for fifteen years and is one of the largest slave revolts in recorded history.
Key dates for Afro-Iraqis
The dates this community marks — independence, emancipation, and the festivals that fill a hall wherever its people have settled.
Diaspora meets diaspora
AfricAsia began with Africans in Asia. The same story runs through every entry in this section — people of African descent building a life a long way from where their ancestors started.
If you are from Afro-Iraqis and you are anywhere in Asia — studying, working, playing, passing through — there are people here who will know what you are asking before you finish the question.
Every Asian country →The Afro-Iraqis channel
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