Upper Mesopotamia

Upper Mesopotamia or Upper Iraq, also called Jazira, the Iraqi Jazira or the Euphrates Jazira, constitutes the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been known by the traditional Arabic name of al-Jazira (Arabic: الجزيرة, lit. 'the island', also transliterated Djazirah, Djezirah, Jazirah) and the Syriac variant Gāzartā or Gozarto (ܓܙܪܬܐ). The Euphrates and Tigris rivers transform Mesopotamia into almost an island, as they are joined at the Shatt al-Arab in the Basra Governorate of Iraq, and their sources in eastern Turkey are in close proximity. The region extends south from the mountains of Anatolia, east from the hills on the left bank of the Euphrates river, west from the mountains on the right bank of the Tigris river and includes the Sinjar plain. It extends down the Tigris to Samarra and down the Euphrates to Hit, Iraq. The Khabur runs for over 400 km (250 mi) across the plain, from Turkey in the north, feeding into the Euphrates. The major settlements are Mosul, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, al-Hasakah, Diyarbakır, and Qamishli. The western Syrian part is essentially contiguous with the Syrian al-Hasakah Governorate and is described as "Syria's breadbasket". The eastern Iraqi part includes the cities of Mosul, Duhok, Amedi and extends eastward just beyond Erbil. In the north it includes the Turkish provinces of Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Şırnak, and parts of Batman Province and Diyarbakır Province.