How Long Have People Been Fighting Over Iraq?

For more than 4,500 years. In these millennia, many peoples have fought for dominance in Mesopotamia, or what is now modern-day Iraq. The Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, and British have all buried their dead in this land.

Why? Iraq's location between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is the heart of the fabled "Fertile Crescent."

The struggles have often been dictated by the need for natural resources.

• Learn More: The Top 10 Battles for Iraq