Jan 31 (Reuters) - Iraq holds provincial elections on Saturday, its first elections since 2005.

Here are a few facts about Iraq:

* ANCIENT IRAQ:

-- Iraq's territory includes much of ancient Mesopotamia, the region where the world's earliest civilization developed.

-- Babylon was one of the most famous cities of antiquity. Its extensive ruins are on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (90 km) south of Baghdad. -- Mesopotamia later became part of Persian, Greek, and Roman empires and after the 7th century became an important part of the Islamic world.

* RECENT HISTORY:

* Modern Iraq was carved from the ruins of the Ottoman empire in 1920 by Britain under a League of Nations mandate.

* The mandate ended in 1932 and Iraq became independent, ruled by a British-installed Hashemite king. It became a republic in 1958 when a military coup overthrew the Hashemites.

* The Baath Party seized power briefly in 1963, returning to power through a coup in 1968. Saddam became president in 1979 after more than a decade as Iraq's effective strongman.

* Saddam led Iraq into war with Iran from 1980 to 1988 and invaded Kuwait in 1990. U.S.-led forces drove Iraqi troops out of the Gulf state in the 1991 Gulf War seven months later.

* U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, ostensibly to rid it of weapons of mass destruction, which were not found. U.S. troops captured Baghdad on April 9, overthrowing Saddam.

* Saturday's elections are expected to change the balance of power among Iraq's Sunni Arabs, many of whom did not participate in the last provincial elections in 2005. Their marginalisation helped fuel discontent and violence.

Sources: Reuters/Britannica.com

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