Claim: Iraq is a Republic in the Middle East.
Evidence: Iraq -LRB- -LSB- ɪˈræk -RSB- , -LSB- ɪˈrɑːk -RSB- , or -LSB- aɪˈræk -RSB- العراق ; عێراق -RRB- , officially known as the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west.
Comprising a land area of 1648195 km2 , it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world.
Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East , and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability.
Kuwait is home to the largest opera house in the Middle East.
Although the term `` Western Asia '' is mostly used as a convenient division of contemporary sovereign states into a manageable number of world regions for statistical purposes , it is sometimes used instead of the more geopolitical term `` Middle East '' , for example by the Government of Canada.