Dividing Baghdad?

The situation in Baghdad is now so bad that the green zone government is quite seriously considering proposing to today's reconciliation conference dividing the city along East-West lines. You can find a (more or less) up to date map showing how mixed Baghdad is by sect here* [Opens in separate window - warning this is a large file and may take time to download.] This posting addresses a separate question; the massive human suffering (and economic disruption) dividing Baghdad would bring. The full-scale version of the map accompanying this posting can be found here [Opens in separate window - warning this is a large file and may take time to download.] Used in conjunction with the map from "Healing Iraq" the scale of violence that would accompany the population transfers involved becomes clear. I have listed below a rough guide to Baghdad neighbourhoods by income and activity. Summary: Baghdad is divided by the Tigris River into two main areas: the left bank of the river is known as Al Rassafa, the right bank as Al Karkh. As a rule of thumb: Al Rassafa Highly commercialised, older, more run down, and the population is generally less prosperous (middle to low income.) Al Karkh Less heavily commercialised and in general more prosperous (middle to high income.) The exception to the "less heavily commercialised" rule is Al Mansur. AL-KARKH DISTRICTS BY TYPE Ad-Dora: Residential Al-'Adl: Residential Al-Andalus: Residential-Commercial Al-Atafiya: Residential Al-Fajr: Residential Al Firdaws: Residential Al Hamra: Residential Al Hurriya: Residential Al I'lam: Middle to high income mixed use Al-Janain: Middle to high income Al-Jazair: Residential Al-Jazirah: Commercial Al-Jihad: Residential Al-Kadhimiya: Residential Al-Karama: Residential Al-Khadhra: Mixed Middle to high income Commercial/residential Al-Kindi: Commercial-Middle to high income Al-Mansur: Mixed Middle to high income Commercial/residential Al-Ma'rifa: Residential Al-Mutanabi: Commercial-Middle to high income Al-Qadisiyah: Residential Middle to high income Al-Salam: Residential Al-Tashrih: Mixed use Middle to high income Al-Ummal - Residential Al-Yarmuk - Residential Middle to high income Arbata'sh Ramadan - Commercial-Middle to high income Arbata'sh Tammuz - Residential/ Commercial Ash-Shu'lah - Residential At-Ta'mim - Residential Az-Zahrah - Residential Trablus - Residential AL-RASSAFA DISTRICTS BY TYPE Al-A'adhamiya : Residential Commercial Al-Amin : Residential Al-Kayalani : Industrial Al-Idriss : Residential/ Commercial Al-Jami'a : Residential/ Commercial Al-Jazirah : Commercial/retail Al-Karrada/Al-Sharkia : Residential/ Commercial Al-Khalij : Residential Al-Khasna'a : Residential Al-Maghrib : Residential/ Commercial Al-Mustansiryah : Residential/ Commercial Al-Muthanna : Commercial-Middle to high income Al-Nidal : Residential/ Commercial Al-Qahira : Residential Al-Quds : Residential Al-Sa'dun : Commercial Al-Sheikh Umar : Industrial Al-Shabab : Residential Al-Wahdah : Commercial Middle to high income Al-Waziriya : Residential An-Nil : Industrial Ar-Rabih : Residential Ar-Riyadh : Residential/Industrial Arbata'sh Tammuz : Residential/ Commercial Ar-Rasafa : Residential Ash-Sha'b : Residential Ash-Shammasiya : Residential Babil: Commercial- Middle to high income Eshbilya: Residential Sumer : Residential/ Commercial Tesha'a Nisan :Residential Tunis : Residential Ur : Residential- Commercial Notes: *The original posting on "Healing Iraq" of which the map was part can be found here. markfromireland