Arab Iraq or Arabian Iraq (Arabic: عراق العرب, romanized: ‘Irāq ul-‘Arab, lit. 'Iraq of the Arabs') was a historical geographical term used by medieval and early modern writers for the region of Iraq in Mesopotamia, often centered in Lower Mesopotamia.^[1] Its precise extent varied by author and period, and some sources describe Arab Iraq as corresponding roughly to much of modern Iraq.^[2]

The term "Arab Iraq" (Persian: عراق عرب, romanized: Irâq-e Arab) became commonly used in the Seljuk period (11th–12th centuries) as a way to distinguish the historical region of Mesopotamia (Iraq proper) from "Persian Iraq" (Persian: عراق عجم, romanized: Irâq-e Ajam),^[3] a region previously referred to as al-Jibal, associated with the historical region of Media.^[4] Persian Iraq and Arab Iraq were often referred to as "al-Iraqayn" (Arabic: العراقين) meaning "the two Iraqs" collectively.^[5] The mountainous region between them, comprising Kurdistan, Luristan, and Bakhtiyari, could fall under either region depending on the military situation, though it often maintained a high degree of autonomy.^[2]

Under Safavid rule, Arab Iraq consisted of the two provinces of Baghdad and Diyarbakr.^[6][7] Modern scholarship notes that Ottoman and Qajar geographical writings did not consistently distinguish Arab Iraq from al-Jazira, and that such terminology could reflect political claims, not just geography.^[8] During Nader Shah's campaign in Iraq in the Afsharid period, Mohammad Kazem Marvi (Nader Shah's financial officer)^[9] used the term “Arab Iraq” in his chronicle ʿĀlam-ārā-ye Nāderī, referring to spoils taken from "Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, and others, in the land of Arab Iraq".^[10] In the late 19th century, Ahmet Rifat (in Lugat-i Tarihiyye ve Cografiyye) referred to Arab Iraq in relation to neighbouring regions such as Al-Jazira and Kurdistan.^[11]

• Lockhart, L. (1965). "D̲j̲ibāl". In Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 534. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2068. OCLC 495469475.
• Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. ISBN 1-568591-35-7.
• Nasiri, Mirza Naqi (2008). Floor, Willem (ed.). Titles & Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration. Translated by Willem Floor. Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers. ISBN 978-1-933823-23-2.
• Azarbadegan, Zeinab (2018). "Imagined Geographies, Re-invented Histories: Ottoman Iraq as Part of Iran". Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association. 5 (1). Indiana University Press: 115–141. doi:10.2979/jottturstuass.5.1.07.
• Bosworth, C. E. (1998). "ʿERĀQ-E ʿAJAM(Ī)". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. VIII/5: English IV–Eršād al-zerāʿa. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 538. ISBN 978-1-56859-054-7.