Economy
The city is located along the Shatt al-Arab waterway near the Persian Gulf, 55 kilometers (34 mi) from the Persian Gulf and 545 kilometers (339 mi) from Baghdad, Iraq's capital and largest city.
The area surrounding Basra has substantial large petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city also has an international airport, with service into Baghdad with Iraqi Airways—the national airline. Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat, dates, and livestock. Iraq has the world's 4th largest oil reserves estimated to be more 115 billion barrels (18.3×109 m3), most of it from Basra. 80% of Basra's oil potential is unexplored. A network of canals flowed through the city, giving it the nickname "The Venice of the Middle East." The tides at Basra fall by about 2.7 meters (8.9 ft). For a long time, Basra was known for the superior quality of its dates.
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)
“The basis of political economy is non-interference. The only safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand and supply. Do not legislate. Meddle, and you snap the sinews with your sumptuary laws.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Even the poor student studies and is taught only political economy, while that economy of living which is synonymous with philosophy is not even sincerely professed in our colleges. The consequence is, that while he is reading Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Say, he runs his father in debt irretrievably.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)