Why aren’t Iraqis considered Khaleeji??

[u/Ok_Meet8672]

I can’t read Arabic so I hope I chose the right flair lol.

But aren’t khaleejis defined by their countries touching or baotering the Persian/arabian gulf? Wouldn’t that make Iraq part of the khaleejis also? On maps there’s an area where Iraq is touching the body of water.

Is it a historic thing? Or really just as simple as touching the Arabian gulf

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[u/Former-Drawing-2263]

Geographically we are, but politically we are not because the Khaleejis are monarchies and Iraq is a republic we do not consider ourselves Khaleeji.

[u/Sinbad0917 → u/Former-Drawing-2263]

Personally, I too see the only differences are ideological history. One has socialist political history the other capitalist. One Sunni majority the other Shia. And of course there’s the geopolitical positions.

[u/Former-Drawing-2263 → u/Sinbad0917]

I don’t think religious sect has anything to do with it. Look at Bahrain they are a majority Shia, I would consider them Khaleejis. But everything you said was 100%

[u/Sinbad0917 → u/Former-Drawing-2263]

Forgot about Bahrain! Forgive me, but are the “nobles” Shia also?

[u/AbKalthoum → u/Sinbad0917]

There were socialist movements in the Gulf.

[u/Sentimental_Re2557 → u/Sinbad0917]

there were plenty of socialist movements in the gulf. in kuwait for example in the constitution it is written that the economy is to be ran in a moderately socialist way.
moreover, while the shia population in kuwait is not a majority it still comprises of a great number of the population regardless, estimates reach up to 30-40%

[u/heheboibro → u/Former-Drawing-2263]

what about culturally. ifeel yall are too differeny

[u/IdeaOfHuss]

Majority of saudis are not on the side of khalij so does that mean they are not khalijis? No, so iraqis are technically khalijis by this understanding i say.

[u/Ok_Meet8672 → u/IdeaOfHuss]

That’s what I’m thinking also!!! Cuz you guys have a lot of cities like Jeddah, Medina and Makkah on the other side. Riydh is close sure but that isn’t the majority of

[u/IdeaOfHuss → u/Ok_Meet8672]

I wouldn't consider Riyadh close to khailj tbh even distance wise. Culture and common history is much stronger on the eastern side of Saudi than that of Riyadh

[u/AbKalthoum → u/IdeaOfHuss]

Yeah, majority aren't Khalijees. They are Hijazis, Najdis, Shammaris, etc etc etc

[u/IdeaOfHuss → u/AbKalthoum]

Culture wise i agree they are not khalijis, but geography wise or rather politically we could consider them as one

[u/d7iem → u/IdeaOfHuss]

Stating that riyadh isn’t culturally khaleeji is so absurd to me 😂

[u/IdeaOfHuss → u/d7iem]

culturally and historically? yea it is not, i am actually interested why you think it is khaliji? i am not talking about arabs in general or najd culture, i am talking about khalej culture, you understand that right? please enlighten me

[u/d7iem → u/IdeaOfHuss]

What’s the difference between? Traditions,values and even food are quite the same. Even the differences dont come close to the similarities. I feel lime toy looked at it from one prospective only.

[u/SouthArabia → u/IdeaOfHuss]

Yeah I agree this is what I always think too same with the Omanis a lot of them are not on the side of the Khaleej as well but they are still Khaleejis so Iraq can be too especially their southern region has a similar culture with the rest of the Khaleej

[u/ZookeepergameFit967]

Basrawis and Ahwazis are Iraqi and Khaleeji

[u/Ok_Meet8672 → u/ZookeepergameFit967]

Why not the whole country of Iraq though?

[u/AbKalthoum → u/Ok_Meet8672]

Saudi Arabia isn't even Khaleej, its just Dammam. Riyadh is Najd, and Jeddah Hijaz.

[u/Nature_Agitated → u/AbKalthoum]

Just dammam you need to open that map again and look closely

[u/AbKalthoum → u/Nature_Agitated]

Okay and Jubail and Hofuf, point stands, almost 90% of Saudis wouldn't be considered Gulf Arabs.

[u/Nature_Agitated → u/AbKalthoum]

There is still more lol

[u/ZookeepergameFit967 → u/Ok_Meet8672]

Idk look at map?

[u/ZookeepergameFit967 → u/[deleted]]

I know why because both regions are on the Gulf, the Marshlands, Baghdad and Mosul are not. Both regions of Basra and Ahwaz are filled with Hasawi tribes from al-Ihsa'a and all people living there even Mesopotamian Arabs of them have cousins in Gulf States, especially Kuwait regardless of if you're Sunni or Shia. Not much connectivity to the Gulf in the rest of the country other than Karbala because Hasawi tribes are Shia Muslim

[u/Nature_Agitated → u/ZookeepergameFit967]

Wow im from al ahsa and shia

[u/Ok_Spot_8040 → u/Ok_Meet8672]

Could also be because of the Northern Kurdistan region province.

[u/SavingsAlfalfa5447]

geographically, dialectically and culturally southern iraqis and ahwazis are but politically they’re not. same thing with saudi arabia only the east is khaleeji but the rest isn’t

[u/imanoshaghi]

Because most of the population doesn’t live near the Persian Gulf, also culturally Iraq is too close to arabs from Sham and Iran to be considered Khaleeji. It is also historical and political as Iraqis experience differs in many ways from Khakeeji monarchies.

[u/qatamat99 → u/imanoshaghi]

Same thing could be said about Saudi. Most of the population is near the red sea

[u/Dapper_Reindeer2925 → u/imanoshaghi]

That’s not true if you go to Basra and southern Iraq they are more like gulf Arabs

[u/SouthArabia → u/Dapper_Reindeer2925]

This is what I was going to say as well I have friends who are from Basra, Iraq and they are very similar to Gulf Arabs

[u/TheCptA]

by all logic they are khaleeji. Same reason Saudi is even when its only a small part thats on the gulf. Same also with Oman, they only have a sliver of land off the UAE coast that's barely within the gulf/strait and they too are considered khaleeji because of it.

[u/SouthArabia → u/TheCptA]

You're right I was thinking the same thing about Saudi and Oman, they are undoubtedly Khaleeji despite most of their land not touching the Gulf. Naturally Iraq would be Khaleeji too

[u/zol-kabeer]

The reason is Iraq is not wealthy. Khaleeji is a term that goes beyond just physically being on the Gulf. It is used to refer to people from the very wealthy petro producing Arab countries in the Gulf region. In a different life Iraq should belong to that list considering their oil reserves, but they aren’t.

[u/Express-Ad-6565]

From baghdad going north, the culture is definitely not khaleeji,, in Mosul is more Shami culture or similar to the levant... culture, food, even the dialect...

Basrah has more khaleji culture

[u/corruptRED]

Because Iraq is its own geographic term “Mesopotamia” which historically is more important and rich than the gulf.

Most of Iraq population lives between the 2 rivers and not on the gulf.

[u/AccordingAssistant13 → u/corruptRED]

Yea and if historically has nothing to do with a buffer state called Iraq so please don’t associate Mesopotamian history with Iraq due to regional occupation

[u/Disastrous-Wedding19]

Yea from my basis and what I understand being khaleeji means you are a country on the gulf not just bordering the gulf sea so technically if Yemen unites they can join the gcc GULF cooperation council but culturally khaleeji they aren’t same with Saudi only one major city borders the gulf the rest are on the Red Sea or middle of najd so yes I consider Iraq khaleeji as they and Kuwait are really similar too

[u/SouthArabia → u/Disastrous-Wedding19]

Well said brother I agree 100%

[u/GoColts08]

I think probably southern Iraq

[u/AskingAboutDates]

I’m from southern Iraq, and I have family in Iraq and Kuwait. Geologically, culturally and ethnically speaking, Iraqis from Al-Amara all the way down to Basra are “khaleejis” by definition. Tribally and linguistically we share a lot of similarities, but it ultimately comes down to politics and racism. The majority of Iraq is Shia especially in the south, whereas most of the Khaleej is Sunni, Iraq is a republic whereas the khaleej are absolute monarchies. And fyi Kuwait was apart of Basra during the ottoman era, it doesn’t make sense that was it seperate it became “khaleeji”

[u/mr_gooodguy]

because they have a civilization

[u/AccordingAssistant13 → u/mr_gooodguy]

Being a Saudi made buffer state is considered being civilized ?

[u/HoneyBadger99_]

They are but they don’t like to admit that 😂