In the writings of researchers and scholars of Iraqi affairs, especially Westerners and foreigners, they normally refer to Iraq as a ‘mosaic state’, a clear indication of the country’s ethnic, religious, and sectarian diverseness. Each ethnic or religious community in Iraq has its diversity that is subdivided into sects, denominations, factions, orders and other smaller entities. An Arab, for
... [Show full abstract] example, could be a Muslim or a Christian or even a Jew, who could come from any group or denomination within each of these religions. An Arab can also be a SabianSabians, YazidiYazidis, or Baha’iBaha’i (Sect). The same goes for the KurdsKurdsand TurkomansTurkoman. Some of these religious and ethnic minorities are admittedly small in size. They nevertheless played effective roles in modern Iraq. Between the 1920s and 1940s, the JewsJews of Iraq, for example, played a significant part especially in the financial and economic life of the nascent state. Their influence has undoubtedly diminished and faded away on account of the waves of mass emigration from Iraq after 1948.