MesopotamiaMesopotamia's economy thrived off of mainly agriculture and farming. And, as trade and commerce developed in Mesopotamia, farmers learned how to irrigate their land. They used the surplus to trade for goods and services. In Mesopotamia there wasn't money to buy and sell with, but there was plenty of trading. This helped the development of a writing system. Trading happened over rivers and it allowed people to exchange ideas and crops to other regions. Writing's main purpose was to keep track of monetary accounts for merchants. The resources that Mesopotamia included clay and mud to make mud-bricks and maps out of clay. They also had the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris that irrigated their crops but the waters would sometimes flood so canals and channels were built to control the damage of the seasonal floods by diverting the water.
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IraqIraq's economy is relatively poor. A factor that contributes to this is that Iraq has a significant lack of security. Today, over 90% of Iraq's revenue comes from oil. And so much oil and not enough security leads to oil smuggling which results in lower-than-expected oil production levels. But, besides their oil production, Iraq has a small, industrial sector, including the production of chemicals, textiles, leather goods, and metals. Iraq's main crops include wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, and cotton. Cattle and sheep are also raised. Oil is the main export and food, medicine, and manufactures the main imports. The United States, Turkey, and Syria are the main trading partners.
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