Iraq
"Mawtini" (My Homeland)

Words by: Ibrahim Touqan
Music by: Mohammad Flayfel
Adopted: 2004

After the ousting of the Saddam Hussein government, Iraq selected a new national anthem, "Mawtini", also a popular folk tune throughout the Arab world. It was sung by the Palestinians in their uprisings against the British mandate and the Jewish immigration to British Palestine in 1936-1939 (which is probably why this anthem is also an unofficial anthem of Palestine), and continues to be popular with Arabs today. The author of the lyrics is the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Touqan.

There are now reports (as of October, 2005) that Iraq will be adopting a new national anthem. Keep watching this site for more details.

Special thanks to: Reinhard Popp for informing me about this anthem, Michael Bristow for some of the information, and to Paweł Ciupak, who has provided me with the MIDI.

See also: Iraq (?-1959), Iraq (1959-1965, 2003-2004), Iraq (1965-1981), Iraq (1981-2003), Kurdistan.