The British also smushed together the former Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra into their mandate for Mesopotamia which would later evolve into the state of Iraq.
Even further, what became Kuwait had also been a formal part of the Basra Province under the Ottoman administration until the British showed up and transformed it into a protectorate of theirs.
The authorities in Iraq said at least 15 people have died in a new wave of bomb attacks south of the capital Baghdad. Iraqi police said the blasts struck cities, including Karbala, Nasiriyah, Kut and Basra.
The provincial polls put the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s State of Law coalition in first place in 7 of the 12 provinces that voted last month, notably in Baghdad and oil-rich Basra in the South.