NASIRIYAH, AN-

city, southeastern Iraq. It lies along the Euphrates River in a flat, date-growing area. Built largely of sun-dried brick and enclosed by a mud wall, the town is a local market and a rail terminus. Its industries include boatbuilding, carpentry, and silverworking. A relatively new town founded about 1870, it was captured by the British from Ottoman forces in 1915, during World War I. The ruins of the ancient city of Ur are 11 miles (18 km) to the southwest. Pop. (1985 est.) 138,842.