Basra is a major port city in southern Iraq, located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway near the borders with Kuwait and Iran.

Quick Scoop: Where Is Basra?

  • Basra sits on the western bank of the Shatt al-Arab, the river formed where the Tigris and Euphrates meet.
  • It lies roughly 55–110 km north of the Persian Gulf coast.
  • The city is in the Basra Governorate, of which it is the capital.
  • It is in southeastern Iraq, close to the Iran–Iraq and Iraq–Kuwait borders.

Simple mental map

If you imagine Iraq as a rough rectangle:

  1. Baghdad is more toward the center-north.
  1. Go southeast, down toward the Gulf and toward Kuwait/Iran.
  2. That corner by the Shatt al-Arab river and near the sea—that’s where Basra is.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.