IQUITOS, Peru, city, river-port and cap ital of the department of Loreto, on the Amazon, near the mouth of the Nanay, 2 miles from Para, Brazil. It is 350 feet above sea-level and has a healthful climate with a mean annual temperature of 75 F. There arc really two towns, one of which is inhabited by the Iquitos Indians. Ocean-going vessels ascend the Amazon to this point, and the river is navigable for lesser craft for 425 miles fur ther up. Iquitos is the second port of Peru, having three ocean lines making regular voyages thither. Its annual foreign trade amounts to $10,000,000. Rubber is the largest item of ex port. The city has machine shops, ship yards, hat and hammock manufactures and fish-curing. In 1908 wireless communication was installed with Puerto Bermudez; the latter place having a land line over the Andes to the capital. Iquitos was founded in 1863, but did not grow very rapidly until the Amazon was opened to navigation, since when Iquitos is the trade centre of eastern Peru. A United States consul
is stationed here. Pop., municipal 6,000; dis trict 12,000.
IRADE, 1-ri'dE, a Turkish decree or com mand of the Sultan, directed to his grand vizier, whose duty it is to announce it to the public.
or IRAK EL ARABI, the ancient Babylonia, now comprised in the Turkish vilayets of Bagdad and Basra. It is part of the alluvial plain in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. Its western part is sandy desert, and part is also swampy. Within its borders are the ruins of Babylon, Seleucia and Ctesiphon. It includes also the modern Bagdad, Basra and Kerbela. It was crossed by the British forces in 1917-18, just previous to the collapse of Turkey in the War of 1914 18. Turkish sovereignty was not fully• ac knowledged throughout this region and ma rauding bands of tribesmen frequently molest the caravans passing through. The population of the entire region is estimated at $,,000 probably 30 per cent too high.