Iraq is a fairly young country, only created in 1921 by the British government - who were also in charge of it.
The region the country now covers used to be part of a much larger area, covering lots of countries, called the Ottoman Empire.
When that fell, British rule took over - until Iraq was given independence in 1932.
A number of different governments controlled the country after that, until Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979.
Then the UK and US supported him, because he was helping them fight a neighbouring country called Iran.
Things changed when Iraq sent soldiers into another country called Kuwait.
Kuwait had lots of oil which Saddam wanted for Iraq.
Many countries - including the US and UK - joined together to force Iraq's army out of Kuwait in a conflict called the Gulf War, in 1991.
Many people were worried about Saddam and Iraq, until he was forced from power in 2003.