Global InformationTerritory of the Islamic State information
Islamic State الدولة الإسلامية ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah | |||||||||||||||||
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 Flag
 Emblem
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| Motto: لا إله إلا الله، محمد رسول الله "Lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh, Muhammadun rasūlu llāh" "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God"[1] دولة الإسلام باقية وتتمدد Dawlat al Islam Baqiyah wa Tatamaddad "The Islamic State remains and expands"[1] خلافة على منهاج النبوة Khilafah ala Minhaj an-Nubuwwah "Caliphate Upon the Prophetic Methodology"[2][3] | |||||||||||||||||
Anthem:
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Seal[5][6][7][8][9][10]: | |||||||||||||||||
 Maximum extent of territorial control, May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Unrecognized proto-state Designated as a terrorist organization | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Raqqa (2013–2017)[1] Mayadin (2017)[11] Hajin (2017–18)[12] | ||||||||||||||||
| Official languages | Arabic | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (Salafism) | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Unitary Islamic theocratic self-proclaimed caliphate under a totalitarian dictatorship | ||||||||||||||||
• Caliph | Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi | ||||||||||||||||
• Head of the Shura Council | Abu Arkan al-Ameri | ||||||||||||||||
| Establishment | War on Terror | ||||||||||||||||
• Established under the name of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
• Joined al-Qaeda | October 2004 | ||||||||||||||||
• Declaration of an Islamic State in Iraq | 13 October 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
• Claim of territory in the Levant | 8 April 2013 | ||||||||||||||||
• Separated from al-Qaeda | 3 February 2014 | ||||||||||||||||
• Declaration of caliphate | 29 June 2014 | ||||||||||||||||
• Recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces | 10 July 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
• Capture of Baghuz Fawqani | 19 March 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
• Operation Kayla Mueller | 27 October 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
• Death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi | 3 February 2022 | ||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||
• 2015 estimate | (near max extent): 8–12 million[13][14] | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency |
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| Time zone | UTC+2 and +3 (EET and AST) | ||||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) | ||||||||||||||||
| Driving side | right | ||||||||||||||||
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The Islamic State (IS) had its core in Iraq and Syria from 2013 to 2017 and 2019 respectively, where the proto-state controlled significant swathes of urban, rural, and desert territory, mainly in the Mesopotamian region.[14] Today the group controls scattered pockets of land in the area, as well as territory or insurgent cells[14][16] in other areas, notably Afghanistan, West Africa, the Sahara, Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[17] As of 2023, large swathes of Mali have fallen under IS control. [18]
In early 2017, IS controlled approximately 45,377 square kilometers (17,520 square miles) of territory in Iraq and Syria and 7,323 km2 of territory elsewhere, for a total of 52,700 square kilometres (20,300 sq mi).[14] This represents a substantial decline from the group's territorial peak in late 2014, when it controlled between 100,000 and 110,000 square kilometres (39,000 and 42,000 sq mi)[14][19] of territory in total.[14][20] IS territory has declined substantially in almost every country since 2014, a result of the group's unpopularity and the military action taken against it.[14] By late March 2019, IS territory in Syria was reduced to only the besieged 4,000 km2 (1,550 sq mi) Syrian Desert pocket.[21] The enclave was surrounded by Syrian government forces and its allies.[22][23][21] The Syrian military conducted combing operations and airstrikes against the pocket, but with limited success.[24][25] IS propaganda claims a peak territorial extent of 282,485 km2.[26]
The majority of the Islamic State’s territory, population, revenue, and prestige came from the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria.[14] In Afghanistan, IS mostly controls territory near the Pakistan border and has lost 87% of its territory since spring 2015.[14] In Lebanon, IS also controlled some areas on its border at the height of the Syrian war. In Libya, the group operates mostly as a moving insurgent force, occupying places before abandoning them again.[27] In Egypt, the group controls 910 km2 of land centered on the village of Sheikh Zuweid, which represents less than 1% of Egypt's territory.[14] In Nigeria, Boko Haram (at the time an IS affiliate) controlled 6,041 km2 of territory at its maximum extent in 2014, though most of this area was lost amid military reversals and a split within Boko Haram between pro- and anti-IS factions.[14] By late 2019, however, IS's African forces had once again seized large areas in Nigeria;[28] as of 2021, IS's African forces still run their own administrations in territories they control.[29][30] As of 2022, most of IS's territory is confined to northeastern Nigeria and northern Mozambique, alongside large swathes of eastern Mali.[18]
- ^ a b c Rasheed (2015), p. 3.
- ^ Zelin (2016), p. 4.
- ^ Nico Prucha (1 August 2017). "Part 2: "Upon the prophetic methodology" and the media universe". Online Jihad: Monitoring Jihadist Online Communities. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ Marshall, Alex (9 November 2014). "How Isis got its anthem". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (28 August 2017). "Archive of Islamic State Administrative Documents (cont.- IV)". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (17 September 2016). "Archive of Islamic State Administrative Documents (continued...again)". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (11 January 2016). "Archive of Islamic State Administrative Documents (cont.)". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (27 January 2015). "Archive of Islamic State Administrative Documents". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi's Blog. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Rukmini Callimachi, Ivor Prickett (4 April 2018). "The ISIS Files". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Rukmini Callimachi, Andrew Rossback (4 April 2018). "The ISIS Files: Extreme Brutality and Detailed Record-Keeping". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
- ^ Tomlinson, Lucas (21 April 2017). "ISIS moves its capital in Syria". Fox News. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ Aboufadel, Leith (3 December 2018). "Breaking: US-backed forces allegedly enter Daesh's new capital". al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ Shinkman, Paul D. (27 December 2017). "ISIS By the Numbers in 2017". U.S. News & World Report.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jones, Seth G.; Dobbins, James; Byman, Daniel; et al. (2017). "Rolling Back the Islamic State". RAND Corporation. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ "ISIS introduces 'Golden Dinar' currency, Hopes it will collapse U.S. dollar". The Foreign Desk. 6 July 2016. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ^ Shelly Kittleson (31 December 2017). "Iraqi forces hunt down IS remnants in Hamrin Mountains". al-Monitor. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ Chesnutt, Kate; Zimmerman, Katherine (8 September 2022). "The State of al Qaeda and ISIS Around the World". Critical Threats.
- ^ a b "UN experts say Islamic State group almost doubled the territory they control in Mali in under a year". AP News. 26 August 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ Eklund, Lina; Degerald, Michael; Brandt, Martin; Prishchepov, Alexander V; Pilesjö, Petter (28 April 2017). "How conflict affects land use: agricultural activity in areas seized by the Islamic State". Environmental Research Letters. 12 (5): 054004. Bibcode:2017ERL....12e4004E. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa673a.
- ^ Callimachi, Rukmini [@rcallimachi] (18 October 2017). "4. In an email, US-backed Coalition fighting ISIS told me that of the 104,000 square km the group held in Iraq/Syria, 93,790 is liberated" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b "Although they have been besieged by Russia, Iran, and the regime for two years, thousands of ISIS members are still within an area of 4000 km² without any intention to launch a military operation against them • The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights". 20 February 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Trump says all Islamic State land lost in Syria, SDF says fight continues | Reuters". 24 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ "Trump's maps of the 'caliphate' disregard ISIS pockets near Syrian gov't areas". Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Complete map update of Syrian War – End of February 2019". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Syrian army attacks Islamic State targets in desert: report". Reuters. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2023 – via www.reuters.com.
- ^ Al-Yaqeen Media. "Three Years on the Islamic State". Digital image, 11 June 2017. https://i.redd.it/i2id92mph33z.jpg
- ^ Trauthig 2020, pp. 13, 18.
- ^ "IS Down But Still a Threat in Many Countries". Voice of America. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
- ^ Kunle Adebajo (21 May 2021). "How Did Abubakar Shekau Die? Here's What We Know So Far". Humangle. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ Dulue Mbachu (17 June 2021). "Death of Boko Haram leader doesn't end northeast Nigeria's humanitarian crisis". The New Humanitarian. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
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