The country area lies between two rivers; for this reason the area was called Mesopotamia in ancient ages. The rivers Euphrates and Tigris bound what is called the Fertile Crescent. Iraq also has a small coastline along the Persian Gulf, and this coastline was considered the heart of the petroleum trade in Iraq before the First Gulf War. The weather is extremely hot and dry because Iraq is far from seas and oceans and even the close ones are blocked by mountains so that the rainy wind can not reach the inlands. This region has fertile land because of the two rivers.