Iraq

Torn between its glorious past and its recent bloody history, Iraq is a country in turmoil. Just as the place was beginning to recover from the 2003 US-led invasion and its aftermath, jihadist group Isis took control of large swathes of the country's north in 2014. The tide may have turned back in favour of the Iraqi government with the recapture of Mosul and other cities in 2017, but most of Iraq remains extremely dangerous.

Restored ziggurat in ancient Ur, sumerian temple in Iraq

Getty Images/iStockphoto

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