A chronology of Iraq's recent history. It does not include many of the attacks on civilians that have happened since 2003.

1979 - Saddam Hussein seizes control of Baath Party's Revolutionary Command Council

1980-88 - Iran-Iraq war. Saddam accused of using chemical weapons during the conflict. War devastates economies and leaves almost 1 million dead

1987-89 - Tens of thousands of Kurds die during the al-Anfal campaign

1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait. U.N. imposes economic sanctions

1991

Jan - U.S.-led coalition starts Operation Desert Storm to oust Iraq from Kuwait. Aerial bombing begins in January and ground operations in February

Iraq accepts terms of ceasefire in March. A no-fly zone is imposed on the Kurdish north. A southern no-fly zone is established in 1992 following a later Shi'ite rebellion

1995 - U.N. approves oil-for-food programme allowing partial resumption of exports to buy food and medicine. Not implemented until December 1996

1996 - U.S. expands limit of southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees south of Baghdad

1998

Oct - Iraq stops cooperating with the U.N. commission overseeing destruction of weapons of mass destruction

Dec - U.S. and Britain start Operation Desert Fox targeting suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes

1999 - Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, spiritual leader of the Shi'ites, assassinated in Najaf, allegedly on Saddam's orders

U.N. creates new weapons monitoring and inspections commission, which is rejected by Iraq

2001

Feb - U.S. and Britain bomb air defence network. (The network was bombed repeatedly from 1998-2003)

2002

Jan - U.S. President George Bush says Iraq is part of an "axis of evil" and accuses it of supporting terrorism and hiding chemical and biological weapons

Sep - Washington tells U.N. it must act to stop Saddam or allow the U.S. to do so

Nov - U.N. weapons inspectors return to Iraq. They later say Iraq has speeded up cooperation and they need time to verify compliance

2003

Mar - U.N. inspectors evacuate. U.S.-led force invades

Apr 9 - Saddam toppled as U.S. forces sweep into Baghdad

May - U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority set up. Baath party and Iraqi army disbanded. U.N. sanctions lifted

Jul - A 25-member U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council holds inaugural meeting in Baghdad. It's dissolved in Jun 2005 to make way for Iraqi interim government

Aug - Truck bomb at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 22, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Car bomb at a Najaf mosque kills at least 83 people, including top Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim

Oct - Donors pledge more than $32 billion in loans and grants for period 2004 to 2007

Twelve people die at the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad during a series of bombings at the start of Ramadan. At least 35 people are killed and 230 wounded in total.

Dec - U.S. troops capture Saddam near his home town of Tikrit

2004

Feb - Suicide bombings at the Arbil offices of the two main Kurdish factions in northern Iraq kill 117 people

Apr - Pictures of inmates being tortured and humiliated by U.S. guards at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison spark international condemnation

Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militia begins uprising in Baghdad and southern Iraq

May - Suicide car bomb kills Shi'ite head of Iraqi Governing Council

Jun - U.S. formally transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi interim government led by Iyad Allawi.

Oct - Margaret Hassan, head of CARE International in Iraq, is kidnapped and killed about a month later

Nov - Iraq's main creditors at Paris Club of wealthy nations agree to cancel 80 percent of Baghdad's debt to them

2005

Jan - The Shi'ite United Iraqi Alliance dominates election for interim parliament. Kurdish parties come second. Most Sunnis fail to vote

Feb - A car bomb in Hilla kills at least 125 people. Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq claims responsibility

Apr - Parliament chooses Kurdish Jalal Talabani for president and Ibrahim al-Jaafari for prime minister

Oct - Iraqis vote to accept the new constitution. Saddam's trial over the 1982 killing of 148 Shi'ites opens at an Iraqi special tribunal

Dec - Parliamentary elections. United Iraqi Alliance is later declared the winner but does not get an absolute majority, prompting political deadlock

2006

Jan - Suicide attacks near Baghdad and in Karbala, Ramadi and Miqdadiya kill around 200 people

Feb - Shi'ite shrine in Samarra blown up. Sectarian violence escalates

Apr - Nuri al-Maliki becomes prime minister-designate after the United Iraqi Alliance drops Jaafari as its candidate

Jun - U.S. aircraft kill Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi

Nov - Saddam sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. Iraq and Syria restore diplomatic relations. Six car bombs in Baghdad on Nov 23 kill more than 200 people

Dec - Saddam is executed

2007

Feb - Maliki launches U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad designed to give him "breathing space" to foster national reconciliation between Shi'ites and Sunnis

Mar - Two truck bombs explode in Tal Afar, close to the Syrian border. The death toll is 152 - the deadliest single insurgent attack since 2003

Apr - A suicide bomber slips into a restaurant in the Iraqi parliament in the fortified Green Zone, killing a lawmaker and wounding two dozen people

Jun - U.S. completes build-up of forces, increasing troop numbers to 160,000

Aug - The main Sunni Arab political bloc quits the government in a blow to Maliki's shaky coalition

Suicide bombers driving fuel tankers attack Yazidi residential compounds in northern Iraq. Iraqi Red Crescent says around 500 people killed

U.N. Security Council approves resolution 1770 to expand the U.N.'s role in Iraq

Oct - Syria closes its borders to Iraqi refugees

Nov - Turkey amasses troops along its border with Iraq in an attempt to quash attacks from the PKK Kurdish rebels. Air attacks and cross-border raids follow

Dec - U.N. Security Council extends mandate for coalition troops for another year. Britain hands over security for Basra to Iraqi forces, effectively marking end of British control of southern Iraq

2008

Feb - Turkish land offensive in northern Iraq

Apr/May - Battles between Moqtada al-Sadr's army and government, until a truce

Jun - Australia ends its combat operations

Jul - U.S. troops cut to 140,000

Main Sunni Arab bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, rejoins Shia-led government almost a year after it pulled out

Sep - U.S. forces hand Anbar province over to Iraqi control - the first Sunni province to change hands. Arab-Kurd tensions increase over shooting of Kurdish politician by police. Transparency International ranks Iraq third most corrupt country

Oct - U.S. says top two leaders of al-qaeda in Iraq killed. Al-Qaeda blamed for spate of killings in Mosul city targeting Christians

2009

Jan - New U.S.-Iraq security pact comes into force, under which all U.S. troops are due to withdraw by end-2011. Provincial elections see Maliki's coalition win big victories