Amarah (Arabic: ٱلْعَمَارَة, romanized: al-ʿAmārah), also spelled Amara, is a city in south-eastern Iraq, located on a low ridge next to the Tigris River waterway south of Baghdad about 50 km (31 mi) from the border with Iran.

The staple economic goods produced in northern Amarah are winter cereals such as wheat and barley, as well as animals such as sheep and horses.

The city was founded in the 1860s as an Ottoman military outpost from which the empire tried to control the warring Banu Lam and Al Bu Muhammad tribes.

[citation needed] During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the city made a final stand as a center of resistance to Saddam Hussein.

However, in June 2003, citizens of Amarah took up arms against patrolling British forces, killing six soldiers each in two separate attacks, south of the City in Majar al-Kabir.

[5] According to Sheik Abdul Kareem al-Muhamadawi, the latest dispute between the Shiite militias began after Qassim al-Tamimi, the chief of investigations for the provincial police force and a member of the Badr Organization, was killed in a bombing.

Specific within 4th Brigade, Amarah and its surrounding towns were covered by 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, which established FOB Garryowen just west of the city proper.

[citation needed] Provincial elections in January 2009 saw a dramatic shift in the balance of power in Amarah and Maysan Province in general.

In May 2009, the PC formally appointed a Dawa Party member to the governorship to replace the radical Sadrist leadership that had held power for years in the Province.