When did Mesopotamia become Iraq?

The area of the Middle East defined as Mesopotamia evolved gradually into a more clearly defined region known as 'Iraq' when it was under Arab rule, between the 10th and 13th Centuries. Iraq means 'old' in Arabic- it was so named because it covered the areas known to have been the cradle of the oldest forms of Mesopotamian culture.

However, although this marked the approximate boundaries of the nation we know today as Iraq, in those days it wasn't a unified country, nor was it independent. It was broken up into a series of caliphates and tribal regions, ruled by various sultans and Arab kings, who regularly fought each other for control of each other's fiefdoms. Iraq was also subject over the Centuries to occupation and domination by various empires and countries, including by the Mongols, the Persians and the Ottoman Empire.

In the West, that area of the Middle East was known as Mesopotamia up until 1922, when the modern state of Iraq became established following the end of the British mandate, which was granted at the end of WW1. Kuwait was also created at the same time by the Allied powers, who hived off the South-East section of Iraq and installed a tame monarchy in order to secure a puppet ally in the region, whose oil wealth they could have easy access to. Claims by Saddam Hussein following his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that it had always been a part of Iraq were thus actually right!!