Women react as they celebrate the spring festival on Abu Nawas street in Baghdad on March 20. Spring Day or Nowruz, the traditional Iranian New Year, is celebrated across Iraq.

Though the tradition has its origin in Iran, today Nowruz is celebrated as a New Year festival by around 300 million people worldwide, with traditions and rituals particularly strong in the Balkans, the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, the Caucasus, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.

Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan are some of the countries where the festival is hugely popular. Even United Nationals has proclaimed it as an official International observance because it promotes peace and solidarity.

Nowruz or Noruz means 'new day or new daylight' as per the Hijri culture. Noruz is celebrated either on 20 March or 21 March based on the timing of the equinox.