The capital city of Al Anbar province is Ar Ramdi. Anbar is the largest province in Iraq, sharing a border with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
 
The name of the province is Persian and means "the warehouse," as this region was the warehouse of the Persian Sassanid troops. Before 1976 the province was known as Ramadi and before 1962 as Dulaim. Fallujah is also in Anbar.
 
Most of the inhabitants of the province are Sunni Muslims from the Dulaim tribe.
The insurgency was considered to be stronger in this province than in any other in Iraq. However, in late 2005, after a struggle to gain control of the region, a series of operations by U.S. forces were relatively successful in driving insurgents from Anbar.
 
In early 2006, several tribes and militias — some including insurgent groups — began an effort to root out the remaining foreign militants. As a result, Anbar was thought to be mostly pacified in the early weeks of 2006.
 
However, subsequent insurgent raids against Coalition forces in the area, the increase of sectarian violence (that pushed many of the Sunni tribes back into alliances with militants) and the continued insurgent control of several cities in Anbar showed that fighting in the region would continue for many more months.
 
Coalition forces, with support from awakening groups, have now largely quelled the violence making Anbar the symbol of progress and Iraqi determination to live in a peaceful environment.
Anbar was the eleventh province to be transferred to Iraqi security responsibility in September 2008.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, Amb. Ryan C. Crocker Joint Statement, Sept. 1, 2008