Three ethnic groups lived in close contact with in the region: The Sumerians, predominant in the extreme south from approximately Nippur (near today’s Diwaniyah), to the Gulf, the Semites predominant in central Mesopotamia (the region called Akkad after 2400 BC), and a small, diffuse minority of uncertain origin to which no definite label can be attached.
The city-states of Sumer for the Early Dynastic period were, from north to south: Sippar, Kish, Akshak, Larak, Isin, Nippur, Adab, Zabalam, Shuruppak, Umma, Girsu, Lagash, Nina, Badtibira, Uruk, Larsa, Ur and Eridu. Plus many towns, villages and new unearthed settlements.
