This study presents an integrated study of expansion process of salinized land in Basrah Province, a typical salt-affected area in southern parts of Iraq, by using geo-information techniques. Satellite images （Landsat TM 1990） and thematic maps （ETM 2003） were used to provide comprehen- sive views of surface conditions such as vegetation cover and salinization detection. With ERDAS soft- ware, the normalized differential salinity index （NDSI） and salinity index （SI） were computed and then evaluated for soil degradation by salinization. ARC/INFO software was used along with field observa- tion data （global positioning system） for analysis. During the past 13 years, the salinized land in study area increased by 6 579.1 km2 and in 2003 covered 34.5% of the total area; in the meantime, vegetation cover has decreased by 4 595.9 km2 and in 2003 covers only 24.1% of the study area. Environmental changes show that, between 1990 and 2003, 37.5% of vegetation cover and 45.9% of marshlands were transformed into salty meadow and wet salty crust, respectively. In addition, there was 16.6% of sand lands converted into dry puffy salty crust. Results using spatial analysis methods showed that 7 894.9 km2 （41.4%） of land had no risk of environment degradation by soil salinity, 4 595.9 km2 （24.1%） bad slight risk, 4 042.8 km2 （21.2%） had moderate risk, and 2 536.3 km2 （13.3%） of the total land area was at a high risk of environment degradation by soil salinity. In conclusion, the study area was ex- posed to a high risk of soil salinity.
