Map of Iraq | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Iraq lies in the lower part of the Tigris-Euphrates valley, the heart of one of the four great ancient civilizations. The area was overrun by Arab, Mongol, and Turkish conquerors and became a British mandate following World War I. Independence came in 1932. Iraq's pro-Western stance ended in 1958 with the overthrow of the monarchy. Its subsequent turbulent history has witnessed the dictatorship of SADDAM Husayn, civil war with the Kurds, a bloody conflict with neighboring Iran, and, in 1990, an invasion of Kuwait, swiftly turned back by a Western coalition led by the US. Noncooperation with UN Security Council resolution obligations and the UN's inspection of Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological, and long-range missile weapons programs remain major problems.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 3,454 km total; Iran 1,458 km, Iraq - Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone 191 km, Jordan 134 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 495 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km

Coastline: 58 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: not specific
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers

Terrain: mostly broad plains; reedy marshes in southeast; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur

Land use: 12% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 9% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 75% other; includes 4% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 18,781,770 (July 1990), growth rate 3.9% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Iraqi(s; adjective--Iraqi

Ethnic groups: 75-80% Arab, 15-20% Kurdish, 5% Turkoman, Assyrian or other

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian

Religions: 97% Muslim (60-65% Shia, 32-37% Sunni), 3% Christian or other

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 46 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 7 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: development of Tigris-Euphrates river systems contingent upon agreements with upstream riparians (Syria, Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salinization) and erosion; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 67 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 68 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 55-65% (1989 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Iraq

Government type: republic

Capital: Baghdad

Administrative divisions: 18 provinces (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah; Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, As Sulaymaniyah, At Tamim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Arbil, Karbala, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit

Dependent areas

Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 17 July (1968)

Constitution: 22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970 (interim Constitution; new constitution now in final stages of drafting

Legal system: based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal adult at age 18

Executive branch: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Saddam HUSAYN (since 16 July 1979; Vice President Taha Muhyi al-Din MARUF (since 21 April 1974)

Legislative branch: Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Force, mobile police force, Republican Guard

Judicial branch: Court of Cassation

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ACC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Dr. Mohamed Sadiq AL-MASHAT; Chancery at 1801 P Street NW, Washington DC 20,036; telephone (202) 483-7,500; US--Ambassador April C. GLASPIE; Embassy in Masbah Quarter (opposite the Foreign Ministry Club), Baghdad (mailing address is P. O. Box 2,447 Alwiyah, Baghdad; telephone p964o (1) 719-6,138 or 719-6,139, 718-1840, 719-3,791

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with three green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; similar to the flags of the YAR which has one star and Syria which has two stars (in a horizontal line centered in the white band)--all green and five-pointed; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The Bathist regime engages in extensive central planning and management of industrial production and foreign trade while leaving some small-scale industry and services and most agriculture to private enterprise. The economy is dominated by the oil sector, which provides about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Since the early 1980s financial problems, caused by war expenditures and damage to oil export facilities by Iran, have led the government to implement austerity measures and to reschedule foreign debt payments. Oil exports have gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines. Agricultural development remains hampered by labor shortages, salinization, and dislocations caused by previous land reform and collectivization programs. The industrial sector, although accorded high priority by the government, is under financial constraints. New investment funds are generally allocated only to projects that result in import substitution or foreign exchange earnings.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for less than 10% of GNP but 33% of labor force; principal products--wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, other fruit, cotton, wool; livestock--cattle, sheep; not self-sufficient in food output

Industries: petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing

Industrial production growth rate

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: less than 5% (1989 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $NA billion; expenditures $35 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1989)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $12.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988)
Commodities: crude oil and refined products, machinery, chemicals, dates
Partners: US, Brazil, USSR, Italy, Turkey, France, Japan, Yugoslavia (1988)

Imports: $10.2 billion (c.i.f., 1988)
Commodities: manufactures, food
Partners: Turkey, US, FRG, UK, France, Japan, Romania, Yugoslavia, Brazil (1988)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $40 billion (1988 est.), excluding debt to Persian Gulf Arab states

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Iraqi dinars (ID) per US$1--0.3109 (fixed rate since 1982)


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Electricity
Capacity: 9,902,000 kW capacity; 20,000 million kWh produced, 1,110 kWh per capita (1989)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: NA

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 111 total, 101 usable; 72 with permanent-surface runways; 8 with runways over 3,659 m; 53 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 14 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil, 4,350 km; 725 km refined products; 1,360 km natural gas

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 1,015 km; Shatt al Arab usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war; Tigris and Euphrates navigable by shallow-draft steamers (of little importance; Shatt al Basrah canal navigable in sections by shallow-draft vessels

Merchant marine: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 947,721 GRT/1,703,988 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 18 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 19 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Iraq began formal UN peace negotiations with Iran in August 1988 to end the war that began on 22 September 1980--sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway, troop withdrawal, freedom of navigation, and prisoner of war exchange are the major issues for negotiation; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR; shares Neutral Zone with Saudi Arabia--in July 1975, Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to divide the zone between them, but the agreement must be ratified before it becomes effective; disputes Kuwaiti ownership of Warbah and Bubiyan islands; periodic disputes with upstream riparian Syria over Euphrates water rights; potential dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs