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Iraq

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Background :

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime. US forces remained in Iraq under a UNSC mandate through 2009 and under a bilateral security agreement thereafter, helping to provide security and to train and mentor Iraqi security forces. In October 2005, Iraqis approved a constitution in a national referendum and, pursuant to this document, elected a 275-member Council of Representatives (CoR) in December 2005. After the election, Ibrahim al-JAAFARI was selected as prime minister; he was replaced by Nuri al-MALIKI in May 2006. The CoR approved most cabinet ministers in May 2006, marking the transition to Iraq's first constitutional government in nearly a half century. On 31 January 2009, Iraq held elections for provincial councils in all provinces except for the three provinces comprising the Kurdistan Regional Government and at-Ta'mim (Kirkuk) province. 

Location :

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

33 00 N, 44 00 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 38.80
North 37.38
East 48.58
South 29.07

Map references :

Middle East 

Area :

total 438 317 square km
land 437 367 square km
water 950 square km

Land boundaries :

total 3 650 km
Iran (ir) 1 458 km
Jordan (jo) 181 km
Kuwait (kw) 240 km
Saudi Arabia (sa) 814 km
Syria (sy) 605 km
Turkey (tr) 352 km

Coastline :

58.00 km

Climate :

mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq 

Terrain :

mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 0 metres
highest point 3 611 metres

Natural resources :

natural gas petroleum
phosphates sulfur

Land use :

arable land 13.12 %
permanent crops 0.61 %
other 86.27 %

Irrigated land :

35 250 square km

Natural hazards :

dust storms floods
torms

current issues :

government water control projects have drained most of the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Marsh Arabs, who inhabited these areas for thousands of years, has been displaced; furthermore, the destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations; inadequate supplies of potable water; development of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salination) and erosion; desertification 

international agreements :

Biodiversity Environmental Modification
Law of the Sea Ozone Layer Protection

Population :

28 945 569 

Indicators :

Growth rate 2.51 %
Birth rate 30.09 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 3.86 children born/woman
Death rate 5.03 deaths/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 38.80 %
15-64 years 58.20 %
65 years and over 3.00 %

Median age :

total 20.40 years
male 20.30 years
female 20.50 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.90 male(s)/female
total population 1.02 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 44.65 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 69.95 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 68.61 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 71.36 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 0.10 %
HIV-AIDS people living with HIV-AIDS 500

Religions :

Muslim 97.00 %
Christian 3.00 %

Languages :

Arabic  
Kurdish  
Turkmen  
Assyrian  
Armenian  

Literacy :

total population 74.10 %
male 84.10 %
female 64.20 %

Country name :

conventional long form Republic of Iraq
conventional short form Iraq
local long form Jumhuriyat al-Iraq
local short form Al Iraq

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 IQ
ISO Numeric 368
ISO3 IRQ
FIPS IZ
ccTLD iq
English Iraq

Administrative divisions :

18 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah) and 1 region*; Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta'mim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala', Kurdistan Regional Government*, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit 

Capital :

name Baghdad
geographic coordinates 33 20 N, 44 23 E
time difference 3.00

International organization participation :

ABEDA AFESD (suspended)
AMF CAEU
FAO G-77
IAEA IBRD
ICAO ICRM
IDA IDB
IFAD IFC
IFRCS ILO
IMF IMO
IMSO IOC
IPU ISO
ITSO ITU
Interpol LAS
MIGA NAM
OAPEC OIC
OPCW OPEC
PCA UN
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNIDO UNWTO
UPU WCO
WFTU WHO
WIPO WMO
WTO (observer)

Independence :

1932-10-03 

Executive branch :

President Jalal TALABANI Prime Minister Nuri al-MALIKI

Legislative branch :

Unified Iraqi Alliance 41.00 %
Kurdistan Alliance 22.00 %
Tawafuq Coalition 15.00 %
Iraqi National List 8.00 %
Iraqi Front for National Dialogue 4.00 %
other 10.00 %

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 112 000 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 70 100 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate 4.30 %
PPP - per capita 3 600 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 9.60 %
industry 62.80 %
services 27.60 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 21.60 %
industry 18.70 %
services 59.80 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 8 175 000 people
Unemployment rate 15.20 %
Population below poverty line 25.00 %
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 6.80 %
Current account balance - 19 900 000 000 $
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 46 760 000 000 $
Debt external 50 290 000 000 $
Market value of publicly traded shares 2 000 000 000 $
Military expenditures 8.60 % of GDP

Budget :

revenues 52 800 000 000 $
expenditures 72 400 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

barley cattle
cotton dates
poultry rice
sheep vegetables
wheat

Industries :

chemicals construction materials
fertilizer food processing
leather metal fabrication
petroleum textiles

Energy :

Electricity Production 46 390 000 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 52 000 000 000 kWh
Electricity Imports 5 600 000 000 kWh
Oil Production 2 420 000 bbl/day
Oil Consumption 500 000 bbl/day
Oil Exports 1 910 000 bbl/day
Oil Imports 116 900 bbl/day
Oil Proved reserves 115 000 000 000 bbl
Natural gas Production 1 880 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Consumption 9 454 000 000 cubic metres
Electricity Exports 3 170 000 000 000 cubic metres

Value :

38 000 000 000 $

Partners :

United States (us) 38.60 %
India (in) 12.20 %
Italy (it) 9.80 %
South Korea 7.10 %

Commodities :

crude materials crude oil
food and live animals

Value :

55 400 000 000 $

Commodities :

food manufactures
medicines

Currency-name :

New Iraqi dinar 

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 1 082 000
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 20 000 000
Television broadcast stations 28
Internet Country code (ccTLD) iq
Internet Hosts 11
Internet Users 300 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 75
Heliports 21
Pipelines - gas 2 501 km
Pipelines - oil 5 032 km
Pipelines - refined products 1 637 km
Pipelines - liquid petroleum gas 918 km
Roadways - total 44 900 km
Roadways - paved 37 851 km
Roadways - unpaved 7 049 km
Railways 2 272 km
Waterways 5 279 km

Photos

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