nt 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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Law of the Sea
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Geography - note:
strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the
Persian Gulf

People Iraq

Population:
25,374,691 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40.3% (male 5,198,966; female 5,039,173)
15-64 years: 56.7% (male 7,280,167; female 7,094,688)
65 years and over: 3% (male 357,651; female 404,046) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 19.2 years
male: 19.1 years
female: 19.3 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.74% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
33.09 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
5.66 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

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: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 52.71 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 46.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 58.58 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.26 years
male: 67.09 years
female: 69.48 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
4.4 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
less than 500 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

Nationality:
noun: Iraqi(s)
adjective: Iraqi

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

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

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

Literacy: