iparian
Syria over Euphrates water rights; potential dispute over water
development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
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
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
Environment: development of Tigris-Euphrates river systems contingent
upon agreements with upstream riparians (Syria, Turkey); air and water
pollution; soil degradation (salinization) and erosion; desertification
- People
Population: 18,781,770 (July 1990), growth rate 3.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 67 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Iraqi(s); adjective--Iraqi
Ethnic divisions: 75-80% Arab, 15-20% Kurdish, 5% Turkoman, Assyrian
or other
Religion: 97% Muslim (60-65% Shia, 32-37% Sunni), 3% Christian or other
Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions),
Assyrian, Armenian
Literacy: 55-65% (1989 est.)
Labor force: 3,400,000 (1984); 39% services, 33% agriculture, 28%
industry, severe labor shortage (1987); expatriate labor force about
1,000,000 (1989)
Organized labor: less than 10% of the labor force
- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Iraq
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
Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under
British administration)
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
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 17 July (1968)
Executive branch: president, v
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