er
claims to Kuwait and to Bubiyan and Warbah islands; dispute over
water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

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 which melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive
flooding in central and southern Iraq

Terrain: mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border
in south; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Gundah Zhur 3,608 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur

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

Irrigated land: 25,500 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
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 Shi'a Muslims, who have 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
Tigris-Euphrates Rivers system contingent upon agreements with
upstream riparian Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation
(salinization) and erosion; desertification
natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms, floods
international agreements: party to - Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban; signed, but not ratified - Environmental Modification

People
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Population: 21,422,292 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (male 5,179,240; female 5,014,141)
15-64 years: 49% (male 5,342,529; female 5,228,802)
65 years and over: 3% (male 307,097; female 350,483) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.69% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 43.07 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 6.57 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.02 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 60 deaths/1,000 live births (1