ified
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: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: unnamed peak; 3,611 m; note - this peak is not Gundah
Zhur 3,607 m or Kuh-e Hajji-Ebrahim 3,595 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
Land use:
arable land: 13.12%
permanent crops: 0.61%
other: 86.27% (2005)
Irrigated land:
35,250 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
dust storms, sandstorms, floods
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 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: Biodiversity, 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:
26,783,383 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39.7% (male 5,398,645/female 5,231,760)
15-64 years: 57.3% (male 7,776,257/female 7,576,726)
65 years and over: 3% (male 376,700/female 423,295) (2006 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.7 years
male: 19.6 years
female: 19.8 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.66% (2006 est.)
Birth rate:
31.98 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate:
5.37 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
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