Iraq

• 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

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

• 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

party to:

Law of the Sea

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

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 (2006 est.)

noun:

Iraqi(s)

adjective:

Iraqi

conventional long form:

Republic of Iraq

conventional short form:

Iraq

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah

local short form:

Al Iraq

name:

Baghdad

geographic coordinates:

33 21 N, 44 25 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins 1 April; ends 1 October

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

• 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration);
• note - on 28 June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government

chief of state:

• President Jalal TALABANI (since 6 April 2005);
• Vice Presidents Adil ABD AL-MAHDI and Tariq al-HASHIMI (since 22 April 2006);
• note - the president and vice presidents comprise the Presidency Council)

head of government:

Prime Minister Nuri al-MALIKI (since 20 May 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Barham SALIH and Salam al-ZUBAI (since 20 May 2006)

cabinet:

37 ministers appointed by the Presidency Council, plus Prime Minister Nuri al-MALIKI, and Deputy Prime Ministers Barham SALIH and Salam al-ZUBAI

elections:

held 15 December 2005 to elect a 275-member Council of Representatives

• Al-Sadr Movement [Muqtada Al-SADR];
• Assyrian Democratic Movement [Yunadim KANNA];
• Conference of Iraqi People [Adnan al-DULAYMI];
• Constitutional Monarchy Movement or CMM [Sharif Ali Bin al-HUSAYN];
• Da'wa Party [Ibrahim al-JA'FARI];
• Independent Iraqi Alliance or IIA [Falah al-NAQIB];
• Iraqi Communist Party [Hamid al-MUSA];
• Iraqi Hizballah [Karim Mahud al-MUHAMMADAWI];
• Iraqi Independent Democrats or IID [Adnan PACHACHI, Mahdi al-HAFIZ];
• Iraqi Islamic Party or IIP [Muhsin Abd al-HAMID, Hajim al-HASSANI];
• Iraqi National Accord or INA [Ayad ALLAWI];
• Iraqi National Congress or INC [Ahmad CHALABI];
• Iraqi National Council for Dialogue or INCD [Khalaf Ulayan al-Khalifawi al-DULAYMI];
• Iraqi National Unity Movement or INUM [Ahmad al-KUBAYSI, chairman];
• Islamic Action Organization or IAO [Ayatollah Muhammad al-MUDARRISI];
• Jama'at al Fadilah or JAF [Ayatollah Muhammad Ali al-YAQUBI];
• Kurdistan Democratic Party or KDP [Masud BARZANI];
• Muslim Ulama Council or MUC [Harith Sulayman al-DARI, secretary general];
• National Iraqi Front [Salih al-MUTLAQ];
• National Reconciliation and Liberation Party [Mishan al-JABBURI];
• Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or PUK [Jalal TALABANI];
• Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq or SCIRI [Abd al-Aziz al-HAKIM]

note: the Kurdistan Alliance, Iraqi National List, Iraqi Consensus Front, Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, and United Iraqi Alliance were only electoral slates consisting of the representatives from the various Iraqi political parties

• an insurgency against the Iraqi Transitional Government and Coalition forces is primarily concentrated in Baghdad and in areas west and north of the capital;
• the diverse, multigroup insurgency is led principally by Sunni Arabs whose only common denominator is a shared desire to oust the Coalition and end US influence in Iraq

chief of mission:

Ambassador Samir Shakir al-SUMAYDI

chancery:

1801 P Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 483-7500

FAX:

[1] (202) 462-5066

chief of mission:

Ambassador Zalmay KHALILZAD

embassy:

Baghdad

mailing address:

APO AE 09316

telephone:

00-1-240-553-0584 ext. 5340 or 5635; note - Consular Section

FAX:

NA

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with three green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band;
• the phrase ALLAHU AKBAR (God is Great) in green Arabic script - Allahu to the right of the middle star and Akbar to the left of the middle star - was added in January 1991 during the Persian Gulf crisis;
• similar to the flag of Syria, which has two stars but no script, Yemen, which has a plain white band, and that of Egypt which has a gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band;
• design is based upon the Arab Liberation colors

agriculture:

NA%

industry:

NA%

services:

NA%

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• the 2003 war severely disrupted telecommunications throughout Iraq including international connections;
• USAID is overseeing the repair of switching capability and the construction of mobile and satellite communication facilities

domestic:

• repairs to switches and lines destroyed during the 2003 war continue, but sabotage remains a problem;
• additional switching capacity is improving access;
• cellular service is available and centered on three regional GSM networks, improving country-wide connectivity

international:

• country code - 964;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Arabsat (inoperative);
• coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey;
• despite a new satellite gateway, international calls outside of Baghdad remain problematic

• gas 2,228 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 918 km;
• oil 5,506 km;
• refined products 1,637 km (2006)

total:

2,200 km

standard gauge:

2,200 km 1.435-m gauge (2005)

total:

45,550 km

paved:

38,399 km

unpaved:

7,151 km (1999)

total:

13 ships (1000 GRT or over) 67,796 GRT/101,317 DWT

by type:

cargo 11, petroleum tanker 2 (2006)

males age 18-49:

5,870,640

females age 18-49:

5,642,073 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

4,930,074

females age 18-49:

4,771,105 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

198,518

females age 18-49:

289,879 (2005 est.)

• coalition forces assist Iraqis in monitoring boundary security;
• Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf;
• Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq

refugees (country of origin):

22,711 (Palestinian Territories)

IDPs:

1 million (ongoing US-led war and Kurds' subsequent return) (2005)