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:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.032 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.026 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.891 male(s)/female

total population:

1.024 male(s)/female (2007 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 20 N, 44 23 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

• Revolution Day, 17 July (1968);
• note - this holiday was celebrated under the SADDAM Husayn regime;
• the Government of Iraq has yet to declare a new national holiday

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

• Assyrian Democratic Movement [Yunadim KANNA];
• Badr Organization [Hadi al-AMIRI];
• Constitutional Monarchy Movement or CMM [Sharif Ali Bin al-HUSAYN];
• Da'wa al-Islamiya Party [Ibrahim al-JA'FARI];
• General Conference of Iraqi People [Adnan al-DULAYMI];
• Independent Iraqi Alliance or IIA [Falah al-NAQIB];
• Iraqi Communist Party [Hamid al-MUSA];
• Iraqi Front for National Dialogue [Salih al-MUTLAQ];
• Iraqi Hizballah [Karim Mahmud al-MUHAMMADAWI];
• Iraqi Independent Democrats or IID [Adnan PACHACHI, Mahdi al-HAFIZ];
• Iraqi Islamic Party or IIP [Tariq al-HASHIMI];
• 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];
• Islamic Action Organization or IAO [Ayatollah Muhammad al-MUDARRISI];
• Jama'at al Fadilah or JAF [Muhammad Ali al-YAQUBI];
• Kurdistan Democratic Party or KDP [Masud BARZANI];
• Kurdistan Islamic Union [Salah ad-Din Muhammad BAHA al-DIN];
• National Reconciliation and Liberation Party [Mishan al-JABBURI];
• Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or PUK [Jalal TALABANI];
• Sadrist Trend [Muqtada al-SADR] (not an organized political party, but it fields independent candidates affiliated with Muqtada al-SADR);
• Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council or SIIC [Abd al-Aziz al-HAKIM]

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

• an insurgency against the Government of Iraq and Coalition forces is primarily concentrated in Baghdad and in areas north, northeast, and west of the capital;
• the diverse, multigroup insurgency consists principally of Sunni Arabs whose only common denominator is a shared desire to oust the Coalition and end US influence in Iraq;
• a number of predominantly Shia militias, some associated with political parties, challenge governmental authority in Baghdad and southern 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 Ryan C. CROCKER

embassy:

Baghdad

mailing address:

APO AE 09316

telephone:

1-240-553-0589 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 aftermath of the liberation of Iraq in 2003 severely disrupted telecommunications throughout Iraq including international connections;
• USAID repaired switching capabilities and constructed a mobile and satellite communication facility;
• landlines now exceed pre-war levels

domestic:

• repairs to switches and lines destroyed during 2003 have been completed, but sabotage remains a problem;
• additional switching capacity is improving access;
• cellular service is widely available in major cities and centered on 3 regional GSM networks, improving country-wide connectivity;
• there are currently 8.7 million users of cellular services

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 are sometimes problematic (2006)

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

total:

2,272 km

standard gauge:

2,272 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)

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 (2007)

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 internal and cross-border security;
• approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq, with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan, and lesser numbers to Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, and Turkey;
• 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 autonomous status of Kurds in Iraq

refugees (country of origin):

15,000 (Palestinian Territories), 11,960 (Iran), 16,110 (Turkey)

IDPs:

1.9 million (ongoing US-led war and Kurds' subsequent return) (2007)