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

total:

42.7 cu km/yr (3%/5%/92%)

per capita:

1,482 cu m/yr (2000)

• dust storms;
• sandstorms;
• floods

• 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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

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:

0.9 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

noun:

Iraqi(s)

adjective:

Iraqi

conventional long form:

Republic of Iraq

conventional short form:

Iraq

local long form:

Jumhuriyat al-Iraq

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)

• 18 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah) and 1 region*;
• Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta'mim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala', Kurdistan Regional Government*, 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-controlled 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); Rafi al-ISSAWI (since 19 July 2008)

cabinet:

36 ministers appointed by the Presidency Council, plus Prime Minister Nuri al-MALIKI and Deputy Prime Ministers Barham SALIH and Rafi al-ISSAWI

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 [Nuri al-MALIKI];
• General Conference of Iraqi People [Adnan al-DULAYMI];
• Independent Iraqi Alliance or IIA [Falah al-NAQIB];
• Iraqi Communist Party [Hamid MAJID];
• 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];
• Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq or ISCI [Abd al-Aziz al-HAKIM];
• 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];
• 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);
• Sahawa al-Iraq [Ahmad al-RISHAWI]

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Samir Shakir al-SUMAYDI

chancery:

3421 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 742-1600

FAX:

[1] (202) 333-1129

chief of mission:

Ambassador Christopher R. HILL

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;
• the Takbir (Arabic expression meaning "God is great") in green Arabic script is centered in the white band;
• 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;
• Council of Representatives approved this flag as a compromise temporary replacement for Ba'athist Saddam-era flag

agriculture:

NA%

industry:

NA%

services:

NA%

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• the 2003 liberation of Iraq severely disrupted telecommunications throughout Iraq including international connections;
• widespread government efforts to rebuild domestic and international communications through fiber optic links are in progress;
• the mobile cellular market has expanded rapidly and its subscribership base approached 18 million in 2008

domestic:

• repairs to switches and lines destroyed during 2003 continue;
• additional switching capacity is improving access;
• cellular service is available and centered on 3 GSM networks which are being expanded beyond their regional roots, improving country-wide connectivity;
• wireless local loop licenses have been issued with the hope of overcoming the lack of fixed-line infrastructure

international:

• country code - 964;
• satellite earth stations - 4 (2 Intelsat - 1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region, and 1 Arabsat (inoperative));
• local microwave radio relay connects border regions to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey;
• planned international fiber-optic connections to Iran (terrestrial) with a link to the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine fiber-optic cable (2008)

• gas 2,501 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 918 km;
• oil 5,418 km;
• refined products 1,637 km (2008)

total:

2,272 km

country comparison to the world: 68

standard gauge:

2,272 km 1.435-m gauge (2008)

total:

44,900 km

country comparison to the world: 81

paved:

37,851 km

unpaved:

7,049 km (2002)

total:

14

country comparison to the world: 107

by type:

cargo 10, petroleum tanker 4 (2008)

males age 16-49:

7,086,200

females age 16-49:

6,808,954 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

6,203,425

females age 16-49:

6,065,009 (2009 est.)

male:

313,500

female:

304,923 (2009 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):

• 10,000-15,000 (Palestinian Territories);
• 11,773 (Iran);
• 16,832 (Turkey)

IDPs:

2.4 million (ongoing US-led war and ethno-sectarian violence) (2007)