BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Country Name: IRAQ
Capital
Baghdad
Largest city Baghdad
Official language(s)
Arabic & Kurdish
Government
Parliamentary democracy
Area 438,317 km²
Population
2005 est. 28,807,000 (40th)
Currency Iraqi
dinar (IQD)
Time
zone (UTC+3)
Internet
TLD .iq
Calling
code +964
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GEOGRAPHY
& BACKGROUND
The
Republic of Iraq translit: al-‘Iraq,
is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern
Asia encompassing most of Mesopotamia as
well as the northwestern end of the Zagros
mountain range and the eastern part of the
Syrian Desert. It shares borders with Kuwait
and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to
the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey
to the north, and Iran to the east. It has
a very narrow section of coastline at Umm
Qasr on the Persian Gulf.
Large
parts of Iraq consist of desert, but the
area between the two major rivers (Euphrates
and Tigris) is fertile, with the rivers
carrying about 60 million cubic metres (78
million cu. yd) of silt annually to the
delta. The north of the country is largely
mountainous, with the highest point being
a 3,611 metres (11,847 ft) point, unnamed
on the map opposite, but known locally as
Cheekah Dar (black tent). Iraq has a small
coastline with the Persian Gulf. Close to
the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab (known
as arvandrud: among Iranians) there used
to be marshlands, but many of these were
drained in the 1990s.
Snowy
mountains of Iraqi KurdistanThe local climate
is mostly desert with mild to cool winters
and dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern
mountainous regions experience cold winters
with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing
extensive flooding. The capital of Baghdad
is situated in the centre of the country,
on the banks of the Tigris. Other major
cities include Basra in the south and Mosul
in the north.
Demographics
of Iraq
Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq's
population are Arabs; the other major ethnic
groups are the Kurds at 15-20%, Assyrians,
Iraqi Turkmen and others (5%), who mostly
live in the north and northeast of the country.
The Kurds, Assyrians, and Turkmen differ
from Arabs in many ways, including culture,
history, clothing, and language. Other distinct
groups are Persians and Armenians (possible
descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian
culture). About 20,000–50,000 Marsh
Arabs live in southern Iraq.
Arabic
and Kurdish are official languages. Syriac
Aramaic and Turkmen are official languages
in areas where the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen
are located respectively. Armenian and Persian
are also spoken but to a lesser extent.
English is the most commonly spoken Western
language.
There
are more Arab Iraqi Muslim members of the
Shiite sect than there are Arab Iraqi Muslims
of the Sunni sect; but there is a large
Sunni population as well, made up of mostly
Arabs and Kurds. (Shiites: 60-65% of total
population made up of mostly Arabs). Ethnic
Assyrians (are of the Chaldean rite) account
for most of Iraq's sizable Christian population
along with the Armenians. Bahá'ís,
Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist.
Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
Demographic information
from the 2006 edition of the CIA's The World
Factbook [16]:
Ethnic
groups: Arab, 75–80%; Kurdish, 15-20%;
Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%.
Religions: Muslim, 97% (Shi'ite, 60-65%;
Sunni 32-37%); Christian or other, 3%.
For
more information please visit
http://www.fco.gov.uk/
or
visit
http://www.tripadvisor.com
