People
Iraq has a population of 22,219,289 as of 1997, of whom about 77 percent were Arabs and 19 percent Kurds. A small percentage were Turkmen, Persians, and Assyrians. Almost all Iraqis are Muslims; about 53 percent are followers of Shiah Islam and 42 percent of Sunni Islam. About 3 percent are Christians (see Religious Map).
The majority of Iraqis live in urban areas, including Baghdad, the capital and by far the largest city. In recent years many rural people have moved to the larger urban centers, straining the government's ability to provide social services and causing unemployment, particularly among men 20 to 25 years old.
The Kurds, who inhabit the area north and northwest of Mosul, are followers of Islam and share a similar cultural heritage with the Arab population of Iraq. They have a distinctive history, however, and speak Kurdish, a member of the Indo-Iranian, rather than Semitic, family of languages. They have tried to assert their national identity and have demanded cultural and political autonomy, but the government has put down their protests with brutal force. (see Kurds for more info.)
Rural Iraqis have a tribal heritage dating back two or three generations. Most of them have farmed the land or raised livestock in one place all their lives. The number of nomads who migrate to different grazing lands with their flocks in spring and fall has decreased greatly, largely as a result of social welfare programs started by the government since 1958. Traditional Arab-Muslim values predominate in the rural areas, but people in the cities and towns have life-styles similar to those in the West.
Islam plays a major role in the lives of most Iraqis, both rural and urban. They visit the mosque on Friday for the weekly reading of the Koran and prayers, and they observe religious holidays.
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