Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Baghdad
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Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Baghdad
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Iraq is a land of beauty and turmoil. Once better known as Mesopotamia, it is a land of two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, which sweep down from the mountains of Turkey to meet, eighty-five miles north of the Arabian Gulf, at one of the alleged sites of the Garden of Eden. This land is the cradle of great civilizations.
Iraqis are proud of their past (dating back some 5,000 years) - proud of
forebears like Hammurabi, Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, and of ancient Babylon, Ur of the
Chaldees, Nineveh and Nimrud and the countless other sites of Iraq's antiquity which outnumber
those of Greece or the Valley of the Nile.
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map of Iraq.
Official Name: Republic of Iraq, Al Jumhouriya Al'Iraqia.
Capital: Baghdad.
Mountain Ranges: Zagros.
Highest Peak: Rawanduz, 12,001 feet (3,658 meters).
Major Rivers: Tigris, Euphrates.
Population (1997 estimate) 22,219,289; 109.0 persons per square mile (42.1 persons per square kilometer); 70 percent urban, 30 percent rural.
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map of Iraq's population density.
Major Cities (1985 estimate) Baghdad (4,648,600), Basra (616,700), Mosul (570,900).
Major Religion: Islam (official).
Major Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish.
Literacy: 60 - 70 percent.
Leading Universities and Colleges: Al Mustansiriyah University (Baghdad), University of Baghdad, University of Technology (Baghdad), University of Basra, University of Mosul.
Form of Government: Republic.
Head of Government and Chief of State: President Saddam Hussein
Legislature National Assembly of 250 members elected by popular vote for four years.
Political Divisions. 18 Governorates:
Al Anbar
Al BasrahL
Al Muthanna
Al Qadisiyah
An Najaf
As Sulaymaniyah*
At Tamim
Babil
Baghdad
Dahuk*
Dhi Qar
Diyala
Irbil*
Karbala
Maysan
Ninawa
Salah ad Din
Wasit
*Part of the Kurdish Autonomous Region.
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map
of Iraq's political divisions.
Chief Agricultural Products: Crops barley, wheat, watermelons, tomatoes, dates, grapes. Livestock sheep, cattle, goats, mules and asses.
Chief Mined Products: Crude petroleum, natural gas, sulfur.
Chief Manufactured Products: Petroleum products, industrial chemicals, nonmetal mineral products, food, textiles, machinery and transport equipment.
Chief Exports: Fuels and other energy.
Chief Imports: Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and agricultural raw materials, chemical and pharmaceutical products.
Monetary Unit: 1 Iraqi dinar = 20 dirhams = 1,000 fils.
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