Counrty Flag:

Population: 22,450,000 (1999)
Area: 438,320 SQ KM
Capital: Baghdad
Currency: Dinar
Language: Arabic
Society:
PEOPLES
Iraqis are mostly Arab; 20 per cent belong to a Kurdish minority living in the north.
RELIGIONS
Mainly Islamic. Most of the Shi'a Muslims (62 per cent) live in the south. In the center, Sunni Arabs predominate, and they share a common religion with the Kurds in the north. 35 per cent of Iraqi population is Sunni.
LANGUAGES
Arabic (official and predominant); in Kurdistan it is regarded as a second language, after Kurdish.
POLITICAL PARTIES
The Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party has been in power since 1968; the Kurdistan Democratic Party; the Kurdistan Fatherland Party.
The State:
OFFICIAL NAME
Al-Jumhuriyah al-'Iraqiyah.
ADMINISTRATION
15 provinces and 3 autonomous regions.
CAPITAL
Baghdad
OTHER CITIES
Diyala 961,073 people; Al-Basrah 406, 296; Irbil 485,968; Mosul 664,221
GOVERNMENT
Saddam Hussein, President since July 1979 and Prime Minister since May 1994.
NATIONAL HOLIDAY
July 14, Proclamation of the Republic (1958); July 17, Revolution Day (1968).
The Environment:
Tigris and Euphrates (Al-Furat) in the center of the country, is suitable for agriculture, and contains most of the population. In the mountainous areas in the north, in Kurdistan, there are important oil deposits. In Lower Mesopotamia, on the Shatt-al-Arab channel, where the Tigris and the Euphrates merge, 15 million palm trees produce 80 per cent of the world's dates which were sold worldwide, before the blockade. The war's devastation included the destruction of the major part of the country's infrastructure. Tank and troop movements caused profound damage to road surfaces and soil, especially in the environmentally sensitive area along the Saudi Arabian border.