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Location
Iraq is situated in the northwest end of the Arabian Gulf, covering an
area of 438.317 Square Kilometers. Iraq is bordered on the north by
Turkey, on the east by Iran, on the southeast by the Arabian Gulf, on
the south by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and on the west by Syria and
Jordan. Its highest point of elevation is the peak Halgurd in Kurdistan,
at 3611 meters and its lowest point is at sea level.
There are two major rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, running north
to south. The two rivers converge in the Shatt al Arab at Qurna which
legend assumes to be the Garden of Eden.
Land Boundaries
Total 3631 km, Iran 1458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 242 km, Saudi Arabia
814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km Coastline 58 km.
Population
The population of Iraq is approximately 24.6 million of which about six
million inhabit the capital Baghdad. Other major cities are Basra (1.5
million), Erbil (1.3 Million), Mosul (1.2 million), and Karkuk
(535.000). The population growth estimated to be 2.78% (2003).
Infant
mortality rate
62.4 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 66.52 years male: 65.54 years female: 67.56 years
Nationality
noun: Iraqi(s)
adjective: Iraqi
Religions
Islam, Christianity, Ezedi, Mandanite, Jewish.
Languages
Arabic and Kurdish (official), Assyrian, Syrial, Armenian, Torkman,
English is widely spoken.
Literacy
Age 15-45 can read and write
total population: 89%
male: 90%
female: 88%
Climate
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 which melt in
early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and
southern Iraq.
Economy
Iraq is an agrarian country. It is also one of the producing oil
countries, and it saves 95% of foreign exchange. Iraq comes second in
the world's oil reserves after Saudi Arabia. It has great capabilities
of natural gas reserves which can be estimated at 110 trillion cubic feet,
and it produces sulfur and phosphates. Iraq has great energy resources
through water resources. Infrastructure
Through the year 2003 Iraq had 46 thousand kilometers of roads, 2
thousand kilometers of railways, and a thousand kilometers of navigable
waterways. The country also had over 8 thousands miles of pipeline,
including more 5 thousand of which are for oil, nearly 2 thousand for
gas, and over a thousand for refined petroleum products. At the end of
2003, Iraq had seaports (Umm Qasr, Khawr az Zubayr, and Al-Basra), and
77 airports with paved runway.
Currency and
Payments
In October 2003, Iraq put the New Iraqi Dinar into circulation, and full
conversion of the currency was achieved on January,15 2004. The Central
Bank of Iraq conducts auctions of New Iraqi Dinars daily. Pursuant to
this managed float the New Iraqi Dinar (NID) valued at 1,460 per USD.
Government
After the fall of the previous regime, the Local Governing Council was
established, which paved the way to elect a transformational government.
The transformational government arranged the circumstances for a
perminant government. For the first time after four decades, 275 MPs
were elected from various Iraqi components, and a perminant government
was elected for four years. It consists of the President of the
Republic, and two deputies, the Prime Minister with two deputies, as
well as a number of ministers. All this was done according to the
perminant constitution which was drafted and issued by the elected
members of parliament.
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