Iraq

Airports

111 total, 102 usable; 73 with permanent-surface runways; 9 with runways over 3,659 m; 52 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

64 major transport aircraft (including 30 IL-76s used by the Iraq Air Force)

Highways

25,479 km total; 8,290 km paved, 5,534 km improved earth, 11,655 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

1,015 km; Shatt al Arab usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war; Tigris and Euphrates navigable by shallow-draft steamers (of little importance); Shatt al Basrah canal navigable in sections by shallow-draft vessels

Merchant marine

43 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 944,253 GRT/1,691,368 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 17 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 19 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker; note--since the 2 August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces, Iraq has sought to register at least part of its merchant fleet under convenience flags; none of the Iraqi flag merchant fleet was trading internationally as of 1 January 1991

Pipelines

crude oil, 4,350 km; 725 km refined products; 1,360 km natural gas

Ports

Umm Qasr, Khawr az Zubayr, Al Basrah

Railroads

2,962 km total; 2,457 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 505 km 1.000-meter gauge

Telecommunications

good network consists of coaxial cables, radio relay links, and radiocommunication stations; 632,000 telephones; stations--9 AM, 1 FM, 81 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 GORIZONT Atlantic Ocean in the Intersputnik system; coaxial cable and radio relay to Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey

Branches

Army and Republican Guard, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Force, Internal Security Forces

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 4,270,592; 2,380,439 fit for military service; 228,277 reach military age (18) annually

Agriculture

accounts for 11% of GNP but 30% of labor force; principal products--wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, other fruit, cotton, wool; livestock--cattle, sheep; not self-sufficient in food output

Budget

revenues $NA billion; expenditures $35 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1989)

Currency

Iraqi dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Iraqi dinar (ID) = 1,000 fils

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $3 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $627 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1980-90), more than $30 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $3.9 billion

Electricity

9,902,000 kW capacity; 20,000 million kWh produced, 1,110 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Iraqi dinars (ID) per US$1--0.3109 (fixed rate since 1982)

Exports

$12.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--crude oil and refined products, fertilizer, sulfur; partners--US, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, France, Italy, USSR (1989)

External debt

$40 billion (1989 est.), excluding debt to Arab Gulf states

Fiscal year

calendar year

GNP

$35 billion, per capita $1,940; real growth rate 5% (1989 est.)

Imports

$10.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--manufactures, food; partners--US, FRG, Turkey, UK, Romania, Japan, France (1989)

Industrial production

NA%; manufacturing accounts for 10% of GDP (1987)

Industries

petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

30-40% (1989 est.)

Overview

The Bathist regime engages in extensive central planning and management of industrial production and foreign trade while leaving some small-scale industry and services and most agriculture to private enterprise. The economy has been dominated by the oil sector, which has provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the 1980s financial problems, caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran, led the government to implement austerity measures and to borrow heavily and later reschedule foreign debt payments. After the end of hostilities in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. Agricultural development remained hampered by labor shortages, salinization, and dislocations caused by previous land reform and collectivization programs. The industrial sector, although accorded high priority by the government, also was under financial constraints. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic embargoes, and military actions by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically changed the economic picture. Oil exports were cut to near zero, and industrial and transportation facilities severely damaged.

Unemployment rate

less than 5% (1989 est.)

Climate

desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers

Coastline

58 km Continental shelf: not specific; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly more than twice the size of Idaho

Disputes

Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations on 14 October 1990 following the end of the war that began on 22 September 1980; progress had been made on the major issues of contention--troop withdrawal, prisoner-of-war exchanges, demarcation of the border, freedom of navigation, and sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab waterway--but written agreements had yet to be drawn up when frictions reemerged in March 1991 in the wake of Shia and Kurdish revolts in Iraq that Baghdad accused Tehran of supporting; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR; shares Neutral Zone with Saudi Arabia--in December 1981, Iraq and Saudi Arabia signed a boundary agreement that divides the zone between them, but the agreement must be ratified before it becomes effective; Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait from 2 August 1990 until 27 February 1991; in April 1991 official Iraqi acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 687, which demands that Iraq accept its internationally recognized border with Kuwait, ended earlier claims to Bubiyan and Warbah Islands or to all of Kuwait; periodic disputes with upstream riparian Syria over Euphrates water rights; potential dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Environment

development of Tigris-Euphrates river systems contingent upon agreements with upstream riparians (Syria, Turkey); air and water pollution; soil degradation (salinization) and erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

3,454 km total; Iran 1,458 km, Iraq - Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone 191 km, Jordan 134 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 495 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km

Land use

arable land 12%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 9%; forest and woodland 3%; other 75%; includes irrigated 4%

Natural resources

crude oil, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur

Terrain

mostly broad plains; reedy marshes in southeast; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey

Total area

434,920 km2; land area: 433,970 km2

Administrative divisions

18 provinces (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah); Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Tamim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit

Capital

Baghdad

Communists

about 1,500 hardcore members

Constitution

22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970 (interim Constitution); new constitution drafted in 1990 but not adopted

Diplomatic representation

no Iraqi representative in Washington; Chancery at 1801 P Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 483-7500; US--no US representative in Baghdad since mid-January 1991; Embassy in Masbah Quarter (opposite the Foreign Ministry Club), Baghdad (mailing address is P. O. Box 2447 Alwiyah, Baghdad); telephone [964] (1) 719-6138 or 719-6139, 718-1840, 719-3791

Executive branch

president, vice president, chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, prime minister, first deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with three green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; the phrase Allahu Akbar (God is Great) in green Arabic script--Allahu to the right of the middle star and Akbar to the left of the middle star--was added in January 1991 during the Persian Gulf crisis; similar to the flag of Syria that has two stars but no script and the flag of Yemen that has a plain white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt that has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band

Independence

3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)

Judicial branch

Court of Cassation Chief of State--President Saddam HUSAYN (since 16 July 1979); Vice President Taha Muhyi al-Din MARUF (since 21 April 1974); Vice President Taha Yasin RAMADAN (since 23 March 1991); 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Tariq AZIZ (since NA 1979); Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Hamza al-ZUBAYDI (since 27 March 1991)

Legal system

based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Majlis Watani)

Long-form name

Republic of Iraq

Member of

ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-19, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Anniversary of the Revolution, 17 July (1968)

Other political or pressure groups

political parties and activity severely restricted; possibly some opposition to regime from disaffected members of the regime, Army officers, and religious and ethnic dissidents

Political parties

National Progressive Front is a coalition of the Arab Bath Socialist Party, Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Kurdistan Revolutionary Party

Suffrage

universal adult at age 18 National Assembly--last held on 1 April 1989 (next to be held NA); results--Sunni Arabs 53%, Shia Arabs 30%, Kurds 15%, Christians 2% est.; seats--(250 total) number of seats by party NA

Type

republic

Birth rate

46 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%

Infant mortality rate

66 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

4,400,000 (1989); services 48%, agriculture 30%, industry 22%, severe labor shortage; expatriate labor force about 1,600,000 (July 1990)

Language

Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian

Life expectancy at birth

66 years male, 68 years female (1991)

Literacy

60% (male 70%, female 49%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Nationality

noun--Iraqi(s); adjective--Iraqi

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

less than 10% of the labor force

Population

19,524,718 (July 1991), growth rate 3.9% (1991)

Religion

Muslim 97%, (Shia 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christian or other 3%

Total fertility rate

7.2 children born/woman (1991)