1992 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1992 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northernmost regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows
Coastline
58 km
Comparative area
slightly more than twice the size of Idaho
Continental shelf
not specific
Disputes
Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations in 1990 but are still trying to work out written agreements settling outstanding disputes from their eight-year war concerning border demarcation, prisoners-of-war, and freedom of navigation and sovereignty over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway; in April 1991 official Iraqi acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 687, which demands that Iraq accept the inviolability of the boundary set forth in its 1963 agreement with Kuwait, ending earlier claims to Bubiyan and Warbah Islands or to all of Kuwait; a United Nations Boundary Demarcation Commission is demarcating the Iraq-Kuwait boundary persuant to Resolution 687, and, on 17 June 1992, the UN Security Council reaffirmed the finality of the Boundary Demarcation Commission's decisions; 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 Rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparians (Syria, Turkey); air and water pollution; soil degradation (salinization) and erosion; desertification
Land area
435,292 km2 (est.)
Land boundaries
3,576 km; Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 134 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 808 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
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
436,245 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
45 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate
9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Ethnic divisions
Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%
Infant mortality rate
84 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Labor force
4,400,000 (1989); services 48%, agriculture 30%, industry 22%, severe labor shortage; expatriate labor force about 1,600,000 (July 1990)
Languages
Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian
Life expectancy at birth
62 years male, 64 years female (1992)
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
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Organized labor
less than 10% of the labor force
Population
18,445,847 (July 1992), growth rate 3.7% (1992)
Religions
Muslim 97%, (Shi`a 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christian or other 3%
Total fertility rate
7.0 children born/woman (1992)
Government
Administrative divisions
18 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta'im, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit
Capital
Baghdad
Chief of State
President SADDAM Husayn (since 16 July 1979); Vice President Taha Muhyi al-Din MA'RUF (since 21 April 1974); Vice President Taha Yasin RAMADAN (since 23 March 1991)
Constitution
22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970 (interim Constitution); new constitution drafted in 1990 but not adopted
Diplomatic representation
Iraq has an Interest Section in the Algerian Embassy in Washington, DC; Chancery at 1801 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20036; telephone (202) 483-7500
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
Head of Government
Prime Minister Muhammad Hamza al-ZUBAYDI (since 13 September 1991); Deputy Prime Minister Tariq `AZIZ (since NA 1979)
Independence
3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
Judicial branch
Court of Cassation
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 al-Watani)
Long-form name
Republic of Iraq
Member of
ABEDA, ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, 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 Assembly
last held on 1 April 1989 (next to be held NA); results - Sunni Arabs 53%, Shi`a Arabs 30%, Kurds 15%, Christians 2% est.; seats - (250 total) number of seats by party NA
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 Shi`a religious and Kurdish ethnic dissidents
Suffrage
universal adult at age 18
Type
republic
Economy
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 $NA 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 (1970-89), $647 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $3.9 billion
Electricity
3,800,000 kW available out of 9,902,000 kw capacity due to Gulf war; 7,700 million kWh produced, 430 kWh per capita (1991)
Exchange rates
Iraqi dinars (ID) per US$1 - 3.1 (fixed official rate since 1982); black-market rate (December 1991) US$1 = 12 Iraqi dinars
Exports
$10.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: crude oil and refined products, fertilizer, sulfur partners: US, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Netherlands, Spain (1990)
External debt
$45 billion (1989 est.), excluding debt of about $35 billion owed to Arab Gulf states
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$35 billion, per capita $1,940; real growth rate 10% (1989 est.)
Imports
$6.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: manufactures, food partners: FRG, US, Turkey, France, UK (1990)
Industrial production
NA%; manufacturing accounts for 10% of GNP (1989)
Industries
petroleum production and refining, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
45% (1989)
Overview
The Ba`thist 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 were severely damaged. Throughout 1991, the UN's economic embargo worked to reduce exports and imports and to increase prices for most goods. The government's policy to allocate goods to key supporters of the regime exacerbated shortages.
Unemployment rate
less than 5% (1989 est.)
Communications
Airports
113 total, 98 usable; 73 with permanent-surface runways; 8 with runways over 3,659 m; 52 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
34 major transport aircraft (including 7 grounded in Iran; excluding 12 IL-76s and 7 Kuwait Airlines)
Highways
34,700 km total; 17,500 km paved, 5,500 km improved earth, 11,700 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 Rivers have navigable sections for shallow-draft watercraft; Shatt-al-Basrah canal was navigable by shallow-draft craft before closing in 1991 because of the Persian Gulf war
Merchant marine
42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 936,665 GRT/1,683,212 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 16 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 19 petroleum 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 1992
Pipelines
crude oil 4,350 km; petroleum products 725 km; natural gas 1,360 km
Ports
Umm Qasr, Khawr az Zubayr, Al Basrah (closed since 1980)
Railroads
2,457 km 1.435-meter standard gauge
Telecommunications
reconstitution of damaged telecommunication infrastructure began after Desert Storm; the network consists of coaxial cables and microwave links; 632,000 telephones; the network is operational; broadcast stations - 16 AM, 1 FM, 13 TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 GORIZONT Atlantic Ocean in the Intersputnik system and 1 ARABSAT; coaxial cable and microwave to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey
Military and Security
Branches
Army and Republican Guard, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Force, Internal Security Forces
Defense expenditures
exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GNP
Manpower availability
males 15-49, 4,042,374; 2,272,578 fit for military service; 213,788 reach military age (18) annually