General
Information
|
Total Land Area: |
437,370 km2 |
|
Land boundaries: |
3,631 km |
|
Coastline: |
58 km |
|
Capital: |
Baghdad |
|
Other Large
Cities: |
Diyala, As-Sulaymaniyah,
Irbil |
|
Official
Language: |
Arabic |
|
National
Currency Unit: |
Iraqi Dinar (IQD) |
|
National Day: |
July 17 |
Location and
Geography
Iraq is located in
Asia at the
North-east of the
Arabian Peninsula.
It is bordered by
Turkey in the North,
Iran in the East,
Kuwait in the South,
Saudi Arabia and
Jordan in the
South-west, and
Syria in the
North-west. The
Arabian Gulf lies in
the South of the
country. The terrain
is made up mostly of
broad plains and
reedy marshes in the
South-eastern part
of the country.
About one fifth of
the land is arable
and there are few
permanent crops. The
climate is mostly
desert with mild to
cool winters and
dry, hot, cloudless
summers. The
Northernmost regions
along the
mountainous Iranian
and Turkish borders
experience cold
winters with heavy
snow.
Demography
|
Population:
|
25.56 million
(2002) |
|
Crude Birth
Rate:
|
39 per thousand
people (2002) |
|
Crude Death
Rate:
|
10 per thousand
people (2002) |
|
Infant Mortality
Rate:
|
102 per thousand
(2002) |
|
Life Expectancy:
|
Male: 58 years,
Female: 59 years
(2002) |
|
Urban
Population:
|
68.0 percent
(2002) |
|
Adult Literacy:
|
58.00 percent
(1998) |
Economy
Iraq has remarkable
resources of oil,
natural gas,
phosphates and
sulphur with an
economy heavily
dependent on exports
of crude oil and
petrochemicals. It
has the second
largest oil reserves
in the world and had
become the second
largest exporter of
hydrocarbons prior
to the Gulf War.
Manufacturing plays
a relatively smaller
role in the economy.
All large-scale
industry is publicly
owned and includes
iron, steel, cement,
pharmaceuticals and
fertilisers
production. Small
private industrial
companies are
engaged in food
processing and
textiles. Iraq has a
skilled workforce.
Most of the fertile
irrigated land is
available for
agriculture and 30
percent of the
workforce is
employed in this
sector.
|
GDP at Current
Market Prices:
|
31958 million
US$ (2001) |
|
Per Capita GDP:
|
1288 US$ (2001) |
|
Share of Sectors
in GDP:
|
6.0%
Agriculture,
13.0% Industry,
81.0% Services,
(1998) |
|
Total Exports:
|
8440 million US$
(2002) |
|
Total Imports:
|
5522 million US$
(2002) |
|
Major Exports
Items: |
Crude oil |
|
Major Imports
Items: |
Foodstuffs,
medicine and
manufactured
goods |
|
Major Trading
Partners: |
US, Jordan,
France, China
and Taiwan |
|
