The World Factbook (1982)/Iraq

by the Central Intelligence Agency

IRAQ

(See reference map VI)

LAND

445,480 km² ; 18% cultivated, 68% desert, waste, or urban, 10% seasonal and other grazing land, 4% forest and woodland

Land boundaries: 3,668 km

WATER

Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm

Coastline: 58 km

PEOPLE

Population: 14,034,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.3%

Nationality: noun—Iraqi(s); adjective—Iraqi

Ethnic divisions: 70.9% Arabs, 18.3% Kurds, 2.4% Turkomans, 0.7% Assyrians, 7.7% other

Religion: 90% Muslim (50% Shia Muslim, 40% Sunni Muslim), 8% Christian, 2% other

Language: Arabic, Kurdish minority speaks Kurdish

Literacy: 20% to 40%

Labor force: 3.1 million (1977); 30% agriculture, 27% industry, 21% government, 22% other; rural underemployment high, but not serious because low subsistence levels make it easy to care for unemployed; severe shortage of technically trained personnel

Organized labor: 11% of labor force

GOVERNMENT

Official name: Republic of Iraq

Type: republic; National Front government consisting of Ba'th Party (BPI) and proadministration Kurds; Communists play no role in government

Capital: Baghdad

Political subdivisions: 18 provinces under centrally appointed officials

Legal system: based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; provisional constitution

adopted in 1968; judicial review was suspended; legal education at University of Baghdad; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: 17 July

Branches: Ba'th Party of Iraq has been in power since 1968 coup

Government leaders: President Saddam HUSAYN; Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council 'Izzat IBRAHIM

Suffrage: universal

Elections: elections — first held since overthrow of monarchy in 1958—to National Assembly and to Legislative Council for autonomous region held in June and September 1980

Communists: est. 2,000 hardcore members

Political or pressure groups: political parties banned, possibly some opposition to regime from disaffected members of the regime, army officers, and religious and ethnic dissidents

Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

ECONOMY

GNP: $35.2 billion (1979 est.), $2,730 per capita

Agriculture: dates, wheat, barley, rice, livestock

Major industry: crude petroleum 1.3 million b/d (1981); petroleum revenues for 1981, $13 billion

Electric power: 3,840,000 kW capacity (1980); 10.429 billion kWh produced (1980), 767 kWh per capita

Exports: $13.2 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); net receipts from oil, $13 billion; nonoil, $200 million est.

Imports: $17 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); 15% from Communist countries (1981)

Major trade partners: exports—France, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, UK, USSR, other Communist countries; imports—West Germany, Japan, France, US, UK, USSR and other Communist countries (1980)

Budget: public revenue $20 billion, current expenditures $8.9 billion, development expenditures $11.1 billion (1979 est.)

Monetary conversion rate: 1 Iraqi dinar=US$3.39 (1980)

Fiscal year: calendar year

COMMUNICATIONS

Railroads: 1,700 km total; 1,123 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 577 km meter gauge (1.00 m); 16 km meter gauge double track

Highways: 20,791 km total; 6,490 km paved, 4,645 km improved earth, 9,656 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways: 1,015 km; Shatt al Arab navigable by maritime traffic for about 104 km; Tigris and Euphrates navigable by shallow-draft steamers

Ports: 3 major (Basra, Umm Qasr, Al Faw)

Pipelines: crude oil, 3,821 km; 585 km refined products; 1,360 km natural gas

Civil air: 30 major transport aircraft

Airfields: 87 total, 73 usable; 29 with permanent-surface runways; 39 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: good network consists of coaxial cables, radio-relay links, and radiocommunication stations; 320,000 telephones (2.5 per 100 popl.); 9 AM, no FM and 13 TV stations; 1 satellite station with Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean antennas

DEFENSE FORCES

Military manpower: males 15-49, 3,146,000; 1,809,000 fit for military service; about 156,000 reach military age (18) annually

Military budget: est. for fiscal year ending 31 December 1980, $2.9 billion; 24% of central government budget