Iraqi Flag
The Menas Associates country fact file page is devised to provide our readers with a checklist of
information about
the history, people, government, economy, geography, military and transnational
issues affecting each one of the countries we write about.
Time: GMT+ 3
Area: 438,317 km 2
Population: 31,234,000
Currency: Iraqi dinar (IQD)
Capital: Baghdad
Official language: Arabic, Kurdish
Geography: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
Borders: Iran (1,458 km), Jordan (181 km), Kuwait (240 km), Saudi Arabia (814 km), Syria
(605 km), Turkey (352 km)
Government: Parliamentary democracy
President: Jalal Talabani (since 2005)
Parliament: unicameral; Council of Representatives (325 seats; consisting of 317 members
elected by a closed-list, proportional representation system and 8 reserved for
minorities; members serve four-year terms)
Military: voluntary military service from 18-49 years of age
Religion: Muslim (97%), (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other (3%)
Demographics: 18 governorates
Exports: crude oil (84%), crude materials (excluding fuels), food and live animals
Export partners: US (38.6%), India (12.2%), Italy (9.8%), South Korea (7.1%)
Imports: food, medicine, manufactures
Import partners: Syria (26.2%), Turkey (19.6%), US (10.6%), Jordan (6.4%), China (6%)
Economy: Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which provides over 90% of
government
revenue and 80% of foreign exchange earnings
Electricity consumption/production/exports/imports: 52 billion kWh, 46.39 billion kWh, 0 kWh, 5.6 billion kWh
Oil consumption/production/exports/imports: 500,000 b/d, 2.42 million b/d, 1.91 million b/d, 116,900 bbl/day
Natural gas consumption/production/exports/imports: 9.454 billion m³, 1.88 billion m³, 0 m³, 0 m³
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
Agriculture: wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, cotton; cattle, sheep, poultry
Concerns: corruption, cross-border security, internal conflicts.
* All the above data is selected from statistical review journals, published in
the latter part of 2008/9. Therefore, please note that some facts/figures may
vary according to source/time of documentation.
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