Iraq

The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and also including the southern Kurdistan. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the north-west, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. A new transitional government was elected in January 2005, following the March 2003 invasion led by American and British forces which drove the former leader Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party from power. Although, the legality of the invasion has been disputed by the United Nations Secretary General and politicians in both the USA and the UK (as reported by BBC news, CNN, The New York Times, The Economist) |- | align="center" colspan=2 | National motto: Allahu Akbar
(English: God is Great) |- | align=center colspan=2 style="background: #ffffff;" | Image:LocationIraq.png |- | Official language || Arabic |- | Capital || Baghdad |- | President || Jalal Talabani |- | Prime Minister || Ibrahim al-Jaafari |- | Area
 - Total
 - % water || Ranked 57th
437,072 km²
1.1% |- | Population
 - Total (July 2004)
 - Density || Ranked 44th
25,374,691
59/km² |- | Independence || 1 October 1919 from the Ottoman Empire 3 October 1932 from the British |- | GDP (PPP)
- Total (2003)
- GDP/headRanked 76th
$38.790 billion
$1,600 |- | Currency || Iraqi dinar |- | Time zone || UTC +3 |- | National anthem || Mawtini (Words by: Ibrahim Touqan Music by: Walid George Gholmieh) Note: The Kurds use Ey Reqîb |- | Internet TLD || .iq |- | Calling Code || 964 |- | State religion
(Citizens have religious freedom) || Islam

History

Main article: History of Iraq Modern Iraq became a British mandate (the British League of Nations Trust Territory of Iraq) at the end of World War I (the, and was granted independence from British control in 1932. It was formed out of three former Ottoman Willayats (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. The British installed Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown by one of a series of coups, the last of which in 1968 brought the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power. The Ba'ath's key figure became Saddam Hussein who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, in July 1979, killing off many of his opponents in the process. Saddam's absolute and particularly bloody rule lasted throughout the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), which ended in stalemate; the al-Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, which led to the alleged gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 resulting in the Gulf War and the United Nations-imposed economic sanctions and no-fly zones which followed. The American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq removed Saddam Hussein's Government from power, replacing it with an interim American-backed Provisional Authority, and then an interim government. On January 30, 2005, Iraq held new legislative elections, changing the political face of Iraq, which had been mostly dominated by its Sunni minority since its foundation. A coalition of Kurds and Shi'ites came to power (both groups were repressed by Saddam's government), although the Sunnis are now under-represented due to the fact that Sunni leaders encouraged them not to vote. The current situation remains volatile while the new government attempts to re-establish security in the country.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Iraq From 1979 to 2003, Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule, under the leadership of president Saddam Hussein. The unicameral Iraqi parliament, the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani, had 250 seats and its members were elected for 4-year terms. No non-Ba'ath candidates were allowed to run. In November 2003, the US-managed Coalition Provisional Authority announced plans to turn over sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government by mid-2004. The actual transfer of sovereignty occurred on 28 June 2004. The interim president was Sheikh Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, and the interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. On January 30, 2005, the Iraqi people voted in an election conducted by their transitional government which elected a 275-member Transitional National Assembly. The Assembly will: Under the Iraqi transitional constitution, signed March 2004, the country's executive branch is now led by a three-person presidential council. The election system for the council effectively ensures that all three of Iraq's major ethnic groups are represented. The constitution also includes basic freedoms like freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and in many ways has been hailed as more liberal than the U.S. constitution. Controversially, however, it states that all laws that were in effect on the transfer date cannot be repealed. Furthermore, since the coalition forces are currently working to maintain order and and create a stable society under the United Nations, coalition troops can remain in control of the country indefinitely despite the transfer of sovereignty. Since Iraqi forces are currently considered not fully trained and equipped to police and secure their country, it is expected that coalition troops will remain until Iraqi forces no longer require their support. However, these rules will be set aside once the Transitional National Assembly is seated. On 5 April, the Iraqi National Assembly appointed Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader, President. It also appointed Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite Arab, and Ghazi al-Yawar, the former Interim President and a Sunni Arab, as Vice Presidents. Ibrahim al-Jaafari a Shiite, whose United Iraq Alliance Party won the largest share of the vote, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Iraq. Most power will be invested in him. The new Government has two major tasks ahead of them. The first is to attempt to reign in the insurgency which has blighted the country in recent months, and the second is to re-engage in the writing of a new Iraqi constitution, as outlined above, to replace the Iraqi transitional constitution of 2004.

Governorates

Main article: Governorates of Iraq Governorates of Iraq Iraq is divided into 18 governorates or provinces (Arabic: muhafazat, singular - muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). Particularly in Iraqi government documents the term governorate is preferred: The constitutionally recognized Kurdistan Autonomous Region includes parts of a number of northern provinces, and is largely self-governing in internal affairs.

Geography

Map of Iraq Main article: Geography of Iraq Large parts of Iraq consist of desert, but the area between the two major rivers Euphrates and Tigris is fertile, with the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. The north of the country is largely mountainous, with the highest point being Haji Ibrahim at 3,600 m. Iraq has a small coastline with the Persian Gulf. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab there used to be marshlands, but many of these were drained in the 1990s. The local climate is mostly a desert clime with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers. The northern mountainous regions experience cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding. The capital Baghdad is situated in the centre of the country, on the banks of the Tigris. Other major cities include Basra in the south and Mosul in the north. Iraq is considered to be one of the fifteen lands that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity".

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iraq Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally 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, borrow heavily, and later reschedule foreign debt payments; Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. A combination of low oil prices, onerous repayment of the war debts (at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic sanctions, and damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically reduced economic activity. Although government policies supporting large military and internal security forces and allocating resources to key supporters of the Ba`ath Party government have hurt the economy, implementation of the United Nations oil-for-food program started in December 1996 was to have improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. For the first six, six-month phases of the program, Iraq was allowed to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts. Subsequent investigation of the program has revealed significant corruption, with highly placed U.N. officials being bribed, Baath Party officials receiving lucrative kickbacks, and much of the money from oil sales being redirected into weapons research and acquisition by the Iraqi military. In December 1999, the UN Security Council authorised Iraq to export under the program as much oil as required to meet humanitarian needs. Iraq changed its oil reserve currency from US dollar to euro in 2000. Oil exports were more than three-quarters of the pre-war level. However, 28% of Iraq's export revenues under the program are deducted to meet UN Compensation Fund and UN administrative expenses. The drop in GDP in 2001 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the economy has to a great extent shut down and attempts are underway to revive it from the damages of the war and rampant crime. During his year as the supreme authority in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer issued a series of orders designed to restructure Iraq's broadly socialist economy in line with neo-liberal thinking. Order 39 laid out the framework for the privatization of everything in Iraq aside from the "primary extraction and initial processing" of the oil reserves themselves, and permitted 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi assets. Other orders established a flat tax of 15% and permitted foreign corporations to repatriate 100% of profits earned in Iraq. Opposition from senior Iraqi officials together with the poor security situation meant that Bremer's privatization plan was not implemented during his reign, though his Orders remain in place. The second attempt to liberalize Iraq's economy is linked to the Iran-Iraq war debt. The creditors who financed the Iran-Iraq war had presented post-Saddam Iraq with a bill of nearly US$130 billion of debt and past-due-interest, which had not been serviced during the 13 years of sanctions. The Jubilee Iraq campaign argued that these debts were odious (or illegitimate) given that they came from loans to a dictator fighting a war which caused the Iraqi people a great deal of harm, and should therefore be written off unconditionally. The creditors however only offered a partial reduction and rescheduling of their claims in return for an Iraqi commitment to implement an International Monetary Fund economic program. This deal, with the Paris Club cartel of creditors including the US and Britain, was signed on 20 November 2004. The following day the interim Iraqi National Assembly issued a strongly worded resolution rejecting the Paris Club's terms and declaring that the debt was odious. However, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequent transformation of the political and economic landscape, the economy of Iraq has been growing at a rate of 53% GDP every year albeit from a low base. The Iraqi ministry of Finance control and regulation of inflation (now down to 20%) has contributed to this slow economic recovery in the midst of an insurgency

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Iraq Almost 72% of Iraq's population consists of Arabic speakers (mainly Iraqi but some Hejazi); the other major ethnic group are the Kurds (25%), who live in the north and north-east of the country. The Kurds differ from Arabs in many ways including culture, history, clothing, and language. Other distinct groups are Assyrians, Turkomans, Iranians, Lurs, Armenians (3%) and Yezidis (possible descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian culture). About 2,500 Jews and 20,000 - 50,000 Marsh Arabs live in Iraq. Arabic and Kurdish are official languages and English is the most commonly spoken Western language. East Aramaic is also used by the country's Assyrian population. There are more Arab Iraqi Muslims members of the Shiite sect than there are Arab Iraqi Muslims of the Sunni sect, but there is a large Sunni population as well, made up of mostly Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomans, (Shiite 60% of total population). Small communities of Christians, Baha'is, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. Demographic information from the 2004 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook:

Culture

Main article: Culture of Iraq

Miscellaneous topics

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