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Iraq
Iraq
is bordered on the north by Turkey, on the east by Iran, on the southeast by
the Arab Gulf and Kuwait, on the south by Saudi Arabia, and on the west by
Jordan and Syria.
Capital:
Baghdad
Area:
438,317 square kilometers
Population: 21,722,287
(1998 estimate)
Baghdad: 3,841,268 (1987)
Mosul: 748,000 (1991)
Al-Basrah: 406,296 (1987)
go to world population
every second
Population density: 50
persons per square kilometer
Urbanization:
Percent urban 75 percent (1997)
Percent rural 25 percent (1997)
Female 67.6 (1998)
Male 65.5 (1998)
Ethnic divisions:
Arab 75–80 percent
Kurdish 15–20 percent
Turkmen, Assyrian or other 5 percent
Languages:
Arabic (official), Kurdish (in Kurd-occupied areas), Assyrian, Armenian
Religions:
Muslim 97 percent
Shiite 60–65 percent
Sunni 32–37 percent
Christian or other 3 percent
Iraq Geography
The
northern portion of Iraq, a region known as Al Jazirah, is mountainous with
elevations of nearly 2,135 meters (nearly 7,005 feet) near the Turkish
border. In the northeast, Haji Ibrahim, reaches 3,600 meters (11,811 feet)
to become the highest point in Iraq.
Farther south, the terrain slopes downward to form a broad central alluvial
plain occupied by the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Extreme
southeastern Iraq is low lying and marshy. West of the Euphrates, the land
rises gradually to meet the Syrian Desert.
Present-day Iraq occupies the the ancient land of Mesopotamia, the fertile
plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flow through Iraq from
northwest to southeast. The rivers meet about 160 kilometers (about 100
miles) north of the Arab Gulf to form the Shatt al Arab, which drains
into the gulf. The chief tributaries of the Tigris are the Great Zab and the
Little Zab.
Level terrain separates the Tigris and the Euphrates in their lower courses.
The two rivers once were joined by a network of canals and irrigation
ditches, which directed the water of the higher-lying and more westerly
Euphrates across the valley into the Tigris.
Most of Iraq has a continental climate with extremes of heat and cold. The
mountainous north has cool summers and cold winters. In central Iraq, the
summers are long and hot and the winters short and cool. The mean January
temperature in Baghdad is 9°C (49°F); in July and August it is 33°C
(92°F), and temperatures as high as 51°C (123°F) have been recorded. In
the southern area around the Arab Gulf, some of the highest atmospheric
temperatures in the world have been recorded.
In the northeastern highlands, rainfall is considerable from October to May.
Farther south, on the central alluvial plain, precipitation is slight,
averaging approximately 150 millimeters (approximately 6 inches) annually.
The Syrian Desert receives little or no rain.
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