Geography

Location: Asia, Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Ku­wait. Area: 437,072 sq. km. Principal cities: Baghdad, Arbil, Mosuf, Kirkuk, Al Basrah and An Najaf. Tourist attractions: Arch of Ctesiphon, Babylon and Ur of the Chaldees. Time zone: GMT+3 hours.

People

Population: 27,499,638 (July 2007 est.). Population growth rate: 2.618% (2007 est.). Sex ratio: 1.02
male(s)/female (2007 est.). Religions: - Muslim (Shi'a, Sunni), Christian and others. Languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian. Literacy rate: Total 40.4%, Male 55.9%, Female 24.4% (2003 est.). Infant mortality rate: 47.04 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 69.31 years, Male 68.04 years, Female 70.65 years (2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Baghdad. National anthem: Mawtini Government type: Parliamen­tary Democracy. Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Natrons mandate, under British administration). Legal system: Based on civil and Is­lamic law under the Iraqi interim gov­ernment and Transitional Administrative Law. Executive branch: Chief of state: Iraqi transitional government President Jalal Talabant (since 6 April 2005); Deputy Presidents Abil Abd al-Mahdi and Ghazi al-Ujayal al-Yown (since 6 April 2005). The president and deputy presidents comprise the Presi­dency Council. Head of government: Iraqi transitional government Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki (since 20 May 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Rowsach Shaways, Ahmad Chaelabi and Abid al-Mutlaq al-jabbvm (since May 2005). Cabinet: Interim cabinet. Legislative branch: Bicameral Council of Representatives (consisting of 275 members elected by a closed-list, pro­portional representation system) and a Federation Council (membership not established and authorities undefined). Judicial branch: The Federal Judicial Authority, comprised of the Higher Ju­ridical Council, Supreme Federal Court, Federal Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department; Judiciary Oversight Commission and other fed­eral courts that are regulated in accor­dance with the law.

Economy

Currency: New Iraqi dinar. Currency conversion: New Iraqi dinar per Indian rupee—30.9252 (June 2007 est.). GDP: Purchasing power parity—$87.9 billion (2006 est.). GDP—real growth rate: 2.4% (2006 est). GDP—per capita: Purchasing power parity— $2,900 (2006 est.). Inflation rate: 64.8% (2006 est.). Exports: $32.19 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Imports: $20.76 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Ex­ternal debt: $81.48 billion (2006 est.).

Transport and Communications

Railways; 1,963 km. Roads: 45,550 km. Airports: Baghdad and Sulaimaniyah International Airports. Telephones: (.547 million (2005). Mo­bile cellular: 8.7 million (2006). Internet users: 25,000 (2002). Internet country code: .iq. ISD code: 964.