Iraq
Republic of Iraq
Capital: Baghdad
The Iraq Bulletin
Weekly Brief: October 5, 2015
Top Story Russia began airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday. America’s Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad should leave power, but Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Assad should meet with the Syrian opposition to discuss a settlement to the conflict. Though Russia claimed to target the Islamic State of Iraq and the […]
Weekly Brief: September 28, 2015
Top Story Russia is escalating its military presence in Syria. American officials report (though Russia denies) that Russia has at least 28 warplanes deployed at an airbase near Latakia, on the Syrian coast. Russia also began flying surveillance missions in Syria with drones, a week after sending artillery and tanks to an airbase controlled by the Syrian government at […]
Weekly Brief: April 20, 2015
Africa Al-Shabab militants drove a car loaded with explosives into a government compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday. After the explosion, gunmen stormed the government offices and killed at least 17 people, including eight civilians and two soldiers. Security guards and Somali special forces soldiers eventually managed to secure the building, killing five attackers.
Weekly Brief: April 6, 2015
Top Story Parties negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program announced a framework agreement on Thursday, which they intend to finalize by the end of June. The talks had intensified ahead of a March 31 soft deadline for a deal. By Monday, three primary sticking points remained: the process of lifting restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program after 10 years, […]
Weekly Brief: March 30, 2015
Middle East Fighting in Yemen continued to escalate this week. On Wednesday, the Houthi rebels seized an airbase as they moved closer to the city of Aden, where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sheltered. By Thursday, Mr. Hadi had briefly sought shelter in Oman before moving on to Riyadh. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia led airstrikes against the Houthis in […]
Weekly Brief: October 18, 2013
A short Weekly Brief focused mostly on the Middle East covers developments in Iran’s nuclear programs; an update on Syria, including fallout at the United Nations; concerning developments regarding violence and political division in Iraq; and efforts to combat organized crime in Mexico.
History
Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime. US forces remained in Iraq under a UNSC mandate through 2009 and under a bilateral security agreement thereafter, helping to provide security and to train and mentor Iraqi security forces. In October 2005, Iraqis approved a constitution in a national referendum and, pursuant to this document, elected a 275-member Council of Representatives (COR) in December 2005. The COR approved most cabinet ministers in May 2006, marking the transition to Iraq's first constitutional government in nearly a half century. In January 2009, Iraq held elections for provincial councils in all governorates except for the three governorates comprising the Kurdistan Regional Government and Kirkuk Governorate. Iraq held a national legislative election in March 2010 - choosing 325 legislators in an expanded COR - and, after nine months of deadlock the COR approved the new government in December 2010. Nearly nine years after the start of the Second Gulf War in Iraq, US military operations there ended in mid-December 2011.
Geography
Metric Units
| Total Area | 438,317 sq km |
| Land Boundaries | 3,650 km |
| Border Countries | Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 352 km |
| Coastline | 58 km |
| Terrain | mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey |
| Minimum Elevation | 0 m |
| Maximum Elevation | 3,611 m |
| Climate | mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq |
| Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur |
| Arable Land | 9.19% |
| Permanent Crops | 0.48% |
Economy
| Gross Domestic Product | $155.4 billion |
| GDP (per capita) | $4,600 |
| GDP Growth | 10.2% |
| Unemployment Rate | 16% |
| Population in Poverty | 25% |
| GINI Index | No data |
Budget & Debt
| Expenditures | $98.49 billion |
| Revenue | $104.4 billion |
| Current Account Balance | $20.63 billion |
| External Debt | $50.26 billion |
Trade
| Exports | $88.27 billion |
| Export Items | crude oil 84%, crude materials excluding fuels, food and live animals |
| Export Partners | India 22.5%, US 22.3%, China 13.4%, South Korea 11.7%, Japan 4.8%, Netherlands 4.3% (2011) |
| Imports | $56.89 billion |
| Import Items | food, medicine, manufactures |
| Import Partners | Turkey 25.3%, Syria 18.3%, China 11.7%, US 7.4%, South Korea 4.7% (2011) |
People
| Population | 31,858,481 |
| Population Growth | 2.29% |
| Ethnic Groups | Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5% |
| Religion | Muslim (official) 97% (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3% |
| Life Expectancy | 71.14 years |
| Infant Mortality | 1.03 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality | 2.6 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
| Electricity Production | 47.4 billion kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 35.12 billion kWh |
| From Fossil Fuels | 69% |
| From Nuclear | 0% |
| From Hydroelectric | 31% |
| From Renewable Sources | 0% |
