IRAQ

Republic of Iraq

Al-Jumhuriyah al-'Iraqiyah

CAPITAL: Baghdād

FLAG: The national flag is a tricolor of red, white, and black horizontal stripes, with three five-pointed stars in green in the center of the white stripe. In 1991 the phrase Allahu Akbar ("God is Great") was added in green Arabic script—Allahu to the right of the middle star and Akbar to the left of the middle star.

ANTHEM: Al-Salaam al-Jumhuri (Salute of the Republic).

MONETARY UNIT: The Iraqi dinar (id) is a paper currency of 1,000 fils. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 250 fils, and notes of 250 and 500 fils and 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 dinars. 1id = $0.00068 (or $1 = id1,475) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but weights and measures in general use vary, especially in domestic transactions. The unit of land is the dunam, which is equivalent to approximately 0.25 hectare (0.62 acre).

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Army Day, 6 January; 14th Ramadan Revolution Day, 8 February; Declaration of the Republic, 14 July; and Peaceful Revolution Day, 17 July. Muslim religious holidays include 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', Milad an-Nabi, and Islamic New Year.

TIME: 3 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Present-day Iraq, comprising an area of 437,072 sq km (168,754 sq mi), corresponds roughly to the former Turkish provinces of Baghdād, Al Mawşil (Mosul), and Al Başrah (Basra). Comparatively, the area occupied by Iraq is slightly more than twice the size of the state of Idaho. It extends 984 km (611 mi) sse–nnw and 730 km (454 mi) ene–wsw. Iraq is bordered on the n by Turkey, on the e by Iran, on the se by the Persian Gulf and Kuwait, on the s by Saudi Arabia, on the w by Jordan, and on the nw by Syria, with a total land boundary length of 3,650 km (2,268 mi) and a coastline of 58 km (36 mi).

Iraq's capital city, Baghdād, is located in the east central part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

Iraq is divided into three distinct zones: the desert in the west and southwest; the plains; and the highlands in the northeast, which rise to 3,000 m (10,000 ft) or more. The desert is an upland region with altitudes of 600 to 900 m (2,000–3,000 ft) between Damascus in Syria and Ar-Rutbah in Iraq, but declines gently toward the Euphrates (Al-Furāt) River. The water supply comes from wells and wadis that at times carry torrential floods and that retain the winter rains.

Dominated by the river systems of the Tigris (Dijlah) and Euphrates (Al-Furāt), the plains area is composed of two regions divided by a ridge, some 75 m (250 ft) above the flood plain, between Ar Ramādi and a point south of Baghdād that marks the prehistoric coastline of the Persian Gulf. The lower valley, built up by the silt the two rivers carry, consists of marshland, crisscrossed by drainage channels. At Qarmat 'Ali, just above Al Başrah, the two rivers combine and form the Shatt al Arab, a broad waterway separating Iraq and Iran. The sources of the Euphrates and Tigris are in the Armenian Plateau. The Euphrates receives its main tributaries before entering Iraq, while the Tigris receives several streams on the eastern bank within the country.

CLIMATE

Under the influence of the monsoons, Iraq in summer has a constant northwesterly wind (shamal), while in winter a strong southeasterly air current (sharqi) develops. The intensely hot and dry summers last from May to October, and during the hottest time of the day—often reaching 49°c (120°f) in the shade—people take refuge in underground shelters. Winters, lasting from December to March, are damp and comparatively cold, with temperatures averaging about 10°c (50°f). Spring and autumn are brief transition periods. Normally, no rain falls from the end of May to the end of September. With annual rainfall of less than 38 cm (15 in), agriculture is dependent on irrigation.

FLORA AND FAUNA

In the lower regions of the Tigris (Dijlah) and Euphrates (Al-Furāt) and in the alluvial plains, papyrus, lotus, and tall reeds form a thick underbrush; willow, poplar, and alder trees abound. On the upper and middle Euphrates (Al-Furāt), the licorice bush yields a juice that is extracted for commercial purposes; another bush growing wild in the semiarid steppe or desert yields gum tragacanth for pharmaceutical use. In the higher Zagros Mountains grows the valonia oak, the bark of which is used for tanning leather. About 30 million date palms produce one of Iraq's most important exports.

Wild animals include the hyena, jackal, fox, gazelle, antelope, jerboa, mole, porcupine, desert hare, and bat. Beaver, wild ass, and ostrich are rare. Wild ducks, geese, and partridge are the game birds. Vultures, owls, and ravens live near the Euphrates. Falcons are trained for hunting. As of 2002, there were at least 81 species of mammals and 140 species of birds throughout the country.

ENVIRONMENT

Three major armed conflicts since 1980 have had a significant negative effect on the nation's environment. Chemical weapons deployed at various locations along the Iran-Iraq border during the 1980–88 war killed thousands of people. During the 1991 Gulf War, coalition forces initiated a massive air campaign that destroyed nuclear, biological, and chemical facilities, causing toxic agents to seep into the air, soil, and waterways. Electrical plants, oil facilities, and water and sewage treatment plants were heavily damaged in both the 1991 and 2003 conflicts, contributing increased levels of air, water, and soil pollution to an already distressed environment. Plus, the Iraqi government's tactic of setting oil fires to ward off coalition forces set a broad range of toxic chemicals into the air and threatened many of the marshland ecosystems of the Tigris (Dijlah)–Euphrates (Al-Furāt) river basin. Although the full environmental impact of the conflicts had not been assessed as of 2006, it was clear that the new Iraqi government was facing several challenges in restoring basic services of power, water, and sanitation to the population, as well as in addressing issues of environmental renewal.

In 2000, only about 1.8% of the total land area was forested. Desertification has long been a problem in the hot, dry climate. Salinization and soil erosion caused by river basin flooding has affected otherwise fertile agricultural lands. In 2003, there were no protected lands in the country. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 9 types of mammals, 18 species of birds, 2 types of reptiles, 1 species of amphibian, 3 species of fish, and 2 species of invertebrates. Th reatened species include the black vulture, the imperial eagle, the wild goat, the striped hyena, and the sand cat. The Saudi gazelle has become extinct.

POPULATION

The population of Iraq in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 28,807,000, which placed it at number 39 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 3% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 42% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 103 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 2.7%, a rate the government viewed as satisfactory. The projected population for the year 2025 was 44,664,000. The population density was 66 per sq km (170 per sq mi), with Mesopotamia the most densely populated region.

The UN estimated that 68% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 2.52%. The capital city, Baghdād, had a population of 5,620,000 in that year. Other major cities and their estimated populations included Arbil, 2,368,000, and Al Mawşil, 1,236,000.

MIGRATION

Immigration into Iraq was limited until the beginning of the 1970s. However, the rise in oil prices and the increase of oil exports, as well as extensive public and private spending in the mid-1970s, created a market for foreign labor. The result was a stream of foreign (mainly Egyptian) workers, whose number may have risen as high as 1,600,000 before the Gulf War. During the Iran–Iraq war, many Egyptians worked in the public sector, filling a gap left by civil servants, farmers, and other workers who were fighting at the front. A number of Iraqis, mainly from southern Iraq and influenced by family ties and higher wages, migrated to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. To weaken local support in the north for Kurdish rebels, the government forced tens of thousands of Kurds to resettle in the south; in September 1987, a Western diplomat in Baghdād claimed that at least 500 Kurdish villages had been razed and 100,000 to 500,000 Kurds relocated.

In 1991 some 1.5 million Iraqis fled the country for Turkey or Iran to escape Saddam Hussein's increasingly repressive rule, but fewer than 100,000 remained abroad as of 2005. Most of the refugees were Kurds who later resettled in areas in Iraq not controlled by the government. In September and October of 1996, around 65,000 Iraqi Kurds fled to Iran due to internal fighting between the Iraqi Kurds.

As of 1999, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assisted 31,400 refugees in Iraq. Of these, some 19,000 were Iranian Kurds and 11,300 were Turkish Kurds. In 2004, Iraq had 241,403 refugees, 1,353 of these were asylum seekers and 193,990 returned refugees. Some 22,000 refugees were from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 13,353 from Turkey, and 10,230 from Iran. Nearly 350,000 Iraqis were refugees themselves in 11 countries: 150,196 in Iran, 73,489 in Germany, and more than 23,000 each in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Iraq's asylum seekers in 2004 were from Iran. However, some 22,000 Iraqis sought asylum in 24 countries: 6,510 in Jordan, 5,351 in Sweden, 4,496 in Syria, some 2,000 each in Germany and the Netherlands, and over 1,000 each in Greece and Switzerland. Also in 2004, Iraq had 900,000 internally displaced persons.

In 2005, the net migration rate was estimated as zero migrants per 1,000 population.

ETHNIC GROUPS

Arabs constitute about 75–80% of the total population. The Kurds, an Islamic non-Arab people, are the largest and most important minority group, constituting about 15–20%. A seminomadic pastoral people, the Kurds live in the northeastern Zagros Mountains, mostly in isolated villages in the mountain valleys near Turkey and Iran. Kurdish opposition to Iraqi political dominance has occasioned violent clashes with government forces. Other minorities (5%) include Turkomans, living in the northeast; Yazidis, mostly in the Sinjar Mountains; Assyrians, mainly in the cities and northeastern rural areas; and Armenians.

LANGUAGES

Arabic is the national language and is the mother tongue of an estimated 79% of the population. Kurdish—the official language in Kurdish regions—or a dialect of it, is spoken by the Kurds and Yazidis. Aramaic, the ancient Syriac dialect, is retained by the Assyrians. The Turkomans speak a Turkic dialect. Armenian is also spoken.

RELIGIONS

Islam is the national religion of Iraq, adhered to by some 97% of the population. Though the interim constitution provided for freedom of religion, that right is restricted by the government. About 60–65% of Muslims belong to the Shia sect and 32–37% to the Sunni sect. Traditionally, the Shia majority has been governed and generally oppressed by members of the Sunni minority. There are also some syncretic Muslim groups, such as the Yazidis, who consider Satan a fallen angel who will one day be reconciled with God. They propitiate him in their rites and regard the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Koran (Quran), as sacred.

About 3% of the population are adherents to Christianity and other religions. The Assyrians (who are not descended from the ancient Assyrians) are Nestorians. In the 19th century, under the influence of Roman Catholic missions, Christian Chaldeans joined the Uniate churches, which are in communion with Rome; their patriarch has his seat in Al Mawşil. The Sabaeans, or Mandaeans, are often called Christians of St. John, but their religious belief and their liturgy contain elements of many creeds, including some of pre-Christian Oriental origin. Since baptism is their main ritual, they always dwell near water and are concentrated on the riverbanks south of Baghdād. There are a small number of Jews.

TRANSPORTATION

Major cities, towns, and villages are connected by a modern network of highways and roads, which have made old caravan routes extinct. The city of Baghdād has been reshaped by the development of expressways through the city and by passes built since the 1970s. By 2002, Iraq had 45,550 km (28,304 mi) of roads, of which 38,400 km (23,861 mi) were paved. There were some 747,530 cars and 130,275 commercial vehicles in use as of 2003.

Railroads are owned and operated by the Iraqi State Railways Administration. A standard-gauge railroad connects Iraq with Jordan and Syria, and nearly all the old meter-gauge line connecting Arbil in the north with Al Başrah, by way of Kirkūk and Baghdād, has been replaced. In 2004, there were about 2,200 km (1,368 mi) of railway lines, all of it standard gauge.

Iraq had an estimated 111 airports in 2004, down from 150 in 2002. As of 2005, a total of 78 had paved runways, and there were 8 heliports. However, an unknown number of runways were damaged during the March–April 2003 war. Baghdād, Al Başrah, and Al Mawşil have international airports. Iraq Airways is the state-owned carrier; in the 1980s, its international flights landed only at night because of the Iraq-Iran war. The war also virtually closed Iraq's main port of Al Başrah and the new port of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf. Although Iraq had 5,275 km (3,281 mi) of inland waterways as of 2004, not all were navigable. Of those that were navigable, the Euphrates River (Al Furāt—2,815 km or 1,864 mi), the Tigris River (Dijlah—1,895 km or 1,178 mi) and the Th ird River (565 km or 351 mi) were the main waterways. In addition, the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for 130 km (81 mi). The Tigris and Euphrates have navigable sections for shallow-draft boats, and the Shatt al Al Başrah canal was navigable by shallow-draft craft before closing in 1991 because of the Gulf War. Expansion of Iraq's merchant marine, which totaled 1,470,000 gross registered tonnage (GRT) in 1980, was halted by the war with Iran and again by the Persian Gulf War. By 2005, the merchant marine totaled only 14 ships with 1,000 GRT or more, for a total capacity of 83,221 GRT.

HISTORY

Some of the earliest known human settlements have been found in present-day Iraq. Habitations, shrines, implements, and pottery found on various sites can be dated as early as the 5th millennium bc. Some sites bear names that are familiar from the Bible, which describes the region of the Tigris (Dijlah) and Euphrates (Al Furāt) rivers as the location of the Garden of Eden and the city of Ur as the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham. Scientific exploration and archaeological research have amplified the biblical accounts.

Recorded history in Mesopotamia (the ancient name of Iraq, particularly the area between the Tigris and Euphrates) begins with the Sumerians, who by the 4th millennium bc had established city-states. Records and accounts on clay tablets prove that they had a complex economic organization before 3200 bc. The reign of Sumer was challenged by King Sargon of Akkad (r.c.2350 bc); a Sumero-Akkadian culture continued in Erech (Tall al-Warka') and Ur (Tall al-Muqayyar) until it was superseded by the Amorites or Babylonians (about 1900 bc), with their capital at Babylon. The cultural height of Babylonian history is represented by Hammurabi (r.c.1792–c.1750 bc), who compiled a celebrated code of laws. After Babylon was destroyed by the Hittites about 1550 bc, the Hurrians established the Mitanni kingdom in the north for about 200 years, and the Kassites ruled for about 400 years in the south.

From Assur, their stronghold in the north, the Assyrians overran Mesopotamia about 1350 bc and established their capital at Nineveh (Ninawa). Assyrian supremacy was interrupted during the 11th and 10th centuries bc by the Aramaeans, whose language, Aramaic, became a common language in the eastern Mediterranean area in later times. Assyrian power was finally crushed by the Chaldeans or Neo-Babylonians, who, in alliance with the Medes in Persia, destroyed Nineveh in 612 bc. Nebuchadnezzar II (r.c.605–c.560 bc) rebuilt the city-state of Babylon, but it fell to the Persians, under Cyrus of the Achaemenid dynasty, in 539 bc. Under his son Cambyses II, the Persian Empire extended from the Oxus (Amu Darya) River to the Mediterranean, with its center in Mesopotamia. Its might, in turn, was challenged by the Greeks. Led by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, they defeated the Persians by 327 bc and penetrated deep into Persian lands. The Seleucids, Alexander's successors in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia, built their capital, Seleucia, on the Tigris, just south of Baghdād. They had to yield power to the Parthians, who conquered Mesopotamia in 138 bc.

The Arabs conquered Iraq in ad 637. For a century, under the "Orthodox" and the Umayyad caliphs, Iraq remained a province of the Islamic Empire, but the 'Abbasids (750–1258) made it the focus of their power. In their new capital, Baghdād, their most illustrious member, Harun al-Rashid (ar-Rashid, r.786–809), became, through the Arabian Nights, a legend for all time. Under Harun and his son Al-Ma'mun, Baghdād was the center of brilliant intellectual and cultural life. Two centuries later, the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk established the famous Nizamiyah University, one of whose professors was the philosopher Al-Ghazali (Ghazel, d.1111). A Mongol invasion in the early 13th century ended Iraq's flourishing economy and culture. In 1258, Genghis Khan's grandson Hulagu sacked Baghdād and destroyed the canal system on which the productivity of the region had depended. Timur, also known as Timur Lenk ("Timur the Lame") or Tamerlane, conquered Baghdād and Iraq in 1393. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Turks had established themselves in Asia Minor and, by capturing Cairo (1517), their sultans claimed legitimate succession to the caliphate. In 1534, Süleyman the Magnificent conquered Baghdād and, except for a short period of Persian control in the 17th century, Iraq remained an Ottoman province until World War I.

Late in 1914, the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers, and a British expeditionary force landed in Iraq and occupied Al Başrah. The long campaign that followed ended in 1918, when the whole of Iraq fell under British military occupation. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire stimulated Iraqi hopes for freedom and independence, but in 1920, Iraq was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. Riots and revolts led to the establishment of an Iraqi provisional government in October 1920. On 23 August 1921, Faisal I (Faysal), the son of Sharif Hussein (Husayn ibn-'Ali) of Mecca, became king of Iraq. In successive stages, the last of which was a treaty of preferential alliance with the United Kingdom (June 1930), Iraq gained independence in 1932 and was admitted to membership in the League of Nations.

Faisal died in 1933, and his son and successor, Ghazi, was killed in an accident in 1939. Until the accession to the throne of Faisal II, on attaining his majority in 1953, his uncle 'Abdul Ilah, Ghazi's cousin, acted as regent. On 14 July 1958, the army rebelled under the leadership of Gen. 'Abd al-Karim al-Qasim (Kassim). Faisal II, Crown Prince 'Abdul Ilah, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Sa'id (as-Sa'id) were killed. The monarchy was abolished, and a republic established. Iraq left the anticommunist Baghdād Pact, which the monarchy had joined in 1955. An agrarian reform law broke up the great landholdings of feudal leaders, and a new economic development program emphasized industrialization. In spite of some opposition from original supporters and political opponents, tribal uprisings, and several attempts at assassination, Qasim managed to remain the head of Iraq for four and a half years. On 9 February 1963, however, a military junta, led by Col. 'Abd as-Salam Muhammad 'Arif, overthrew his regime and executed Qasim.

Since 1961, Iraq's Kurdish minority has frequently opposed with violence attempts by Baghdād to impose authority over its regions. In an attempt to cope with this opposition, the Bakr government passed a constitutional amendment in July 1970 granting limited political, economic, and cultural autonomy to the Kurdish regions. But in March 1974, Kurdish insurgents, known as the Pesh Merga, again mounted a revolt, with Iranian military support. The Iraqi army countered with a major offensive. On 6 March 1975, Iraq and Iran concluded an agreement by which Iran renounced support for the Kurds and Iraq agreed to share sovereignty over the Shatt al Arab estuary. The new regime followed a policy based on neutralism and aimed to cooperate with Syria and Egypt and to improve relations with Turkey and Iran. These policies were continued after 'Arif was killed in an airplane crash in 1966 and was succeeded by his brother, 'Abd ar-Rahman 'Arif. Th is regime, however, was overthrown in July 1968, when Gen. (later Marshal) Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr, heading a section of the Ba'ath Party, staged a coup and established a new government with himself as president. In the 1970s, the Ba'ath regime focused increasingly on economic problems, nationalizing the petroleum industry in 1972–73 and allocating large sums for capital development. Bakr resigned in July 1979 and was followed as president by his chosen successor, Saddam Hussein (Husayn) al-Takriti.

Tensions between Iraq and Iran rose after the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the accession to power of Saddam Hussein. In September 1980, Iraq sought to take advantage of the turmoil in Iran by suddenly canceling the 1975 agreement and mounting a full-scale invasion. Iraqi soldiers seized key points in the Khuzistan region of southwestern Iran, captured the major southern city of Khorramshahr, and besieged Abadan, destroying its large oil refinery. The Iraqi army then took up defensive positions, a tactic that gave the demoralized Iranian forces time to regroup and launch a slow but successful counterattack that retook Khuzistan by May 1982. Iraq then sought peace and in June withdrew from Iranian areas it had occupied. Iran's response was to launch major offensives aimed at the oil port of Al Başrah. Entrenched in well-prepared positions on their own territory, Iraqi soldiers repelled the attacks, inflicting heavy losses, and the war ground to a stalemate, with tens of thousands of casualties on each side.

Attempts by the UN and by other Arab states to mediate the conflict were unsuccessful; in the later stages of the war, Iraq accepted but Iran regularly rejected proposals for a compromise peace. Although most Arab states supported Iraq, and the Gulf oil states helped finance Iraqi military equipment, the war had a destabilizing effect both on the national economy and on the ruling Ba'ath Party. France also aided Iraq with credits to buy advanced weapons (notably, Super Étendard fighters and Exocet missiles), and it provided the technology for Iraq to construct the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdād. (In June 1981, this installation was destroyed in a bombing raid by Israel, which claimed that the facility would be used to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Iraq denied.) Other Western countries provided supplies, financing, and intelligence to Iraq but denied the same to Iran.

In February 1986, the Iranians made their biggest gain in the war, crossing the Shatt al Arab and capturing Fao (Al-Faw) on the southernmost tip of land in Iraq. In early 1987, they seized several islands in the Shatt al Arab opposite Al Başrah. The war soon spread to Persian Gulf shipping, as both sides attacked oil tankers and ships transporting oil, goods, and arms to the belligerents or their supporters.

The war ended on 20 August 1988 after Iran accepted a UN cease-fire proposal on 18 July. Having suffered enormous casualties and physical damage plus a massive debt burden, Baghdād began the postwar process of reconstruction. Before and after the war, there were scores to settle, primarily against the Kurds, some of whom had helped Iran and were the victims of Iraqi poison gas attacks. Many border villages were demolished and their Kurdish populations relocated.

When Iraq's wartime allies seemed unwilling to ease financial terms or keep oil prices high and questioned Iraq's rearmament efforts, Saddam Hussein turned bitterly against them. Kuwait was the principal target. After threats and troop movements, Iraq reasserted its claim (which dated from the days of the monarchy) to that country and on 2 August 1990, invaded and occupied it. Saddam Hussein was unflinching in the face of various peace proposals, economic sanctions, and the threatening buildup of coalition forces led by the United States.

A devastating air war led by the United States began on 17 January 1991 followed by ground attack on 24 February. Iraq was defeated, but not occupied. Despite vast destruction and several hundred thousand casualties, Saddam's regime remained firmly in control. It moved to crush uprisings from the Shia in the south and Kurds in the north. To protect those minorities, the United States and its allies imposed no-fly zones that gave the Kurds virtually an independent state, but afforded much less defense for the rebellious Arabs in the south whose protecting marshes were being drained by Baghdād. There were several clashes between allied and Iraqi forces in both areas.

In 1996, in an effort to boost morale in Iraq and bolster its image abroad, Iraq conducted its first parliamentary elections since 1989. However, only candidates loyal to Saddam Hussein were allowed to run. A government screening committee reviewed and approved all 689 candidates, who either belonged to Hussein's Ba'ath Party or were independents that supported the 1968 coup that brought the party to power.

The Iraqi economy continued to decline throughout the 1990s, with the continuation of the UN sanctions, imposed in 1990, which prohibited Iraq from selling oil on the global market in major transactions and froze Iraqi assets overseas. The deteriorating living conditions imposed on the Iraqi population prompted consideration of emergency measures. In 1996 talks were held between Iraq and the United Nations on a proposed "oil for food" humanitarian program that would permit Iraq to sell a limited quantity of oil in order to purchase food and basic supplies for Iraqi citizens. The United States and Britain wanted money earmarked for Iraq's Kurdish provinces funneled through the existing United Nations assistance program there. They also raised the issue of equity with respect to Iraq's existing rationing system. In December 1996, the UN agreed to allow Iraq to export $2 billion in oil to buy food and medical supplies. Iraq began receiving 400,000 tons of wheat in the spring of 1997.

Since the end of the Gulf War, Iraq had demonstrated cooperation with UNSCOM, the special UN commission charged with monitoring weapons of mass destruction. However, Saddam Hussein refused to dismantle his country's biological weapons and had stopped cooperating with UNSCOM by August 1997, leading to increasing tension and a US military buildup in the region by early 1998. Personal intervention by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan helped diffuse the situation temporarily. However, renewed disagreements arose in the latter half of the year, ultimately leading to a December bombing campaign (Operation Desert Fox) by US and UK forces, with the goal of crippling Iraq's weapons capabilities. In late 1998 the US Congress also approved funding for Iraqi opposition groups, in hopes of toppling Saddam Hussein politically from within.

In 1999 the oil for food program was expanded to allow for the sale of $5.25 billion in oil by Iraq over a six-month period to buy goods and medicine. By 2000, most observers agreed that the decade-long UN sanctions, while impoverishing Iraq and threatening its population with a major humanitarian crisis, had failed in their goal of weakening Saddam's hold on power.

The situation in Iraq intensified in 2002. In his January 2002 State of the Union Address, US president George W. Bush labeled Iraq, along with Iran and North Korea, part of an "axis of evil"—states that threatened the world with weapons of mass destruction and sponsored terrorism. Throughout 2002, the United States, in partnership with the United Kingdom, brought the issue of the need to disarm the Iraqi regime of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to the forefront of international attention. On 8 November 2002, the UN Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1441, calling upon Iraq to disarm itself of all biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons and weapons capabilities, to allow for the immediate return of UN and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) weapons inspectors (they had been expelled from the country in 1998), and to comply with all previous UN resolutions regarding the country since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. UN and IAEA weapons inspectors returned to Iraq, but the United States and the United Kingdom were neither satisfied with their progress nor with Iraq's compliance with the inspectors. The United States and the United Kingdom began a military buildup in the Persian Gulf region (eventually 250,000 US and 45,000 British troops would be stationed there), and pressed the UN Security Council to issue another resolution authorizing the use of force to disarm the Iraqi regime. This move was met by stiff opposition from France, Germany, and Russia (all members of the Security Council at the time, with France and Russia being permanent members with veto power); the diplomatic impasse ended on 17 March 2003, when the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain withdrew from the Security Council the resolution they had submitted that February that would have authorized the use of military force. War began on 19 March 2003, and by early April, the Iraqi regime had fallen.

The postwar period proved to be a diffi cult one for the United States and the United Kingdom, as their troops attempted to prevent looting and violence, to disarm Iraqis, and to begin the process of reconstruction. Especially contentious was the issue of the formation of a new Iraqi government: Iraqi exiles returned to the country, attempting to take up positions of power; Kurds demanded representation in a new political structure; and Shias (who make up some 60% of the Iraqi population) agitated for recognition and power. The United States initially installed retired US Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner as head of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance to oversee Iraq's civil administration while a new government was to be installed. Garner was replaced by former US State Deparment official L. Paul Bremer III in May 2003 in what some called an effort to put a civilian face on the reconstruction effort. Many Iraqi political figures in June labeled the allied campaign to remove the Saddam Hussein regime more like an "occupation" than a "liberation," and called for elections to a national assembly that would produce a new constitution for the country.

On 13 December 2003, Saddam Hussein was found alive hiding in a hole 2.5-m (8-ft) deep near his hometown of Tikrit. He was taken into custody, and beginning in October 2005, was put on trial for the killing of 143 Shias from Dujail, in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt in 1982.

In June 2004, the United States disbanded the Coalition Provisional Authority led by Bremer and transferred sovereignty back to Iraq in the form of an interim government, headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. On 30 January 2005, Iraqi voters elected a 275-member Transnational National Assembly. The Assembly was given the tasks of serving as Iraq's national legislature and forming a constitution. In April 2005, the National Assembly appointed Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader, president. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shia, whose United Iraq Alliance Party won the most votes in the January elections, was named prime minister. A constitution was written and presented to the people in a national referendum held on 15 October 2005: more than 63% of eligible voters turned out to vote. The constitution passed with a 78% majority, although three provinces voted against it, two of them by a two-thirds majority. Under election rules, had two-thirds of voters in each of the three provinces voted against the constitution, it would have failed. The vote was sharply divided along ethnic and sectarian lines: Shias and Kurds generally supported the document. As it was, the constitution was largely drafted by Shias and Kurds, who together make up some 80% of the population. The Iraqi insurgency is largely composed of Sunni Arabs.

On 15 December 2005, the country turned out in new parliamentary elections to elect a permanent government. Turnout was high; 10.9 million out of 15.6 million registered voters cast ballots across the country. Some fraud was detected, but in general the elections were held in a free and democratic manner. Official results were announced in January 2006, showing that the Shia and Kurdish coalitions once again dominated the voting, although they came up short of the two-thirds majority needed to form a government of their own. Sunni Arab parties won 58 of the 275 seats, which was the second-largest bloc of seats, giving them a much larger voice than they had in the January 2005 elections. In all, four main coalitions won 250 of the 275 seats in the parliament, which was elected for a term lasting until 2009. Of the remaining 25 seats, most were won by smaller groups with ideological or geographic links to the winning coalitions. The United Iraqi Alliance, the alliance of the main Shia parties, took 128 seats. The Kurdistan Alliance, an alliance of the primary Kurdish parties, won 53 seats. The Iraqi Consensus Front, an alliance of predominantly Sunni parties, took 44 seats, and the Iraqi List, an alliance of the main secular parties, won 25 seats.

Although the election held the fragile promise of a stable government, by the end of February 2006, sectarian violence had reached new levels. On 22 February 2006, Sunni insurgents bombed the important Shia Askariya Shrine in Sunni-dominated Sāmarrā; the shrine's gold dome was reduced to rubble by explosives. Th ousands of Shias took to the streets in both peaceful demonstrations and retaliatory attacks: the sectarian violence that ensued left at least 138 people dead in two days, and political negotiations over the new government in ruins. Civil war was not an unthinkable future for Iraq as of mid-2006.

GOVERNMENT

The coup d'état of 14 July 1958 established an autocratic regime headed by the military. Until his execution in February 1963, 'Abd al-Karim al-Qasim ruled Iraq, with a council of state and a cabinet. On 27 July 1958, a fortnight after taking over, Qasim's regime issued a provisional constitution, which has been repeatedly amended to accommodate changes in the status of the Kurdish regions. Since the 1968 coup, the Ba'ath Party ruled Iraq by means of the Revolutionary Command Council, "the supreme governing body of the state," which selected the president and a cabinet composed of military and civilian leaders. The president (Saddam Hussein from 1979–2003) served as chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, which exercised both executive and legislative powers by decree. He was also prime minister, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and secretary-general of the Ba'ath Party. A national assembly of 250 members that was elected by universal suffrage in 1980, 1984, 1989, 1996, and 2000, had little real power. Most senior officials were relatives or close associates of Saddam Hussein; nevertheless, their job security was not great.

The precarious nature of working in the regime of Saddam Hussein, even for relatives, was made evident in 1995 when two of his sons-in-law defected to Jordan along with President Hussein's daughters. The defection was widely reported in the international media and considered a great embarrassment to the regime as well as a strong indicator of how brutal and repressive its machinations were. After a promise of amnesty was delivered to the defectors by Iraq, the men returned and were executed shortly after crossing the border into Iraq.

In the aftermath of the Iraq war which began in March 2003, Iraq was effectively ruled by the US-installed Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, and then by a Coalition Provisional Authority. In December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured and brought into US custody; beginning in October 2005, he went on trial for the killing of 143 Shias from Dujail. In June 2004, sovereignty was transferred back to Iraq and an interim Iraqi government was installed, led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. On 30 January 2005, Iraqi voters elected a 275-member Transnational National Assembly. In April 2005, the National Assembly appointed Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader, president. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shia, was named prime minister. A constitution was written and presented to the people in a national referendum held on 15 October 2005: more than 63% of eligible voters turned out to vote. The constitution passed with a 78% majority.

Under the 2005 constitution, the government is broken down into four branches: legislative, executive, judicial, and independent associations. In the legislative branch, two councils were created: a Council of Representatives, the main law-making body, and the Council of Union, whose primary task is to examine bills related to regions and provinces. The executive branch is composed of a president, who is not directly elected and whose powers are primarily ceremonial; a deputy president; a prime minister, who as head of government is appointed by the president from the leader of the majority party in the Council of Representatives; and a cabinet chosen by the prime minister. The judiciary is independent and composed of the following: a Supreme Judiciary Council; a Supreme Federal Court; a Federal Cassation Court; a Prosecutor's Office; a Judiciary Inspection Dept.; and other federal courts organized by law. The "fourth branch" is that of independent associations whose actions are subject to legislation and supervision by the other branches. They include: a Supreme Commission for Human Rights; a Supreme Independent Commission for Elections; an Integrity Agency; an Iraqi Central Bank; a Financial Inspection Office; a Media and Communications Agency; Offices of (religious) Endowments; Institution of the Martyrs; and the Federal Public Service Council.

On 15 December 2005, new parliamentary elections were held to elect a permanent government. Sunni Arab parties won 58 of the 275 seats in the Council of Representatives, which was the second-largest bloc of seats. In all, four main coalitions won 250 of the 275 seats in the parliament, which will lead the country until 2009. Of the remaining 25 seats, most were won by smaller groups with ideological or geographic links to the winning coalitions. The United Iraqi Alliance, the alliance of the main Shia parties, took 128 seats. The Kurdistan Alliance, an alliance of the primary Kurdish parties, won 53 seats. The Iraqi Consensus Front, an alliance of predominantly Sunni parties, took 44 seats, and the Iraqi List, an alliance of the main secular parties, won 25 seats.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Until 1945, political parties existed but were ineffective as political factors. In 1946, five new parties were founded, including one that was Socialist (Al-Hizb al-Watani al-Dimuqrati, or the National Democratic Party), one avowedly close to communism (AshSha'b, or the People's Party), and one purely reformist (Al-Ittihad al-Watani, or the National Union Party).

The response to these parties alarmed the conservative politicians. The Palestine War (1948) provided the pretext for suppression of the Sha'b and Ittihad parties. Only the National Democratic Party functioned uninterruptedly; in 1950, with the lifting of martial law, the others resumed work. In 1949, Nuri as-Sa'id founded the Constitutional Union Party (Al-Ittihad ad-Dusturi), with a pro-Western, liberal reform program to attract both the old and the young generations. In opposition, Salih Jabr, a former partisan of Nuri's turned rival, founded the Nation's Socialist Party (Al-Ummah al-Ishtiraki), which advocated a democratic and nationalistic, pro-Western and pan-Arab policy. In 1954, however, Sa'id dissolved all parties, including his own Constitutional Union Party, on the ground that they had resorted to violence during the elections of that year.

After the coup of 1958, parties "voluntarily" discontinued their activities. In January 1960, Premier Qasim issued a new law allowing political parties to operate again. Meanwhile, the Ba'athists, who first gained strength in Syria in the 1950s as a pan-Arab movement with strong nationalist and socialist leanings, had attracted a following among elements of the Syrian military. In February 1963, Qasim was overthrown and executed by officers affiliated with a conservative wing of Iraq's Ba'ath movement. In November, a second coup was attempted by Ba'athist extremists from the left, who acted with complicity of the ruling Syrian wing of the party. With the 1968 coup, rightist elements of the Ba'ath Party were installed in prominent positions by Gen. Bakr. Since then, the Ba'athists, organized as the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party, were the ruling political group in Iraq. In the national assembly elections of 1980, the Ba'athists won more than 75% of the seats at stake; in the 1984 elections, they won 73% of the seats. Elections were again held in March 1996, with only Ba'athists or independent supporters of Saddam Hussein allowed to run for seats in the Assembly. Altogether, 220 seats were contested by 689 candidates. Only Ba'ath Party members and supporters of the Saddam Hussein regime were allowed to run in the March 2000 elections as well. In the 1990s and into the mid-2000s, most real party activity in Iraq involved the country's Kurdish minority, which had established a number of political groups, most of them in opposition to the central government.

In 1991, the regime issued a decree theoretically allowing the formation of other political parties, but which in fact prohibited parties not supportive of the regime. Under the 1991 edict, all political parties had to be based in Baghdād and all were prohibited from having ethnic or religious affiliations.

Outside of Iraq, ethnic, religious and political opposition groups came together to organize a common front against Saddam Hussein, but they achieved very little until 2003. The Shia al Dawa Party was brutally suppressed by Saddam before the Iran-Iraq war.

In the aftermath of the 2003 war, certain Shia clerics, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, emerged as political and religious leaders for the Shia community. In August 2003, al-Hakim was killed in a car bomb attack along with dozens of followers in the holy city of Najaf.

The two main Kurdish political parties as of 2003 were the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Massoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Jalal Talabani. Long rivals, the two parties were called upon to reconcile differences so as to provide for a viable future for Iraq's Kurds. The Iraqi National Congress, based in Salahuddin in northern Iraq and in London, was led by Ahmad Chalabi.

In the parliamentary elections for a permanent government that were held on 15 December 2005, four main coalitions won 250 of the 275 seats in the parliament. The United Iraqi Alliance, the alliance of the main Shia parties, took 128 seats. The Kurdistan Alliance, an alliance of the primary Kurdish parties, won 53 seats. The Iraqi Consensus Front, an alliance of predominantly Sunni parties, took 44 seats, and the Iraqi List, an alliance of the main secular parties, won 25 seats. The remaining 25 seats were held by smaller groups with ideological or geographic links to the winning coalitions.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Iraq until 2003 was divided into 18 provinces (three of which formed an autonomous Kurdish region), each headed by an appointed governor. Provinces were subdivided into districts, each under a deputy governor; a district consists of counties, the smallest units, each under a director. Towns and cities were administered by municipal councils led by mayors. Baghdād's municipality, the "governorate of the capital," under its mayor, or "guardian of the capital," served as a model municipality. A settlement reached with the Kurds in 1970 provided for Kurdish autonomy on the local level. In 1974, the provisional constitution was further amended to provide the Kurdistan region with an elected 80-member legislative council; elections were held in 1980 and 1986, but, in fact, the Iraqi army controlled Kurdistan until the imposition of a UN-approved protected zone in the north at the end of the Gulf War. In May 1992, Kurds held elections there for a new 100-member parliament for the quasi-independent region. This marked the only relatively free elections held in Iraq in several decades.

Local governing authority broke down following the fall of the Iraqi regime in April 2003. US and British troops were responsible for policing the country, and for restoring electricity, running water, sanitation, and other essential services. By 2006, however, sectarian violence was worsening, and the country looked as if it might be on the path to civil war.

Under the 2005 constitution, Iraq's federal system is made up of the capital of Baghdād, regions, decentralized provinces, and local administrations. The country's future regions are to be established from its current 18 governorates (provinces). Any single province, or group of provinces, is entitled to request that it be recognized as a region, with such a request being made by either two-thirds of the members of the provincial councils in the provinces involved or by one-tenth of the registered voters in the province(s) in question. Provinces that are unwilling or unable to join a region still enjoy enough autonomy and resources to enable them to manage their own internal affairs according to the principle of administratative decentralization. With the two parties' approval, federal government responsibilities may be delegated to the provinces, or vice versa. These decentralized provinces are headed by Provincial Governors, elected by Provincial Councils. The administrative levels within a province are defined, in descending order, as districts, counties and villages.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The court system until 2003 was made up of two distinct branches: a security component and a more conventional court system to handle other charges. There was no independence in the operation of the judiciary; the president could override any court decision.

The security courts had jurisdiction in all cases involving espionage, treason, political dissent, smuggling and currency exchange violations, and drug trafficking. The ordinary civil courts had jurisdiction over civil, commercial, and criminal cases except for those that fell under the jurisdiction of the religious courts. Courts of general jurisdiction were established at governorate headquarters and in the principal districts.

Magistrates' courts tried criminal cases in the first instance, but they could not try cases involving punishment of more than seven years in prison. Such cases were tried in courts of sessions that were also appellate instances for magistrates' courts. Each judicial district had courts of sessions presided over by a bench of three judges. There were no jury trials. Special courts to try national security cases were set up in 1965; verdicts of these courts could be appealed to the military supreme court. In other cases, the highest court of appeal was the court of cassation in Baghdād, with civil and criminal divisions. It was composed of at least 15 judges, including a president and two vice presidents.

For every court of first instance, there was a Shariah (Islamic) court that ruled on questions involving religious matters and personal status. Trials were public and defendants were entitled to free counsel in the case of indigents. The government protected certain groups from prosecution. A 1992 decree granted immunity from prosecution to members of the Ba'ath Party. A 1990 decree granted immunity to men who killed their mothers, daughters, and other female family members who had committed "immoral deeds" such as adultery and fornication.

Under the constitution ratified in 2005, the judiciary is independent and composed of the following: a Supreme Judiciary Council; a Supreme Federal Court; a Federal Cassation Court; a Prosecutor's Office; a Judiciary Inspection Dept.; and other federal courts organized by law. The Supreme Judiciary Council administers the judicial branch, nominates members of the courts and departments, and presents the judicial budget to the legislature. The Supreme Federal Court is the highest court in Iraq, oversees election results, and rules in the case of accusations against the president or prime minister. Private courts are banned.

ARMED FORCES

The Iraqi security forces in 2005 had 179,800 active personnel. The Army, including the National Guard, had an estimated 79,000 active personnel, followed by the Navy with an estimated 700 personnel and the Air Wing, which had an estimated 200 active members. In addition to the military forces, Iraq's security forces included an estimated 32,900 Ministry of Interior Forces and 67,000 active members of the Iraqi Police Service. Major naval units consisted of 10 patrol/coastal vessels operated by the Iraqi Coastal Defense Force. The Iraqi Air Wing was under the Department of Border Enforcement, and was equipped with 16 reconnaissance and six transport fixed wing aircraft, plus 36 support and 20 utility helicopters. As of 2005, there was no data available on defense spending by Iraq.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Iraq is a charter member of the United Nations, having joined on 21 December 1945, and participates in ESCWA and several nonregional specialized agencies. A founding member of the Arab League, Iraq also participates in the Arab fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Arab Monetary Fund, the Council of Arab Economic Unity, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), G-19, G-77, OAPEC, and OPEC. Iraq holds observer status in the WTO.

Iraq has given both military and economic support to Arab parties in the conflict with Israel. The war with Iran preoccupied Iraq during the 1980s, and Iraq's relations with other countries in the Arab world have varied. During the 1980s, Iraq maintained friendly relations with some Western countries, notably France, a major arms supplier to Iraq.

In November 1984, diplomatic relations between Iraq and the United States were renewed after a break of 17 years, but were broken off again when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990. The United States and its allies launched an air war against Iraq after diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions failed to convince Iraq to leave Kuwait. Iraq's international standing deteriorated badly and the nation was placed under an international trade embargo. Iraq was attacked by US and British forces beginning on 19 March 2003, and the regime led by Saddam Hussein was defeated by those forces that April. In the postwar period, the country is undergoing reconstruction and the government is in transition. A Transitional National Assembly (TNA) was formed by direct democratic elections held on 30 January 2005. On 15 December 2005, a permanent 275-seat Council of Representatives was elected.

Iraq is a member of the Nonaligned Movement. In environmental cooperation, Iraq is part of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

ECONOMY

In 1973, Iraqi oil revenue was $1.8 billion. By 1978, oil revenues peaked at $23.6 billion. In 2002, oil revenues were estimated at about $15 billion. Oil production growth was forecast to be constrained by security problems and long-standing underinvestment over the period 2006–07, but modest increases in output were expected to improve real GDP growth.

GDP growth was in double digits from 1973 to 1980 with the exception of 1974, when it was 7.2%. It was from these lofty heights that the regime of Saddam Hussein launched two wars whose effects on the Iraqi economy, even aside from the tragic human costs, proved devastating. The Iraq-Iran War (1980–88) began with Iraq's attempt to seize control of the economically and strategically important Shatt al Arab from Iran, which the countries had agreed to divide in a treaty in 1975. Saddam miscalculated that Iran could be easily dismembered during its revolutionary upheavals, and when the war ended eight bloody years later, the Shatt al Arab and all other border issues returned to the status quo antebellum, leaving Iraq with no material gain and a debt of over $100 billion, much of it owed to Kuwait. Annual oil revenues for Iraq and Kuwait were roughly even—averaging about $16 billion a year—but Kuwait, instead of spending on armaments, had invested sizeable amounts in the West, essentially doubling its returns. Kuwait refused to see the debts owed it by Iraq as money spent for its own defense, and insisted on being repaid, providing the economic trigger for Iraq's second disastrous foray—the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990. For the first time the UN Security Council agreed to support collective action against an aggressive power and Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait in the first Gulf War in February 1991. The UN imposed comprehensive economic, financial, and military sanctions, placing the Iraqi economy under siege. Acting on its own, the United States also froze all Iraqi assets in the United States and barred all economic transactions between US citizens and Iraq. Many other countries imposed similar sanctions on top of the UN-imposed embargo. UN Security Council resolutions authorized the export of Iraqi crude oil worth up to $1.6 billion over a limited time to finance humanitarian imports for the Iraqi people.

The effect of war in Kuwait and continuing economic sanctions reduced real GDP by at least 75% in 1991, on the basis of an 85% decline in oil production, and the destruction of the industrial and service sectors of the economy. Living standards deteriorated and the inflation rate reached 8,000% in 1992. Estimates for 1993 indicated that unemployment hovered around 50% and that inflation was as high as 1,000%. Because UN costs and reparations for Kuwait were taken out of permitted oil sales before being handed over to the Iraqi regime, the government's revenues were lower than total oil sales. The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) reported that Iraqi oil revenues at current prices were $365 million in 1994, $370 million in 1995 and $680 million in 1996. After the first Gulf War Iraq refused to provide economic data to the UN or any other international organization, and all estimates therefore were subject to wide variability and questions of reliability. Uncertainty was increased by a flourishing black market that was responsible for an increasing share of domestic commerce. There were widespread expectations that the Hussein regime would soon fall from the weight of its disastrous political and economic miscalculations, but this did not happen, and by 1995 it had become apparent that the tight restrictions on oil sales were resulting in serious harm to the Iraqi people. The UN passed its first oil-for-food program (which the Iraqi regime refused to accept until 1996) allowing oil worth $5.26 billion to be sold every six months, with strict controls over how the money was spent. OAPEC reported that Iraqi oil revenues were about $4.6 billion in 1997 and $6.8 billion in 1998. In December 1999 the UN Security Council lifted the limits on Iraq's oil production, which then rose from 550,000 billion barrels per day (bbl/d) in November 1996 to an average of about 2.6 million bbl/d during 2000. Real GDP growth fell by 5.7% in 2001 due to the slowdown in the world economy and lower oil prices.

By 2002, crude exports from Iraq had fallen below normal capacity (about 2 million bbl/d) to an average of 630,000 bbl/d. According to UN assessments, this low export level created a $2.64 billion shortfall in the oil-for-food program. Low exports were blamed on illegal surcharges of about 15–45 cents per barrel being levied by Iraq from about December 2000, and the tactic of "retroactive pricing" adopted by the United States and the United Kingdom in January 2001 to combat these surcharges. Both the surcharges and the retroactive pricing—whereby the price charged for Iraqi oil was revealed only after the sale, and then set at a level too high for a surcharge to be paid and still make a profit—raised the price and reduced demand for Iraqi oil. The concerns by the United States and the United Kingdom were that the surcharges were being used to fund a secret military build-up by Iraq. UN estimates are that from 1996 to 2002 the "oil-for-food" program generated about $60 billion. The US government estimates that through smuggling and illegal surcharges the Iraqi government secured about $6.6 billion from 1997 to 2001. On 14 May 2002, after Iraq had resumed oil exports, the UN Security Council approved a change in the oil-for-food program to add an extensive list of "dual-use" goods (goods that could be used for military as well as nonmilitary purposes) that Iraq could not purchase with its oil revenues.

On 16 October 2002, US president George W. Bush signed a resolution passed by the US Congress authorizing the use of force in Iraq. On 8 November 2002 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1441 demanding UN arms inspectors be given unconditional access to search anywhere in Iraq for banned weapons, and requiring a "accurate, full and complete" accounting of all of its weapons of mass destruction within 30 days. After failure to secure a second resolution from the UN Security Council in February 2003 explicitly supporting a military invasion of Iraq—all members of the Council were opposed except the United Kingdom—the United States and United Kingdom held to their intention to act without the UN. The US-led attack on Iraq was launched on 19 March 2003. Baghdād fell on 9 April 2003, and President Bush announced the end of major combat operations on 1 May 2003.

Sanctions against Iraq were lifted in May 2003, allowing reconstruction efforts to begin, but serious security problems arising from an Iraqi insurgency hampered the rebuilding effort. In 2003, real GDP growth stood at–21.8%, and the inflation rate was 29.3%. The "oil-for-food" program was phased out that May. A transitional government was elected in January 2005, and constitution-writing began. A referendum on the constitution was held in October 2005, with the constitution being approved overwhelmingly. Elections for a permanent government were held in December 2005. Iraq's unemployment rate in 2005–06 remained high (27–40%), but the overall Iraqi economy appeared to be improving somewhat. The continued sabotage of oil installations put a drag on the economy, however, but real GDP was forecast to grow at a rate of around 6% in 2006. In October 2003, a new Iraqi currency, the "new Iraqi dinar" was introduced, and by 2006 it had appreciated sharply. As of that date, Iraq had requested formal membership in the WTO. In November 2005, the World Bank approved a $100 million loan (for education purposes) to Iraq. Iraq assumed a heavy debt burden during the Saddam Hussein years of some $100–$250 billion, if debts to Gulf states, Russia, and reparations payment claims stemming from the 1990 invasion of Kuwait are included. Iraq's oil export earnings were immune from legal proceedings, including debt collection, until the end of 2007. In 2004, the Paris Club of 19 creditor nations agreed to forgive up to 80% on $42 billion worth of loans, but the relief was contingent upon Iraq reaching an economic stabilization program with the IMF.

The country's oil exports in 2005 were below 2004 levels. Oil production by 2006 had not returned to its prewar levels: it remained below 2 million barrels per day compared with a level of some 2.5 million barrels per day before the 2003 invasion. Persistent fuel shortages forced the government to raise the heavily subsidized price of gasoline in 2005. This sparked protests and rioting throughout Iraq. Oil exports for 2005 were 1.39 million barrels per day, down from 1.5 million barrels per day in 2004. The poor oil production figures were largely due to attacks on pumping and distribution facilities; death threats were also made to tanker drivers, which led to the closing of a refinery in northern Iraq. More than 75% of the country's GDP comes from oil. The high price of oil (more than $63 per barrel in the first week of January 2006) mitigated the economic damage from lower production, and oil prices were forecast to remain high over the long term.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2005 Iraq's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $94.1 billion. The per capita GDP was estimated at $3,400. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 2.4%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 40%. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange. In 2004, it was estimated that agriculture accounted for 7.3% of GDP, industry 66.6%, and services 26.1%. More than $33 billion in foreign aid was pledged for 2004–07.

LABOR

In 2004, Iraq's labor force was estimated at 7.4 million; however, there was no data available as to its occupational breakdown. Unemployment in 2005 was estimated to fall within the 25–30% range. The Trade Union Organization Law of 1987 established a centralized trade union structure of committees linked to trade unions, which in turn are part of provincial trade union federations under the control of the Iraqi General Federation of Trade Unions, and ultimately are controlled by the ruling Ba'ath Party. Although workers are legally allowed to strike upon informing the Labor Ministry, no strike has been reported in over 20 years.

Child labor is strictly controlled and in many cases prohibited. The minimum working age is 14, although economic necessity and lack of government enforcement have increased the number of children of all ages that are employed. There is a 6-day, 48-hour workweek, although this does not apply to agricultural workers. Historically, working women have been accepted in Iraq, but the number of women in the workforce dramatically increased because of the prolonged war with Iran as well as the Persian Gulf War, as women replaced men in the labor market.

In many cases, rural labor and farmers employed in government projects get reasonable salaries and good housing, but small, independent farmers receive fewer benefits. Since 1958, the Iraqi government has passed a number of agrarian reform laws. As a general rule, however, the quality of life differs greatly between rural areas and the cities, especially that in Baghdād. Th is differential has resulted in massive rural to urban migration.

AGRICULTURE

The rich alluvial soil of the lowlands and an elaborate system of irrigation canals made Iraq a granary in ancient times and in the Middle Ages. After the irrigation works were destroyed in the Mongol invasion, agriculture decayed. Today, about 13% of the land is considered arable. Unlike the rain-fed north, southern Iraq depends entirely on irrigation, which is in turn heavily reliant on electricity and fuel supply to run the pumping networks. There are similar diffi culties with the spring crop of vegetables in the south, also entirely dependent on irrigation. Over half the irrigated area in southern Iraq is affected by water-logging and salinity, diminishing crop production and farm incomes. Agriculture is Iraq's largest employer and the second-largest sector in value.

Under various agrarian reform laws—including a 1970 law that limited permissible landholdings to 4–202 hectares (10–500 acres), depending on location, fertility, and available irrigation facilities—about 400,000 previously landless peasants received land. Agrarian reform was accompanied by irrigation and drainage works, and by the establishment of cooperative societies for the provision of implements and machinery, irrigation facilities, and other services.

Agricultural production in Iraq declined progressively because of the war with Iran and the Persian Gulf War. In 1992, wheat production was estimated at 600,000 tons compared with 965,000 tons in 1982, but by 1999 was only 800,000 tons. During the 2003 conflict, most farmers in Iraq's three northern provinces were not displaced. The northern region produces some 30–35% of the grain crop. FAO estimates for 2004 included the following (in tons): wheat, 2,200,000; barley, 1,315,000; tomatoes, 1,000,000; dates, 910,000; potatoes, 625,000; eggplants, 442,000; cucumbers, 350,000; oranges, 310,000; and grapes, 300,000. Other crops grown for domestic consumption include millet, lentils, beans, melons, figs, corn, sugarcane, tobacco, and mulberries.

Iraq currently imports almost $3 billion in food commodities annually. Aid programs are helping expand production of wheat to minimize food imports. Efforts on select Iraqi farms doubled wheat production in 2004. Since 2003, the USAID's agriculture program has been working to restore veterinary clinics, introduce improved cereal grain varieties, repair agricultural equipment, and train farmers and Iraqi government staff. The US government has estimated that the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture would require over $1 billion of agricultural inputs annually for Iraq's agricultural producers to boost production. Iraq will need to rely on imports to meet a large portion of its food and fiber needs, even with substantial gains in production.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Animal husbandry is widespread. Sheep raising is most important, with wool used domestically for weaving carpets and cloaks. In 2001, Iraq had an estimated 6.1 million sheep; 1.6 million goats; 1.4 million head of cattle, and numerous donkeys, camels, mules, buffaloes, and poultry. FAO production estimates for 2004 included: cow's milk, 450,000 tons; sheep's milk, 157,500 tons; and chicken meat, 98,906 tons.

FISHING

Centuries of overfishing without restocking reduced the formerly plentiful supply of river fish, but the fishing industry has rebounded since the early 1970s. The 2003 fish catch—including salmon and, especially in the Tigris (Al Furāt), carp—was 23,100 tons.

FORESTRY

Forests of oak and Aleppo pine in the north cover less than 2% of Iraq's entire area and have been depleted by excessive cutting for fuel or by fires and overgrazing. Since 1954, indiscriminate cutting has been prohibited, and charcoal production from wood has ceased. The forestry research center at Arbil has established tree nurseries and conducted reforestation programs. Output of roundwood was estimated at 114,000 cu m (4,024,000 cu ft) in 2004.

MINING

Iraq's mineral resources (excluding hydrocarbons) are limited. Crude oil was Iraq's sole export commodity in 2002, and construction materials comprised another leading industry. In 2004, Iraq produced hydraulic cement, nitrogen, phosphate rock (from the Akashat open-pit mine), salt, and native Frasch sulfur from underground deposits at Mishraq, on the Tigris (Al Furāt) River, south of Al Mawşil. In 2001, the State Organization for Minerals reported the discovery of sulfur deposits in the Western Desert, near Akashat. Production figures for 2004, were: phosphate rock 30,000 metric tons, down from 532,000 metric tons in 2002; sulfur, 20,000 metric tons (as a by product only); and salt, 50,000 metric tons. Without exception, production of all mineral commodities (excluding hydrocarbon minerals) has fallen since 2003. However, the output of Portland cement, while down from the 6,834,000 metric tons produced in 2002, had risen in 2004 to 2,500,000 metric tons from 1,901,000 metric tons in 2003, possibly as a result of the fighting and car bomb attacks in urban areas. Geological surveys have indicated usable deposits of iron ore, copper, gypsum, bitumen, dolomite, and marble; these resources have remained largely unexploited, because of inadequate transport facilities and lack of coal for processing the ores.

ENERGY AND POWER

Iraq's petroleum reserves are among the largest in the world. As of 1 January 2005, Iraq's proven oil reserves were estimated by the Oil and Gas Journal at 115 billion barrels, of which, about 75 billion barrels had yet to be developed. However, the country's reserves may be significantly higher. Only about 10% of the country has been explored for oil and it is believed by some analysts that in Iraq's Western Desert region, deep oil-bearing formations may contain another 100 billion or more barrels of oil. Others are less optimistic, estimating that only another 45 billion barrels may lie undiscovered.

In spite of its huge oil reserves, Iraq's oil production has been deeply affected by the nation's wars, resulting in major drops in crude oil production. During Iraq's war with Iran, output dropped from 3,476,900 barrels per day in 1979 to 897,400 barrels daily in 1981, and from 2,897,000 barrels per day in 1989 to 305,000 barrels daily in 1991, following an embargo on Iraqi oil exports for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq's oil production slowly increased to 600,000 barrels per day by 1996, and with the country's acceptance of United Nations Resolution 986, allowing limited oil exports for humanitarian reasons ("oil-for-food program"), production rose to about 2.58 million barrels per day in January 2003, just before the US-led invasion of Iraq in March of that year. As of May 2005, maximum sustainable oil production by Iraqi was estimated at 1.9 million barrels per day. Oil production in 2004 was estimated at two million barrels per day. Domestic demand for oil was estimated in 2004 at 550,000 barrels per day, and forecast to reach 650,000 barrels per day in 2005.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, crude oil refining capacity was estimated as of 1 January 2005 at 597,500 barrels per day.

Iraq's natural gas reserves were estimated, as of 1 January 2005, at 110 trillion cu ft, with production and domestic consumption estimated at 53 billion cu ft in 2003.

Iraq's electric power sector has also been affected by the country's wars. During the 1990–91 Persian Gulf War, about 85–90% of the national power grid was destroyed or damaged. However, 75% of the national grid had been restarted by early 1992. Total electricity production in 2000 was 31,700 million kWh, of which 98% was from fossil fuels and 2% from hydropower. The country's generating capacity was about 9,500 MW in 2001. As of late May 2005, Iraq's available and operating generating capacity was placed at about 4,000 to 5,000 MW. Peak summer demand however, was forecast to be at 8,000 MW. In 2004, electric output came to 32.6 billion kWh, with demand at 33.7 billion kWh and imports at 1.1 billion kWh.

INDUSTRY

Main industries are oil refining, food processing, chemicals, textiles, leather goods, cement and other building materials, tobacco, paper, and sulfur extraction. In 1964, the government took over all establishments producing asbestos, cement, cigarettes, textiles, paper, tanned leather, and flour. Iraq has eight major oil refineries, at Baiji, Al Başrah, Daura, Khānaqin, Haditha, Mufthiah, Qaiyarah, Al Mawşil, and Kirkūk. The Iraq-Iran War, Persian Gulf War, and Iraq War of 2003 seriously affected Iraqi refining. Iraq had a total refinery capacity of 597,500 barrels per day in 2005. The bulk of Iraq's refinery capacity is concentrated in the Baiji complex.

Industrial establishments before the 2003 war included a sulfur plant at Kirkūk, a fertilizer plant at Al Başrah, an antibiotics factory at Sāmarrā, an agricultural implements factory at Iskandariyah, and an electrical equipment factory near Baghdād. In the 1970s, Iraq put strong emphasis on the development of heavy industry and diversification of its industry, a policy aimed at decreasing dependence on oil. During the 1980s, the industrial sector showed a steady increase, reflecting the importance given to military industries during the Iran–Iraq war. By early 1992 it was officially claimed that industrial output had been restored to 60% of pre-Persian Gulf War capacity. Beginning in 1996, Iraq was permitted to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts (the UN "oil-for-food" program). By 1999, the UN Security Council allowed Iraq to export as much oil as required to meet humanitarian needs. The program was phased out in May 2003 following the defeat of the Saddam Hussein regime. In 2004, industry accounted for 66.6% of GDP.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Iraq has imported Western technology for its petrochemical industry. The Scientific Research Council was established in 1963 and includes nine scientific research centers. The Nuclear Research Center (founded in 1967) has conducted nuclear physics experiments and produced radioisotopes with equipment supplied by France. In 1982, the French government agreed to help rebuild the institute's Osirak reactor, knocked out by an Israeli air attack the previous year. Eight universities offer degrees in basic and applied sciences. In addition, the Ministry of Higher Education has 18 incorporated technical institutes. The Agriculture and Water Resources Research Center (founded in 1980) and the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum (founded in 1946) are both located in Baghdād. The Iraqi Medical Society (founded in 1920) is headquartered there.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Modern shops and department stores have spread throughout the country, replacing traditional bazaars. Baghdād, Al Mawşil, and Al Başrah, as well as other large and medium-size cities, all have modern supermarkets. Baghdād leads in wholesale trade and in the number of retail shops.

The previously state-owned economy has been suffering since the 1980–88 Iran-Iraq War. The 1990 Kuwait invasion and the subsequent international military intervention caused even greater damage to the infrastructure and resulted in international sanctions that crippled the economy. With the 2003 ousting of Saddam Hussein by international coalition forces, the way was paved to reopen the Iraqi economy to international trade. However, the nation was expected to be highly dependent on foreign aid and investment for the foreseeable future.

FOREIGN TRADE

Iraq's most valuable export is oil, which has historically accounted for almost all of its total export value. Rising oil prices during the 1970s created increases in export revenues. However, the drop in world oil prices and Iraq's exporting problems due to international sanctions essentially put an end to Iraqi oil exports. The United Nations (UN) imposed trade restrictions on non-oil exports in August 1990. Non-oil exports (often illegal) were estimated at $2 billion for the 12 months following the March 1991 cease-fire. Iraq was traditionally the world's largest exporter of dates, with its better varieties going to Western Europe, Australia, and North America.

Until 1994, the UN committee charged with supervising what little international trade Iraq was permitted to engage in—food and medicine, essentially—kept records on the amount of goods it approved for import in exchange for oil. In the first half of 1994, the committee recorded $2 billion in food imports, $175 million in medicine, and an additional $2 billion in "essential civilian needs," a term that at that time referred to agricultural machinery, seeds, and goods for sanitation.

In 1995, the Iraqi government rationed its people only one-half of the minimum daily requirement in calories. In 1997, the UN permitted Iraq to expand its oil sales to increase its purchasing power of food and other sources of humanitarian relief. In the spring of that year the country received 400,000 tons of wheat to help feed its suffering population, who had been living under strict food rations for four years. Limited exports were organized by the UN, and the oil-for-food program brought in revenues during 1999 equaling $5.3 billion.

In 2005, Iraq's exports were crude petroleum (83.9%), crude materials excluding fuels (8%), and food and live animals (5%). Imports were food, medicines, and manufactures. Iraq's export partners in 2005 were: the United States (51.9%), Spain (7.3%), Japan (6.6%), Italy (5.7%), and Canada (5.2%). Iraq's import partners were: Syria (22.9%), Turkey (19.5%), the United States (9.2%), Jordan (6.7%), and Germany (4.9%).

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

In 2005, merchandise exports totaled $25.2 billion, and merchandise imports totaled $36.5 billion. The current account balance in 2005 was $1.2 billion. External debt was estimated at $82.1 billion.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

When Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire, a number of European currencies circulated alongside the Turkish pound. With the establishment of the British mandate after World War I, Iraq was incorporated into the Indian monetary system, which was operated by the British, and the rupee became the principal currency in circulation. In 1931, the Iraq Currency Board was established in London for note issue and maintenance of reserves for the new Iraqi dinar. The currency board pursued a conservative monetary policy, maintaining very high reserves behind the dinar. The dinar was further strengthened by its link to the British pound. In 1947 the government-owned National Bank of Iraq was founded, and in 1949 the London-based currency board was abolished as the new bank assumed responsibility for the issuing of notes and the maintenance of reserves.

In the 1940s, a series of government-owned banks was established: the Agricultural Bank and the Industrial Bank, the Real Estate Bank, the Mortgage Bank, and the Cooperative Bank. In 1956 the National Bank of Iraq became the Central Bank of Iraq. In 1964, banking was fully nationalized. The banking system comprised the Central Bank of Iraq, the Rafidain Bank (the main commercial bank), and three others: the Agricultural Cooperative Bank, the Industrial Bank, and the Real Estate Bank. In 1991 the government decided to end its monopoly on banking. After 1991, six new banks were established—the Socialist Bank, Iraqi Commercial Bank, Baghdād Bank, Dijla Bank, Al-Itimad Bank, and the Private Bank—as a result of liberalizing legislation and the opportunity for large-scale profits from currency speculation.

Preference for investing savings in rural or urban real estate is common. Major private investments in industrial enterprises can be secured only by assurance of financial assistance from the government. The establishment of a stock exchange in Baghdād was delayed by practical considerations (such as a lack of computers), but it was eventually inaugurated in March 1992.

During the 2003 US-led war and subsequent occupation of Iraq, the financial sector essentially disappeared. The banking district of Baghdād was wrecked by the bombing campaign, and until the provisional government becomes stable, it appeared that financial activity would remain at a standstill. Rejuvenation of Iraq's banking system was seen as a high priority. With the passage of the 2005 constitution, a central bank was established, which has the power to issue new currency and set interest rates in the hopes of managing the country's massive debts. USAID gave loans of up to $250,000 to small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to jumpstart the economy. Iraq's banking system had been one of the region's most advanced prior to the war, so the foundations were already in place for a sound financial sector.

INSURANCE

The insurance industry was nationalized in 1964. The State Insurance Organization supervises and maintains three companies: the National Life Insurance Co., the Iraqi Life Insurance Co., and the Iraqi Reinsurance Co. Third-party motor vehicle liability insurance is compulsory. In 1999, Iraqis spent $42 million on insurance.

PUBLIC FINANCE

There are several budgets: the ordinary budget, under which the regular activities of the government are financed; separate budgets for the Iraqi State Railways, the Port of Al Başrah Authority, the Al-Faw Dredging Scheme, and the tobacco monopoly; municipal budgets requiring government approval; and allocations for semi-independent government agencies. In addition, there is a separate development budget, as well as an undeclared budget for the military believed to have absorbed over half of state funds during the war with Iran. Since 1980, the decline in oil exports and huge war expenditures forced Iraq to borrow and to raise funds from abroad. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, with the consequent infrastructural damage, UN sanctions, and oil embargo, severely diminished revenues. The future of the Iraqi economy is highly uncertain. Until a stable government is in place, it will be very difficult for any commercial activity to take place.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Iraq's central government took in revenues of approximately $19.3 billion and had expenditures of $24 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$4.7 billion. Total external debt was $82.1 billion.

TAXATION

Direct taxes are levied on income and on property. The rental value of dwellings, commercial buildings, and nonagricultural land is taxed, with a certain tax-free minimum. In 1939, graduated income tax rates were established on income from all sources except agriculture. Most agricultural income is not taxed.

Indirect taxation predominates. The land tax must be paid by all who farm government lands with or without a lease. Owners of freehold (lazimah) land pay no tax or rent. Much farm produce consumed on the farm or in the village is not taxed at all, but when marketed, farm products are taxed.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

As of 1 March 2004, a 5% reconstruction levy based on the customs value of the product was imposed upon all imports. However, food, clothing, medicines, humanitarian goods, and books are exempt. In 1989, Iraq joined the newly formed Arab Cooperation Council (ACC) with Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen. The ACC's goals included formation of a common market and economic integration in other areas. The international embargo levied against the nation after it invaded Kuwait essentially ended Iraq's participation in the ACC. Egypt, one of its partners in the Council, was a leader in the military coalition that liberated Kuwait.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

UN sanctions effectively froze all of Iraq's foreign transactions in the 1990s. In October 1992, the UN Security Council permitted these frozen assets, including Iraqi oil in storage in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to be sold without the permission of the Iraqi government. About $1 billion of frozen assets were to pay for compensation to Kuwaiti victims of the invasion and to cover UN operations inside Iraq.

In September 2003, the American-appointed Coalition Provisional Authority announced it was opening up all sectors of the economy to foreign investment in an attempt to deliver much-needed reconstruction in the war-torn country. The Iraqi Governing Council announced it would allow total foreign ownership without the need for prior approval. The program applied to all sectors of the economy, from industry to health and water, except for natural resources (including oil). The deal also included full, immediate remittance to the host country of profits, dividends, interest, and royalties. Income and business taxes for foreign investors were capped at 15% beginning in 2004. More than $33 billion in foreign aid was pledged to Iraq for 2004–07.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Until the 2003 Iraq War, the government both controlled and participated in petroleum, agriculture, commerce, banking, and industry. In the late 1960s, it made efforts to diversify Iraq's economic relations and to conserve foreign exchange. As an example, it was announced in 1970 that contracts for all planned projects would be awarded to companies willing to receive compensation in crude oil or petroleum products. The government also undertook to build an Iraqi tanker fleet to break the monopoly of foreign oil-transport companies.

The imposition of sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s destroyed all attempts to stabilize Iraq's payments on its foreign debt. Iraq also faced reparation claims. Iran separately pursued its claim for massive separation payments arising from the 1980–88 war. Iraq was also obligated by UN resolutions to pay for various UN agency activities.

Iraq had an estimated foreign debt in 2005 of $82.1 billion. However, a large portion of Iraq's debt had been forgiven by that time, and the IMF provided new funds as part of an effort to get Iraq back into capital markets, where it could secure the financing it needs to invest in the critical oil sector. The insurgency against coalition forces, in addition to underinvestment, prevented the oil industry from getting back on its feet. Work was being carried out to rebuild infrastructure, but by 2006, insurgents were destroying much of what was being built.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

A social security law passed in 1971 provides benefits or payments for disability, maternity, old age, unemployment, sickness, and funerals. This law applies to all establishments employing five or more people, but excludes agricultural employees, temporary employees, and domestic servants. This social insurance system is funded by employee contributions of 5% of their wages, and employer contributions of 12% of payroll. Oil companies are required to pay 25% of payroll. Men may retire at age 60 and women at 55 after they have worked for 20 years. Maternity benefits for employed women include 100% of salary for a period of 10 weeks. Work injury is covered and unemployment assistance is available.

Little is known about the extent of domestic violence in Iraq. Domestic abuse is addressed within the family structure, therefore there are no statistics available or agencies to assist victims. In 2004 there were reports of honor killings. Women who do not wear traditional clothing are subject to harassment.

Human rights are being addressed as the government undergoes significant transformation. The regime of Saddam Hussein was notorious for extensive human rights abuses.

HEALTH

There are many well-trained Iraqi physicians; however, their effectiveness is limited by a lack of trained nursing and paramedical staff. In the period 1985–95, some 93% of the population had access to health care services. Private hospitals are allowed to operate in Baghdād and other major cities. Considerable effort was made to expand medical facilities to small towns and more remote areas of the country, but these efforts have been hampered by a lack of transportation and a desire of medical personnel to live and work in Baghdād and the major cities. In 2000, 85% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 79% had adequate sanitation. Dentists and other specialists are almost unknown in rural districts. Child nutrition has been negatively affected by years of conflict. The UN Children's Fund documented that 4,500 children under five die every month from hunger and disease.

In 2004, Iraq had 54 physicians, 308 nurses, 8 pharmacists, and 11 dentists per 100,000 people. Iraq's 2002 birth rate was estimated at 34 per 1,000 people. Of married women (ages 15 to 49), 14% used contraception in 1989. Life expectancy in 2005 averaged 68.7 years. The fertility rate decreased from 7.2 in 1960 to 4.3 children in 2000 for each woman during childbearing years. Immunization rates for children up to one year old were: tuberculosis, 90%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 92%; and measles, 98%. In 1999, there were 156 reported cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people. The infant mortality rate in 2005 was 50.23 per 1,000 live births. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.10 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 500 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country.

HOUSING

In the 20 years leading up to the 2003 Iraq War, living conditions for the vast majority of the population improved greatly. Electricity and running water were normal features of all Iraqi villages in rural areas. Mud huts in remote places were rapidly being replaced by brick dwellings. Major cities like Al Mawşil, Al Başrah, and especially Baghdād had most of the amenities of modern living. Traditionally, Iraqis have lived in single family dwellings, but in the last 15 years, the government had built a number of high-rise apartments, especially in Baghdād. It had done so to control urban sprawl and to cut down on suburban service expenditures.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq by international coalition forces caused destruction and damage to a large portion of the housing sector, particularly in and around Baghdād. The UN responded to the crisis by providing construction materials through the oil-for-food program. The housing sector had been part of this program since 2000. Through the program, about 64,932 housing units were built to accommodate about 551,922 people.

EDUCATION

Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, public education was forcibly secular and militarized, with most textbooks and other curriculum strongly based on promoting the causes of the government. The US-led invasion of Iraq beginning in 2003 and the overthrow of Hussein's regime continue to have damaging effects on the country's infrastructure. Many schools have been severely damaged or destroyed; but reconstruction efforts are being funded by a variety of international groups and governments. New developments in the post-Hussein system include the reprinting of textbooks and a greater freedom for teachers in designing and implementing curriculums. Some schools are beginning to adopt fundamental Islamic studies as a large part of their curriculum. This has caused some concern for new government officials and analysts, who fear that too much of a fundamentalist approach might lead to a new set of restrictions in academic freedom.

In general, six years of compulsory primary education has been in effect since 1978. Primary schools have provided the six-year course, at the end of which the student passes an examination to be admitted to secondary school. An intermediate secondary school program covers a three-year course of study. After this stage, students choose to attend a preparatory school or a vocational school, both of which offer three-year programs.

Education at all levels from primary to higher education has been free. Private schools are now permitted to operate. There are 20 state universities in Iraq and 47 technical colleges and institutes. The University of Baghdād is the most important higher education institution in the country. Other universities include Al Mawşil, al-Mustansiriya, Al Başrah, and As Sulaymāniyah. In 2003, the adult literacy rate was estimated at about 40.4%, with 55.9% for men and 24.4% for women.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Following the war in 2003, arsonists and looters ransacked the libraries and museums of Iraq, causing extensive destruction and damage and nearly eliminating some valuable historic and cultural collections of books, documents, and artwork. Various international groups have stepped forward to offer assistance in rebuilding and restocking the sites of what were Iraq's most prominent museums and libraries, but it is uncertain as to how many rare and valuable items can be recovered. The National Library and Archives in Baghdād was founded in 1961. Two noteworthy academic libraries are the Central Library of the University of Baghdād and the Central Library of the University of Al Mawşil. One of the country's outstanding libraries has been the Iraqi Museum Library (founded 1934), with modern research facilities. The Directorate of Antiquities in Baghdād houses a library as well. There are public library branches in many provincial capitals.

With the exception of the National History Research Center and Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art, museums have been under the control of the Department of the Directorate-General of Antiquities in Baghdād. One of the most outstanding collections were kept at the Iraqi Museum in Baghdād, which contained antiquities dating from the early Stone Age; however, this was one of the sites looted and damaged after the war. The Abbasid Palace Museum and the Museum of Arab Antiquities, both located in Baghdād, are housed in restored buildings from the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively.

MEDIA

In 2003, there were an estimated 28 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately three mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

As of 2005, television and radio stations that were initially launched by the Coalition Provisional Authority were being incorporated into the new publicly-funded Iraqi Public Broadcasting Service. A number of foreign broadcasters are being accessed through satellite. In 2004, there were about 80 radio stations and 21 television stations in operation inside the country. In 2003, there were an estimated 222 radios for every 1,000 people. The number of televisions was not available through the same survey. Also in 2003, there were 8.3 personal computers for every 1,000 people and one of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. Access is made primarily through Internet cafés.

In 2004, there were over 130 daily and weekly publications nationwide. Prominent daily papers in 2005 included Al-Sabah, Al-Mada, Al-Zaman, Al-Mashriq, and Al-Dustur. Iraq Today is a popular English-language weekly.

The 2005 constitution guarantees freedom of speech, press, and assembly.

ORGANIZATIONS

Chambers of commerce are active in Baghdād, Al Başrah, and Al Mawşil. Cooperatives, first established in 1944, have played an increasingly important social role, especially under the post-1968 Ba'ath government. There are many youth centers and sports clubs. Scouting programs are active. The General Federation of Iraqi Youth and the General Federation of Iraqi Women are government-sponsored mass organizations. The Women's Union of Kurdistan (WUK), established in 1989, works toward improving the lifestyle and social development of women by publishing educational magazines and presenting educational seminars on health, education, and legal issues. Red Crescent societies provide social services in many cities and towns.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Tourism declined sharply in the 1980s during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and the Gulf War, and has not recovered. The March 2003 attack on Iraq by US and UK forces and the subsequent fall of the government led to almost no tourist activity as of 2006. Prior to the political and military challenges of the 1980s, many visitors from other Arab states were pilgrims to Islamic shrines. The other principal tourist attraction is visiting the varied archeological sites. Popular forms of recreation include tennis, cricket, swimming, and squash.

According to the US Department of State in 2004, the estimated daily cost of staying in Baghdād was $11.

FAMOUS IRAQIS

The most famous kings in ancient times were Sargon (Sharrukin) of Akkad (fl.c.2350 bc), Hammurabi of Babylon (r.1792?–1750? bc), and Nebuchadnezzar II (Nabu-kadurri-utsur, r.605?–560? bc) of Babylon.

Under the caliphs Harun al-Rashid (ar-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-'Abbasi, r.786–809) and al-Mamun (abu al-'Abbas 'Abdullah al-Mamun, r.813–33), Baghdād was the center of the Arab scholarship that translated and modified Greek philosophy. A leading figure in this movement was Hunain ibn Ishaq (d.873), called Johannitius by Western scholastics. His contemporary was the great Arab philosopher Yaqub al-Kindi, whose catholicity assimilated both Greek philosophy and Indian mathematics. The founder of one of the four orthodox schools of Islamic law, which claims the largest number of adherents in the Muslim world, Abu Hanifa (d.767) was also a native Iraqi. Another celebrated figure in theology, 'Abd al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (c.913), who combated the rationalist Mu'tazila school, also lived in Baghdād; his influence still prevails in Islam. Al-Ghazali (Ghazel, d.1111), though Persian by birth, taught at the Nizamiyah University in Baghdād; he is one of the best-known Islamic philosopher-theologians. Iraq also produced famous mystics like Hasan al-Basri (642–728) and 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (1077–1166); the latter's followers are numerous among Asian Muslims, and his tomb in Baghdād draws many pilgrims. Modern Iraq has produced no artist or writer famous outside the Arabic-speaking world.

Gen. Saddam Hussein (Husayn) al-Takriti (b.1937), served as chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and president of the country from 1979 until his ousting in 2003.

DEPENDENCIES

Iraq has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arnove, Anthony. Iraq under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War. Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2000.

Cirincione, Joseph, Jon B. Wolfsthal, and Miriam Rajkumar. Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological, and chemical Th reats. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005.

Cordesman, Anthony H. Iraq: Sanctions and Beyond. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997.

——. The War after the War: Strategic Lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington, D.C.: CSIS Press, 2004.

Dalley, Stephanie. The Legacy of Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Fulanain. The Tribes of the Marsh Arabs: The World of Haji Rikkan. London, Eng.: Kegan Paul International, 2003.

Ghareeb, Edmund. Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2004.

Gunter, Michael M. The Kurds of Iraq: Tragedy and Hope. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.

Hiro, Dilip. Iraq: In the Eye of the Storm. New York: Th under's Mouth Press/Nation Books, 2002.

Hourani, Albert Habib. A History of the Arab Peoples. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2002.

Hunt, Courtney. The History of Iraq. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.

Natali, Denise. The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2005.

O'Sullivan, Meghan L. Shrewd Sanctions: Statecraft and State Sponsors of Terrorism. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Seddon, David (ed.). A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East. Philadelphia: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2004.

IRAQ

IRAQ , country in S.W. Asia (for period prior to 634 c.e. see *Mesopotamia and *Babylonia).

The Diaspora of Iraq was one of the most ancient of the Jewish people. The Jews came to Babylon after the destruction of the First Temple (586 b.c.e.), or even 10 years earlier, with the exile of Jehoiachin. They integrated into their land of captivity and took part in its economic and cultural development.

The contribution of Babylonian Jewry to molding the spirit and character of the Jewish people in the Diaspora was channeled through its famous academies (yeshivot) of *Sura and *Pumbedita. There, the Babylonian Talmud was composed and sealed. The heads of those academies functioned as the leaders of Babylonian Jewry and of other Jews. They continued to do so until the conquest of the country by the *Mongols in 1258 c.e. The decline of the Jewish communities of *Baghdad and *Basra continued for many generations. Only at the end of the 18^th and the beginning of the 19^th centuries did Baghdad begin to recover economically and culturally and start to function again as a religious center for the Jewish communities of *Kurdistan, *Persia, *India, and *Aden.

Under Islamic Rule

The Jews of Babylonia, who had suffered from persecutions at the end of the rule of the Persian Sasanid dynasty, welcomed the Arab conquest of the land, which became known as Iraq.

The legal status of the Jews, as *dhimmīs, was defined by the Shari'a (the Islamic Law), under which they had certain rights including the right to worship and to administer their own religious law. On the other hand they were required to pay the jizya (poll tax) in exchange for protection by the Islamic rulers. They were also exempted from serving in the Muslim armies.

under the umayyad caliphate (661–750)

The extant information on the attitude of the caliphs of the *Umayyad dynasty (661–750) toward the Jews is very limited. During this period the Jews suffered from the political disputes and controversies which took place in Iraq. In the times of the caliph Omar ii ibn 'Abd al-Azīz (717–720) the Jews suffered, with other dhimmīs, intolerance toward their religion. He forbade the governors to appoint members of non-Muslims as tax collectors and scribes; he also prohibited the dhimmīs from dressing like Muslims and sought to degrade them socially (The Covenant of *Omar).

under the abbasid caliphate (750–1258)

The situation of the Jews during the *Abbasid period was not stable. Some of the rulers were tolerant to them while others oppressed them variously. The caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd (786–809) persecuted the Jews and sought to humiliate them. He imposed heavy taxes and discriminated against them in regard to their dress, commerce, and other matters. The attitude changed under his son, the caliph al-Ma'mūn (813–833), who was a devotee of the sciences. At the beginning of his rule he revealed a tolerant attitude toward the Jews, but at its end he changed this policy for the worse as a result of his advisers' influence. During the reign of the caliph al-Mutawakkil (847–861) the Jewish situation was severely aggravated. This caliph issued, in 850, decrees which degraded the Jews and other non-Muslims. He instituted a yellow head covering and, for the servants and the poor, a yellow patch to be prominently worn on their clothes, on the chest or on the back. Four years later he added some new decrees on the color of clothes and on women's clothing. Various restrictions concerned with living quarters, taxes, and other matters are also attributed to him (see Covenant of *Omar). It may be assumed that not all these decrees were applied. In spite of all the restrictions, many Jews adapted themselves to the values of the Muslim culture. They distinguished themselves as physicians and writers, played important roles in the economic life and held government positions. The fact that it was necessary from time to time to renew the decrees on clothing proves that they were not generally enforced.

During the terms of office of the gaon*Aharon b. Joseph ha-Cohen Sargado, Baghdad was conquered by the Buwayhid emirs who ruled Iraq for more than a century (945–1055). This Persian Shi'ite dynasty was extremely fanatic and cruelly persecuted the Sunni Muslims, the Jews, and the Christians. They abolished the former rights of the exilarch to collect the poll tax, and the Jews were compelled to pay it to Muslim collectors who oppressed them severely. The situation of the Jews improved during the rule of the *Seljuks (1055–1150). After the Seljuks the Abbasid caliphs restored their power, and a change for the worse occurred during the reign of caliph al-Muqtadī (1075–1094), who adopted a harsh attitude toward both the Jews and the Christians. He imposed heavy taxes upon them and compelled them to live according the discriminatory decrees issued by the caliph al-Mutwwakil. After him the situation of the Jews improved and their former autonomy was restored.

*Baghdad was founded by the caliph al-Manṣūr (754–775) and became the capital of the Abbasids. The Jewish community begin to expand until it became the largest one in Iraq and the seat of the *exilarch.

Under Muslim rule the academies of *Sura and *Pumbedita began to prosper. The heads of these academies were known, from then on, as *geonim. The golden age of the geonim parallels the days of splendor of the Abbasid caliphate.

According to the traveler *Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Iraq in about 1170, the caliph was most favorable to the Jews; there were many Jewish officials in his service. The traveler R. *Pethahiah of Regensburg, who visited Iraq at the beginning of the reign of the caliph al-Nāṣir (1180–1225) greatly admired the erudition of the Jews of Babylonia: "… Babylonia is an entirely different world, their occupation consisting of Torah study and the fear of heaven, even the Ishmaelites are trustworthy … in Babylon there are 30 synagogues in addition to that of Daniel …" (Sibbuv Rabbi Petahyah (1905), 8, 24).

After the death of R. Hai the offices of the head of the academy (rosh yeshivah) and the exilarch (resh galuta) were both held by *Hezekiah b. David (1038–1058).

The academies of Sura and Pumbedita had been transferred to Baghdad during the 9^th and the 10^th century. In the middle of the 11^th century they ceased to exist and were replaced by the Academy of Baghdad.

Under Mongol Rule (1258–1335)

Following *Mongols' occupation of Iraq in 1258, which caused total destruction and disaster all over the south and the center of the land, the Jewish communities of Baghdad and Basra did not recover for many generations. The attitude of the new rulers toward the Jews at the beginning of their reign changed for the better. Some of them advanced to high positions of state. The first of these was *Saʿd al-Dawla who was appointed a physician of the sultan Arghun Khan (1284–91) and then as a finance minister of the Il-khan kingdom. However, in 1291, when the sultan was in his sickbed, Sa'd al-Dawla was executed. The same fate was met 27 years later by another Jewish personality, *Rashid al-Dawla (1247–1318), who was a physician, capable financier, historian, and philosopher. He attained high rank and was appointed as physician of the khan and the chief minister (vizir); his enemies accused him of having poisoned the khan and had him executed. The situation of the Jews began to worsen when Ghazan Khan (1295–1304) converted to Islam. At that time a number of Jews were compelled to follow suit. In 1333 and 1334 the synagogues of Baghdad were destroyed, Jewish property was looted and, again, a number of Jews converted to Islam.

The occupation of the country by Tamerlane in 1393 caused destruction of a large part of Baghdad and other towns. The Baghdad community did not recover until the end of the 18^th and the beginning of the 19^th century.

Under Ottoman Rule

The Ottomans occupied Baghdad in 1534; their rule continued until 1917, except for 15 years (1623–38) when the Persians ruled the country and dealt very harshly with the Jews.

The shariʿa (the Islamic Code) was the law of the *Ottoman Empire, so the dhimmīs were treated according to this religious code. Jews suffered from minor discrimination under the Ottomans, and the Iraqi Jews, in general, lived under a tolerant regime. They paid a moderate poll tax and enjoyed relative freedom. Nevertheless, anti-Jewish crime or agitation on a petty scale was ready to appear. At times the Turkish governors oppressed the Jews and the poll tax was collected with many abuses by the highest bidder.

From 1830 to 1917, 42 Turkish valis governed Iraq. Mustafa Nuri Pasha (1860–61) tried to confiscate the shrine of the prophet *Ezekiel (traditionally considered buried in the village of Kifil) from the Jews; and Mustafa 'Asim Pasha (1887–89) made false accusations against the Jews. In the time of the last vali, Khalil Pasha, 17 Jewish notables of Baghdad were accused of having engaged in illegal commerce. They were cruelly tortured and then executed. Conversely, there were some enlightened officials who restored order and brought peace to the country. The most prominent of these were Midhat Pasha (1869–72) and Hüseyin Nazim Pasha (1910–11). During their rule the Jews enjoyed security and tranquility.

demographic changes

The Jewish population of Baghdad in 1824 was estimated at about 1,500 Jewish families. In 1831 it was reported that about 7,000 Jews were dwelling in a special quarter of the city and that they were employed in various governmental jobs. In 1845 the population of Baghdad was estimated at about 16,000 Jews, 40,000 Muslims, and 4,000 Christians. The traveler R. *Benjaminii (1848) put the number of the Jewish families in Baghdad at 3,000 with nine synagogues.

Scores of small Jewish communities were scattered throughout northern Iraq. The largest was in Mosul, which in 1848 had about 450 Jewish families. The figure of 3,000 Jews in this city remained stable until approximately the beginning the 20^th century. The decline of the economic standing of Mosul seems to have contributed to the departure of Jews for Baghdad. According to official figures, there were in 1919 in all the northern districts (Mosul, Arbil, Suleimania, and Kirkuk) 13,835 Jews. According to the census of 1947 there were in the northern districts 19,767 Jews.

The main demographic changes occurred from the mid-19^th century on. A considerable internal emigration from north to south followed the opening of the Suez-Canal (1869), which shifted the commercial pathway from the overland route (from Europe to India via *Aleppo in *Syria and Mosul in northern Iraq) to the naval route, thus favoring the Iraqi port of Basra. Economic conditions in the north begin to deteriorate. The Jews, like others, started to move southward. North to south emigration was also encouraged by changes introduced during the reign of the Vali Midhat Pasha (1869–72), who succeeded in pacifying the tribes of central and southern Iraq and protecting the cities from their attacks. The two small Jewish communities in southern Iraq (Basra and Hilla) had grown larger, and additional communities settled in 'Amara, Qal'at Salih. 'Ali al-Gharbi, and Musyab. The Jewish movement to the south, however, declined after World War i, except for Basra.

The Jewish community of Baghdad continued to increase. In the year 1860 there lived in Baghdad about 20,000 Jews among 70,000 non-Jews. In 1889, they were estimated at about 25,000 among a population of 100,000 Muslims and 5,000 Christians. An account by the British Consul in Baghdad, in February 1910 stated, "The Jewish community at Baghdad is, after that of Salonica, the most numerous, important, and prosperous in Turkey." At the beginning of the 20^th century the Jewish community of Baghdad numbered about 45,000, In 1919 the British put the figures of Iraqi Jews at 87,488 among a total population of 2,849,283; that is to say 3.1%. In the Baghdad district there were about 50,000 Jews in a total of 250,000 inhabitants. Official Iraqi statistics, based on the 1947 census, put the total number of Iraqi Jews at 118,000 or 2.6% of the total population of 4.5 million. In spite of this official census, some studies suggest that the real number of Jews in the late 1940s was higher. During the years 1948–51, 123,500 Jews immigrated to Israel, with several thousand others leaving during this period for other countries. About 6,000 Jews remained in Iraq after the mass immigration. This led to the conclusion that the total number of Jews in Iraq in the late 1940s was about 135,000.

social change

The reforms in the Ottoman Empire that took place in the second half of the 19^th century (Tanzimat) improved the legal status of the Jews. Theoretically they became equal in rights and obligations. The traditional poll tax (jizya), which symbolized the inferiority of the dhimmis and their subject status, was rescinded. The fiscal change was, however, cosmetic in a sense, since the jizya was replaced in 1855 by a new levy, Bedel-i'Askari or military substitution tax, which exempted the non-Muslims from military service, for which they had become technically liable with the granting of civil equality. In 1909, shortly after the Young Turks' coup, this tax was canceled, and about 100 young Baghdadi Jews applied for admission to officers training school.

When World War i broke out, several thousands of Iraqi Jews were drafted into the Ottoman Army and sent to distant fronts, from which many of them did not return.

The most far-reaching of the reforms came in the reorganization of the millet all over the Empire. In Baghdad the post of the Nasi (the leader of the Jewish community) was suppressed in 1849, and the community was recognized as a millet. Its leadership was vested in a religious personality (the ḥakham bashi), "the chief rabbi." Later on, in 1931, under the British Mandate a new law was enacted to replace the Ottoman one. This law permitted the vesting of the leadership of Baghdad's Jewish community in a secular personality. Relying upon this law, it was possible in 1949 to replace Chief Rabbi *Sassoon Kadoorie with Heskel Shemtov.

As a result of the improvement in their civil status deriving from the reforms, the Jews were appointed to positions of judges, lecturers in the universities, officials in governmental service, and police officers. They also were appointed as members of city councils.

In 1869, when Midhat Pasha carried out the vilayet system, he appointed a leading Jewish notable, Menahem *Daniel, as council member of the Baghdad vilayet (Majlis al-Idāra). Daniel was also elected to parliament, which was opened in 1877 in Istanbul. This was a precedent which was followed in 1908 by the election of Heskel *Sassoon (1860–1932) to parliament.

The changes in the status of the dhimmis did not sit well with the traditionally minded Muslims. Anti-Christian violence erupted in many places in the Middle East, but not in Iraq. However, when the Young Turks tried to bring into force their notions of liberty, equality, and justice in Iraq, the Muslims greeted them with shock and dismay. They reacted on October 15, 1908, with violence against the Jews of Baghdad, which resulted in 40 wounded Jews. This event disabused the Jews of Baghdad of any illusions of equality.

Education and Literature

religious education

In 1832 Midrash Talmud Torah was founded in Baghdad, which continued its activity until the mass immigration in the mid-20^th century. In 1840 a religious academy, "Yeshivat Bet Zilkha," was founded after 100 years during which there was no such institution. This yeshivah educated rabbis for the Iraqi communities and those of its neighboring countries.

The founding of modern schools accelerated the secular trend in education among Iraqi Jews. The role of the bet midrash and the yeshivah was steadily undermined and became insignificant by the 1940s.

secular education

The first school of the *Alliance Israélite Universelle for boys was founded in Baghdad in 1865 and for girls in 1883. More elementary schools were later opened in the provincial towns of Iraq. Those schools introduced modern methods of teaching and included foreign languages in the curriculum alongside Arabic, French, English, and Turkish. It created a real gap between the educational level of the Jews and that of the non-Jews. It qualified the Jews to be businessmen, clerks, and employees in the governmental offices and banks. This gap prevailed until the mass emigration and aroused the jealousy of the non-Jews in the country, causing friction between the Jews and their neighbors.

By the 1920s numerous schools had been established, mostly by Jewish philanthropists, and maintained by both Jewish community funds and regular contributions by the Iraqi government.

The number of the schools supervised by the Jewish community in Baghdad continued to rise, reaching 20 at the time of the mass exodus of 1950–51. In addition to the regular schools, a number of other institutes were established, including a school for the blind, orphanages, a music school, vocational centers, and charitable organizations.

Jewish students began attending universities in Iraq and abroad after World War i, and government schools were open to Jews as well as to other religious and ethnic minorities. In the 1930s there was no restriction on the number of Jewish students in governmental schools and colleges. Later, in the 1940s, a preferential quota introduced for scientific and medical colleges affected Jews' chances of entering these colleges.

The liberal and secular trend brought about a stronger association of Iraqi Jews and Arab culture and led Jews to take a more active role in public and cultural life. A considerable number of prominent Jewish writers and poets emerged, whose works in Arabic were both well known and well regarded; among them were the poet and historian Meir *Basri (1911– ) and the poet Anwar *Sha'ul (1904–1984). Jewish journalists founded a number of newspapers and magazines in Arabic, such as al-Misbah (1924–1929) and al-Hasid (1929–1937). Jewish journalists contributed to the Iraqi press and occasionally wrote for the Arabic press outside Iraq.

From the 1920s a number of Jews were also prominent in the Iraqi theater and performed in Arabic. Many Jews in Iraq distinguished themselves in music as singers, composers, and players of traditional instruments.

Some works by the Jewish intelligentsia were Arabic in essence and expressed the cultural life of the country.

[Abraham Ben-Yaacob and

Hayyim J. Cohen /

Nissim Kazzaz (2^nd ed.)]

British Occupation and Mandate (1917–1932)

The Jews under the British occupation (1917–21) enjoyed full rights of equality and freedom as well as a feeling of security. The majority of the Jews considered themselves as British citizens. Some grew rich, others were employed in the British administration, especially in Baghdad and Basra. They were interested in the continuation of British rule, and they expressed this in 1918, only a week after the armistice went into effect, when the Jewish community of Baghdad presented a petition to the civil commissioner of Baghdad, asking him to make them British subjects. Twice again, in 1919 and 1920, the Jews of Iraq appealed to the British high commissioner and asked him not to allow an Arab government to come to power or at least to grant British citizenship to the Jewish community en masse. The British authorities rejected this request, and the Jews were eventually appeased by personal assurances that ample guaranties would be afforded. However, when in April 1930 the League of Nations decided to adopt the mandate, the Jewish leaders decided to support the establishment of an Iraqi state under the British Mandate.

The Jews were given further assurances by Amir Faysal (1883–1933), who was the leading British candidate for the Iraqi throne. The new monarch-to-be made numerous speeches, including one before the Jewish community of Baghdad on July 18, 1921, one month before his coronation, in which he emphasized the equality of all Iraqis, irrespective of religion.

King Faysal continued to maintain cordial personal relations with individual members of the Jewish elite through his 12-year reign. As his first finance minister, he appointed Sir Sasson *Heskel, the only Jew who ever held cabinet rank in Iraq. Four members represented the Jews in the Iraqi parliament. In 1946 their number increased to six. In the Senate Menahem Salih *Daniel represented them and after him his son, Ezra *Daniel.

Because of their generally superior educational qualifications, Jews and Christians could be found in the civil service during the first decade of the kingdom while it was still under the British Mandate. However, as early as 1921, a strong Arab nationalist element rejected the employment of foreigners and non-Muslims. This opposition intensified after Iraq had gained full independence in 1932 and became even stronger after the death of Faysal the following year.

zionist activity during the british mandate

Zionist activity resumed in Iraq about a year after World War i ended; though still unorganized, serious fundraising was undertaken through the initiatives of a few individuals. Despite the substantial sums donated by a few wealthy philanthropists for development projects in the Holy Land, most of the Jewish mercantile elite of Iraq remained unattracted by Zionism. The first organized Zionist group in the postwar period included a schoolteacher, a law student, and a police officer. In 1920 they founded an association in Baghdad with the innocuous name of "Jamʿiyya Adabiyya Isrā ʾ iliyya" ("Jewish Literary Society"), which published a short-lived journal in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic, Yeshurun. In early 1921, a group within the Jewish Literary Society founded a separate Zionist society, "Al-Jam ʿi yya al-Sahyuniyya li-Bilād al-Rāfidayn" ("The Mesopotamian Zionist Society) under the presidency of Aaron Sassoon b. Eliahu *Nahum, who was also known as "ha-Moreh" (the teacher). The society received a permit from the government. Ha-Moreh was very active together with his deputy, the lawyer Joseph Elias Gabbai, and others. The organization's headquarters were in Baghdad and branches existed in Basra, Khanaqin, Amara and Arbil. Fundraising was the principal object of the Zionists in Iraq during the 1920s. Emissaries from the Holy Land were well received and helped by the authorities of the British Mandate and senior Iraqi officials. The Zionists enjoyed considerable sympathy from the poorer Jewish masses, who demonstrated their support in vocal public gatherings, which offended Arab public opinion, but failed to attract any influential community figures. The unrestrained behavior of the Zionists caused anxiety among members of the upper class such as Menahem Salih Daniel, a leading Baghdadi Jewish notable and later, as noted above, a senator in the Iraqi Senate. In reacting to the request for help in promoting Zionist activities in Iraq, he foresaw the danger to the community because of the political style the Zionists endorsed. Zionist ideology was attacked by another prominent figure, Joseph al-*Kabir, a Baghdadi Jewish lawyer, in a letter published in the Iraq Times in November 1938.

British officials and the native Arab authorities also warned both the Zionists and the visiting representative of the movement against public activities and indiscreet statements. The nationalist press was more emphatic in this regard. Therefore, even though no actual ban was imposed upon their activities in Iraq until 1929, the need to maintain a low profile increased when the Zionist committee found it could not renew its permit in 1922, although it was allowed to continue operating unofficially until 1929.

In 1923 a "Keren Hayesod" committee was founded in Baghdad; contributions to the national funds passed through this committee. The size of contributions increased during the early years of British rule (1920–1924), but declined steadily afterwards, and Iraqi Jews were not represented at any international Zionist Congress after 1927. Evidence also shows that Congress representatives of the community before that date were actually foreigners who had succeeded in selling in Iraq the number of shekels required for representation by Zionist Congress rulers.

Short-lived Zionist societies were established at the end of the British Mandate, such as "Agudat Ahi'ever" (1929), whose aim was to spread the Hebrew book; the "Maccabi" sport society (1929–1930); "Histadrut ha-Noʿar ha-Ivri" (1929) and others. Hebrew teachers from the Holy Land were invited to teach Hebrew and Jewish history.

The visit of Sir Alfred Mond (a well-known Zionist) to Baghdad, in February 1928, marked the first anti-Zionist demonstration in the city. Some Jews who passed by were beaten.

The Palestine disturbances, which erupted in August 1929, aroused a widespread and highly vocal reaction in Iraq. The press published exaggerated reports placing the Arab casualties in the thousands. A leading national paper claimed that the Jews had thrown a bomb into a mosque, killing 70 worshipers at Friday prayers. On August 30 some 10,000 Arabs gathered in a Baghdad mosque, where prayers were recited for the victims of British and Zionist aggression. After the speeches, the crowd poured out into the streets for a demonstration march, which turned into violent clashes with the police. Some of the speakers did not differentiate between Zionists and other Iraqi Jews.

From that time the Iraqi government began to persecute Zionism, Palestinian Jewish teachers were expelled. In 1935 ha-Moreh was arrested and forced to leave Iraq for Palestine. After that there was no legal Zionist activity in Iraq.

Fascism and Antisemitism (1933–1941)

Iraqi Jews did not know the kind of *antisemitism that prevailed in some Christian states of Europe. The first attempt to copy modern European antisemitic libels was made in 1924 by Sādiq Rasūl al-Qādirī, a former officer in the White Russian Army. He published his views, particularly that of worldwide conspiracy, in a Baghdadi newspaper. The Jewish response in its own weekly newspaper, al-Misbah, compelled al-Qādirī to apologize, although he later published his antisemitic memoirs.

At that time the press drew a clear dividing line between Judaism and Zionism. This line became blurred in the 1930s, along with the demand to remove Jews from the genealogical tree of the Semitic peoples. This anti-Jewish trend coincided with Faysal's death in 1933, which brought about a noticeable change for the Jewish community. His death also came at the same time as the Assyrian massacre, which created a climate of insecurity among the minorities. Iraqi Jewry at that time had been subject to threats and invectives emanating not only from extremist elements, but also from official state institutions as well. Dr. Sāmī Shawkat, a high official in the Ministry of Education in the pre-war years and for a while its director general, was the head of "al-Futuwwa," an imitation of Hitler's Youth. In one of his addresses, "The Profession of Death," he called on Iraqi youth to adopt the way of life of Nazi Fascists. In another speech he branded the Jews as the enemy from within, who should be treated accordingly. In another, he praised Hitler and Mussolini for eradicating their internal enemies (the Jews). Syrian and Palestinian teachers often supported Shawkat in his preaching.

The German ambassador, Dr. F. Grobba, distributed funds and Nazi films, books, and pamphlets in the capital of Iraq, mostly sponsoring the anti-British and the nationalists. Grobba also serialized Hitler's book Mein Kampf in a daily newspaper. He and his German cadre maintained a great influence upon the leadership of the state and upon many classes of the Iraqi people, especially through the directors of the Ministry of Education.

The first anti-Jewish act occurred in September 1934, when 10 Jews were dismissed from their posts in the Ministry of Economics and Communications. From then on an unofficial quota was fixed for the number of Jews to be appointed to the civil service.

Pro-Palestinian, anti-British, anti-Jewish, and anti-Zionist sentiments rose to new heights in Iraq in 1936. The Arab general strike and the revolt, which erupted in Palestine that year, gave the conflict a new centrality in Arab politics. The atmosphere in Baghdad became highly charged. The Committee for the Defense of Palestine circulated anti-Jewish pamphlets. Over a four-week period, extending from mid-September to mid-October, three Jews were murdered in Baghdad and in Basra. A bomb, which however failed to explode, was thrown into a Baghdadi synagogue on Yom Kippur (September 27). Several other bombs were thrown at Jewish clubs, and street gangs roughed up a number of Jews.

The president of the Baghdadi Jewish community, Rabbi Sassoon *Kadoorie, who was himself a staunch anti-Zionist, issued a public statement, in response to a demand from the national press, affirming loyalty to the Arab cause in Palestine and dissociating Iraqi Jewry from Zionism. This did not bring about any real improvement in the situation and, in August 1937, incidents against the Jews were renewed, fostered then and later by Syrians and Palestinians who had settled in Iraq.

the anti-jewish pogrom on june 1–2, 1941 – "alfarhud."

On June 1, the first day of Shavuʿot, which in Iraq was traditionally marked by joyous pilgrimages to the tomb of holy men and visits of friends and relatives, the Hashemite regent, 'Abd al-Ilāh, returned to the capital from his exile in Transjordan. A festive crowd of Jews crossed over the west bank of the Tigris River to welcome the returning prince. On the way back, a group of soldiers, who were soon joined by civilians, turned on the Jews and attacked them, killing one and injuring others. Anti-Jewish riots soon spread throughout the city, especially on the east bank of the Tigris, where most of the Jews lived. By nightfall, a major pogrom was under way, led by soldiers and paramilitary youth gangs, followed by a mob. The rampage of murder and plunder in the Jewish neighborhoods and business districts continued until the afternoon of the following day, when the regent finally gave orders for the police to fire upon the rioters and Kurdish troops were brought in to maintain order.

In the " Farhud," 179 Jews of both sexes and all ages were killed, 242 children were left orphans, and 586 businesses were looted, 911 buildings housing more than 12,000 people were pillaged. The total property loss was estimated by the Jewish community's own investigating committee to be approximately 680,000 pounds.

The " Farhud " dramatically undermined the confidence of all Iraqi Jewry and, like the Assyrian massacres of 1933, had a highly unsettling effect upon all the Iraqi minorities. Nevertheless, many Jews tried to convince themselves that the worst was over. A factor in this was the commercial boom during the war, of which the Jewish business community was the prime beneficiary. Another factor was the tranquility which prevailed during the next years of the war. But the shadow of the " Farhud " continued to hover for years.

The pogrom caused a split between the youth of the Jewish community and its traditional leadership. The new generation turned to two separate directions: the Communist and the Zionist movements, the activity of both being underground.

The Jewish Youth Between Zionism and Communism

in the communist party

The Communist underground was joined by some young Jewish intellectuals who believed that by changing the regime of the state salvation would come to them as a minority. During the 1940s they played an important part in organizing demonstrations and anti-government activities. Two of them reached the top ranks of the party and were hanged in 1949. In 1946 'Uṣbat Mukāfahat al-Ṣahyūniyya' (the Anti-Zionist League) was authorized by the Iraqi government. This League succeeded in attracting many intellectuals. Its meetings were well attended and its daily newspaper, 'al-'Usba', was widely read. The League soon established itself as an outspoken representative of the Iraqi Jewish community on the issue of Palestine. It distinguished between Judaism and Zionism, terming the latter a "colonialist phenomenon." In June 1946 the League organized a large demonstration in Baghdad against "the injustice in Palestine." Three months after granting permission, the authorities banned 'al-'Usba' and closed it. Its leaders were arrested and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The role of Jewish communists was visible in the daily demonstrations of February 1948, which erupted against the Portsmouth Agreement, endangered the regime, and brought down the government. The Jewish communists succeeded in convincing many Jews, including the leadership of the Jewish community, to participate in the demonstrations. By their behavior they stirred the anger of the government, which removed its protection from its Jewish subjects and began to display an official antisemitic policy.

the zionist underground

The Zionist Movement renewed its activity in March 1942 by forming the youth organization called Tenu'at he-Ḥalutz (the Pioneer Movement) and paramilitary youth, Haganah, among Iraqi Jews. Contrary to the Communist underground, the Zionists did not work against the regime. They concentrated on teaching Hebrew and educating the young generation to Zionism and pioneering. A main purpose was to convince the Jews, mainly the youth, to immigrate to Ereẓ Israel.

The ranks of the Zionist movement in Iraq increased when World War ii was over, and the Iraqi press began to address the Palestine question. The Zionist underground organizations in Iraq, despite some crises, were flooded, from 1945 until 1951, with requests for joining. The most dangerous crisis was that of October 1949, which nearly wiped out the Zionist movement in Iraq. The Iraqi authorities arrested about 50 Jews who were accused of Zionism and court-martialed. The second crisis was that of May–June 1951. When the evacuation of the Jews was nearing its end, the Iraqi government uncovered a spy ring in Baghdad, run by two foreigners, Yehuda Tajir and Rodny, who were arrested. The authorities also discovered explosives, guns, files, typewriters, presses, and membership lists hidden in synagogues or buried in private homes. As a result, the police arrested about 80 Jews, 13 of them were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, two others (Yosef Basri and Shalom Saleh) were sentenced to death and hanged on January 19, 1952. By June 15, 1951, the order was given to the Zionist underground to cease its activity in Iraq.

Official Antisemitism

When World War ii was over the former pro-Nazi followers were released and began anew their activities and incitement against the Jews. The General Assembly vote in favor of the partition of Palestine on November 29, 1947, increased tensions between Arabs and Jews in Iraq and the authorities started to oppress the Jews.

The declaration of martial law, before sending Iraqi troops to Palestine, marked the beginning of official antisemitism. At first it was directed mainly against Communists but soon was used against Jews, when it became clear that the Arab offensive in Palestine was encountering serious difficulties. Now the Iraqi authorities seemed increasingly willing to accommodate anti-Jewish demands as a mean of diverting the attention of the Iraqi population from the failure in Palestine and from concern with social and political reforms. From now on, abuses and restrictions characterized the life of the Jews in Iraq. Restrictions were imposed on travel abroad and disposal of property. Hundreds of Jews were dismissed from public service; efforts were made to eliminate Jews from the army and the police; they were prohibited from buying and selling property; they were also discriminated against in obtaining the necessary licenses granting access to some professions.

At the same time the nationalist press opened with aggressive attacks against the Jews, practically daily. The longstanding distinction between Judaism and Zionism was fast becoming blurred, The Jews were held responsible for the economic hardship faced by Iraq in 1948–49, and their leaders were threatened by the national press. The most important effect, which shook the Jewish community to the core, was the hanging of Shafiq Adas, one of the wealthiest Jews in the country, in front of his house in Basra on September 23, 1948. Adas was condemned on the unlikely charge of having supplied scrap metal to the Zionist state.

When Adas was executed about 450 Jews were in the jails; added to these were those arrested the following year, in early October 1949. The detainees were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 2 to 10 years. In carrying out the arrests the police also arrested another 700 Jews and released them after investigation, most of them were relatives of those who were brought before martial courts.

The Exodus – Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

Throughout 1949, the general disaffection of Iraqi Jewry was exacerbated. With this atmosphere Jewish youths were fleeing the country. The clandestine crossing of the Iranian border began to assume major proportions. Within a few months in 1950, about 10,000 Jews fled Iraq in this way. Once in Iran, most Iraqi Jews were directed to the large refugee camp administered by the Joint Distribution Committee near Teheran, and from there they were airlifted to Israel.

In an attempt to stabilize the situation and to solve the Jewish problem, the government introduced a bill in the Iraqi Parliament at the beginning of March 1950 that would in effect permit Jews who desired to leave the country for good to do so after renouncing their Iraqi citizenship. The bill also provided for the denaturalization of those Jews who had already left the country. The bill was duly passed in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate as Law No. 1 0f 1950.

Iraqi government officials thought that only about 6,000–7,000 and at most 10,000 Jews would take advantage of the new law. The British diplomats in Baghdad and the Israelis shared this view as well. They were all mistaken. The Jews were tired of life in Iraq. And when the Zionist organization in Iraq issued a call at the end of Passover (April 8, 1950) for Jews to come forward and register for emigration in the centers which had been set up at the major synagogues, the call was highly effective. The overwhelming majority of the Jewish community preferred to leave their birthplace. By July 5, 1951, about 105,000 had arrived in Israel.

On March 10, 1951, only one day after the registration deadline had passed, while nearly 65,000 Jews were waiting for departure, the authorities enacted a law which froze the assets of all departing Jews and placed them under the control of a government bureau. Parliament passed a second law, which declared that those Iraqi Jews who were abroad and did not return home within a specific period would forfeit both their nationality and their property. Although some individuals succeeded in smuggling out some money after March 10, 1951, many more were reduced to paupers, being allowed to take out only 50 dinars ($140) per adult and 20 to 30 dinars ($56 to $84) per minor, depending upon the age.

After the Mass Emigration

About 6,000 Jews preferred to remain in Iraq after the mass emigration. Over the years this number fell to about 4,700 in 1957 and about 3,000 in 1968 when the Baʿth Party came to power in Iraq. Their number continued to decline and in the early 21^st century there were only a handful of Jews still living in Iraq. Most of those remaining were from the elite and the rich families, who believed that the violent storm which had marked the life of the Jews in Iraq before and during the mass emigration would pass.

The Jewish community, which consisted before the mass emigration of about one quarter of the population of Baghdad, now became a small and unimportant one. These Jews no longer dominated the economic and the financial life of the country, and Jewish youth posed no danger to the regime through activities in the communist underground. So the regime removed some of the restrictions, and the pressure upon them was lightened to some degree. But in principle, the antagonistic attitude to them remained. Still in force were the restrictions on Jews registering in the universities and the sanction of taking away Iraqi nationality from those who did not return to the country within a limited time, which was marked in their passports. In 1954 the authorities nationalized the Jewish Meir Elias Hospital, which was the most modern and largest in Iraq. The Iraqi government also expropriated from the Jewish community the Rima Kheduri Hospital, which treated eye diseases.

Relief came under Brigadier 'Abd al-Karīm Qāsim (1958–1963), who toppled the monarchy by a military revolution on July 14, 1958. Qāsim canceled all the restrictions against the Jews. He also released Yehuda Tajir and let him go back to Israel. The Jewish golden age under Qāsim was affected however by the confiscation and destruction of the Jewish cemetery, located in the middle of the capital, in order to build a tower to immortalize his name.

Qāsim was assassinated by Colonel 'Abd al-Salām 'Ārif, who carried out a successful coup on February 13, 1963. The new rulers reinstated all the restrictions which had been in force before Qāsim, and added others: Passports were not to be issued to Jews; the Jews were prevented from discounting their promissory notes and it was prohibited to grant them credit in the then-nationalized banks; again, Jewish students were not to be admitted to government colleges; a warning was issued to all Jews abroad to return to Iraq within three months, otherwise they would be denationalized and their movable and immovable property in Iraq would be sequestrated; Jews were not allowed to sell their landed property.

After the Six-Day War, the situation of the Iraqi Jews worsened more. They were terrorized and cruelly persecuted. The government opened with a series of detentions, enacted laws, and issued instructions which brought the Jewish community to the threshold of starvation. The measures taken against the small isolated Jewish community of Baghdad after the Six-Day War included: warning the public not to cooperate with them; expelling them from all social clubs; depriving Jewish importers and pharmacists of their licenses; forbidding all transactions with Jews (including access to the banks); prohibiting them from selling their cars and furniture; and cutting off all telephone communications from their homes, offices, or stores.

Under the Baʿth regime (1968–2003), persecution increased and many Jews reached starvation level. Some were jailed, accused of spying or held without any formal charge. Within one year (January 1969–January 1970), 13 were hanged; up to April 1973 the total number of Jews hanged, murdered, kidnapped, or who simply disappeared reached 46; dozens more were jailed.

The shock following the executions of the innocent Jews caused repercussions throughout the world and the world conscience was aroused. The Iraqi government responded to the world reaction by relaxing, for a while, some of its anti-Jewish discriminatory measures, including those limiting travel in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, too. At the same time a peace treaty was signed (March 1970) between the Iraqi government and the Kurdish rebels. Some Jews seized the opportunity and escaped across the Kurdish Mountains, in the summer of 1970, to the Iranian frontier. Up to 300 Jews fled the country in this way. In September 1971 the authorities began to issue passports to the Jews, and about 1,300 Jews left Iraq legally. They sought refuge mainly in England, Canada, the United States, and Israel. In 1975 the Jews in Iraq numbered about 350; over time this figure declined further, reaching c. 120 in 1996. At the beginning of the 21^st century, as stated, there were only a handful of Jews there. Thus came to its end the most ancient Diaspora of the Jewish people.

[Nissim Kazzaz (2^nd ed.)]

Iraq and Israel

*Jordan and *Syria, including 440 mi. (700 km.) of desert and steppe, come between Iraq and Israel, making Iraq's interests and fears vis-à-vis Israel less realistic than those of the Arab states that border directly upon the latter. Iraq has no territorial questions to settle with Israel, and its own internal and foreign problems (the Kurds, the Persian Gulf, conflicts with *Iran, social and economic unrest, the absence of a stable and representative government) are more pressing and important than the conflict with Israel. The position taken by Iraq toward Israel has been a function of its inter-Arab aspirations and relations; the importance of the Pan-Arab factor among active Iraqi circles, especially the Sunnis, who, under Ṣaddām, were the basic support of the Iraqi authorities; and its interest in an outlet on the Mediterranean Sea. Under both Hashemite and republican rule, Iraq nonetheless displayed active and extreme hostility toward Israel.

There were, however, certain differences in Iraqi policy toward Israel between the Hashemite period and the revolutionary republic established in 1958. During the Hashemite monarchy and Nūrī al-Saʿīd's rule, the latter proposed (in his "Blue Book" of 1943) a certain degree of autonomy for the Jewish community in Palestine in the framework of his plan for a federation of the Fertile Crescent. This period was also characterized by the special ties between Hashemite Iraq and Jordan and the need to justify the alliance between Iraq and Britain by displays of anti-Israel extremism and anti-Israel influence on Britain. On the other hand, in his contacts with the British, Nūrī al-Saʿīd was willing to discuss a compromise solution in Palestine on the basis of the un partition plan. At the time leftist circles in Iraq did not show any special hostility toward Israel.ʿAbd al-Karīm Qāsim (July 1958–February 1963) exploited anti-Israel positions and support for the Palestinians in his inter-Arab struggles, but he did not actually turn his attention to a struggle against Israel and personally was not particularly extreme in relation to this subject. After Qāsim's fall the combination of a military government and the Pan-Arab ideology of the ruling Baʿth Party exacerbated hostility toward Israel.

Iraq became increasingly one of the most extreme forces in Arab deliberations and often called for the destruction of Israel. This extremism was motivated by Iraq's competition with *Egypt for supremacy in the Arab world and the desire to place Egypt in an untenable position by proposing initiatives that Egypt could not accept and thus making the latter seem to be weak and hesitant. Anti-Israel extremism also served the Iraqi regimes as (a) a pretext for initiatives and intervention in the countries of the Fertile Crescent and competition with Syria, one of the most outspoken of Israel's enemies; (b) in the struggle with the opposition nationalist factors within Iraq, which tend toward Pan-Arabism and hostility toward Israel; (c) as a justification of government policy among the Iraqi public and to deflect attention from more pressing internal problems. It was also motivated by feelings of injured prestige and the longing for revenge, especially among the army following the defeats in the wars against Israel.

Despite the logistical difficulties, Iraq participated in two wars against Israel (1948, 1967), and during the Sinai Campaign (1956) sent troops into Jordan. As early as December 1947, it demanded that regular Arab troops invade that country, following the un decision to partition Palestine. When irregular Arab forces were waging war in Palestine (end of 1947–May 14, 1948), Iraqis stood out among the officers and soldiers of the Arab "rescue force." The Iraqi deputy chief of staff, General Ismāʿil Ṣafwat, was appointed head of the Palestinian forces and volunteers, and Ṭāhā al-Hāshimī was appointed inspector general of the "rescue force." With the invasion of Palestine by regular Arab forces (May 15, 1948), the Iraqi general Nūr-Din Maḥmūd was appointed acting commander. The Iraqi force that invaded Palestine waged hard-fought battles against the Israel Defense Forces in the Jenin area at the beginning of June 1948. Just before the Six-Day War a token force came from Iraq to Egypt (May 31) and after hostilities broke out an Iraqi brigade entered Jordan (June 5) and an Iraqi plane bombed Netanyah (June 6). The Iraqi brigade that entered Jordan at the beginning of the war was not withdrawn with the cease-fire and was added to later on until the Iraqi expedition force reached 12,000 soldiers. In March 1969 an Iraqi force of 6,000 men entered southern Syria in the framework of the Eastern Arab Command against Israel. The Iraqi contingent in Jordan participated in bombardments of Israel territory a number of times after the Six-Day War.

Iraq objected to the cease-fires of June and July 1948, and refused to conduct negotiations on an armistice with Israel (as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon did). In June 1949 Iraq withdrew its forces from the "triangle" sector (Shechem-Jenin-Ṭūl-Karm). It also avoided expressly agreeing to the 1967 cease-fire, replying on June 15, 1967, that its forces were under joint command with Jordan, which agreed to the cease-fire. Iraq strongly opposed the Security Council resolution of Nov. 22, 1967 and any political settlement in Palestine.

Except for times of war there has been a large gap between the ostensible extremism of Iraq and its actual contributions to Arab belligerence against Israel. Among the factors that precluded more active Iraqi participation were internal struggles and difficulties, the extended battles against the Kurds, and tension regarding Iran and the Persian Gulf. Iraqi propaganda also accused Israel of lending support to the Kurds. Iraqi hostility to Israel continued unabated; a symptom was its firing 39 scud missiles into Israel in the 1991 first Gulf War (although Israel was not a participant in that war). The downfall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 did not produce any normalization of Israel–Iraq relations.

Iraq was one of the leading forces in the Arab economic boycott of Israel. On the eve of the un resolution to partition Palestine, it demanded that the Arab states cancel all Western oil rights. In April 1948, it closed off the ipc oil pipeline to Haifa, and its consequent losses in the period 1948 to 1958 were estimated at more than $400,000,000. In 1967 Iraq was again among the more extreme forces in its desire to use oil as a weapon in order to prevent Western support for Israel (see also *Arab Boycott).

[Asher Goren]

Musical Traditions

In view of the antiquity of the community, one could assume that ancient elements have been preserved in their traditional music. A long period of cultural decline, however, and contact with the powerful and flourishing music of the Muslim world, of which Iraq was for a long time an influential center, deeply marked their music and somehow altered their pre-Islamic heritage. Although it is difficult to trace a borderline between the older and the more recent elements, it would appear that older elements have been preserved only in the biblical cantillations and some of the synagogal melodies.

The second volume of A.Z. *Idelsohn's Thesaurus of Hebrew-Oriental Melodies (1923) contains the Babylonian traditions. Idelsohn classified the synagogal melodies according to 13 basic "modes," but these are fairly common to many of the Near Eastern communities. However, the Babylonians also had a number of melodic patterns peculiarly their own. One of these is the "lamentations mode," for which Idelsohn could find an analogy only in the chants of the Syrian Jacobites and the Copts (cf. Thesaurusii, no. 17). It has become possible to identify still another Babylonian "lamentations mode," which shows similar archaic features (see A. Herzog and A. Hajdu in: Yuval i, 1968, pp. 194–203). In this context it is surely significant that *Al-Ḥarizi in his Taḥkemoni (ch. 18) emphasized the mournful character of their songs, while denigrating the Babylonian poets.

From the early Middle Ages the Babylonian rabbinic authorities were known for their strict adherence to traditional liturgical chant. One of the oldest masters of post-talmudic synagogal chant was *Yehudai b. Naḥman Gaon of Sura (eighth century), whose tradition was supposed to go back to the talmudic period. Two of the earliest documents concerning Jewish music come to us from Babylonian Gaonic circles. The first is a paragraph in *Saadiah Gaon's Sefer ha-Emunot ve-ha-De'ot ("Book of Beliefs and Opinions") where he speaks of the influence of the rhythmic modes on the soul; the second is by R. Hai Gaon and it proposes an answer to a question put by the Jews of Gabes (Tunisia) concerning the use of singing and playing during the marriage ceremony. A vivid description of responsorial and even choral singing in tenth-century Baghdad is given in *Nathan b. Isaac ha-Bavli's description of the installation of the Exilarch Oukba, who was himself a poet-musician having composed and performed songs in honor of the caliph. Benjamin of Tudela reports from his travels (c. 1160–80) that Eleazar b. Ẓemaḥ, the head of one of the ten rabbinical academies of Baghdad, and his brothers "know how to sing the hymns according to the manner of the singers of the Temple." Another traveler of the same period, *Pethahiah of Regensburg, gives a most picturesque description of the simultaneous talmudic chanting of the 2,000 pupils of Samuel b. Ali's Yeshivah at Baghdad. He also reports that the Jews there "know a certain number of traditional melodies for each psalm," and on intermediate days (ḥol hamo'ed) "the psalms are performed with instrumental accompaniment." The instrumental skill went side by side with the creation of a rich repertoire of folk and para-liturgical song in Judeo-Arabic by Babylonian poets. A great number of talented instrumentalists and singers rose to prominent positions in the musical life of the surrounding culture. The best known of these, in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, were the kamān player Biddūn, the singers Reuben Michael Rajwān and Salmān Moshi, the santour player Ṣaliḥ Raḥmūn Fataw and his son, and the composer and 'ud player Ezra *Aharon. All of them were highly proficient in the performance of the prestigious classical genre known as the Iraki maqam. Ezra Aharon led the official group of such distinguished specialist performers who represented Iraq in the first International Congress on Arab music held in Cairo in 1932. This group comprised six Jewish instrumentalists and an Arab vocalist. Not long after this congress, in 1936, composer and violinist Saleh *Kuwaiti and his brother ('ud player) founded the first official musical ensemble, that of the Iraq Broadcasting service. Among the finest executants of S. Kuwaiti's works was the famous Umm Kulthum who sang his compositions.

folk music

Folk music was an inseparable part of all events including two main categories: (1) Events connected with the annual cycle (especially those concerning the general religious life affairs of the community); (2) Those connected with life cycle (events chiefly concerning the life of the individual). The rich repertory of folk music comprises men's songs and women's songs whose texts are in Hebrew and in Judeo-Arabic dialect and they are performed either by amateurs or by professionals accompanied by various musical instruments. A special genre held in great favor among Jews is the group of Station's songs in Judeo-Arabic called Kunag sung at the pilgrimage to the Ezekiel and Ezra graves. Jews from many parts of the country were accustomed to spend several days there, during which time music and dance played a prominent role. Since the Kunags are religious in content they were accepted into the category of piyyutim and were accorded the status of sacred songs.

Another two popular Hebrew pilgrimage songs to the mentioned graves and another one for Lag ba′Omer were composed by the venerable religious authority R. Yoseph Hayyim (1839–1909). His Lag ba'Omer song (we-amartem ko leḥay) and two songs for Simḥat Torah were introduced into the repertory of Israeli songs and published by Idelsohn.

Until 1950 there existed in Baghdad a famous group of four or five woman singers and players on various drums called Daqaqāt (Drummers), who performed at Jewish and non-Jewish family rejoicings and festivities. There were also the woman wailers, both professional and private. Their most notable appearances were at the mourning ceremonies for young people not yet married: two groups of women chanted antiphonally, first wedding songs and then lamentations, beating their breasts and scratching their faces.

Many folk songs were written down and are to be found in manuscripts with musical indications, such as the *maqāma or the name of the song to the melody of which the poem has to be sung (see especially Ms. Sassoon 485). Sometimes the poets composed according to the rhythm, rhyme, and even used the first verse of a given song with slight changes. A number of the songs in Judeo-Arabic have an introduction in Hebrew in the form of a prayer or of a laudatory nature. The public as a refrain usually sings this introduction after each verse sung by a soloist. Almost all the folk songs are performed in this sort of responsorial style.

For the musical traditions of Iraqi Kurdistan, see *Kurdistan, musical tradition.

[Amnon Shiloah (2^nd ed)]]

bibliography:

S.A. Poznańki, Babylonische Geonim im nachgaonaeischen Zeitalter (1914); B.M. Levin (ed.), Iggeret Rav Sherira Ga'on (1921); J. Obermeyer, Die Landschaft Babylonien (1929); C. Roth, Sassoon Dynasty (1941); A. Ben-Jacob, Toledot ha-Rav Abdallah Somekh (1949); idem, Kehillot Yehudei Kurdistan (1961); idem, Yehudei Bavel (1965), with extensive bibliography; idem, Shirah u-Fiyyut shel Yehudei Bavel ba-Dorot ha-Aḥaronim (1970); idem, Kiẓẓur Toledot Yehudei Bavel (1970); D. Sassoon, History of the Jews in Baghdad (1949); idem, Massa Bavel (1955); S. Landshut, Jewish Communities in the Muslim Countries of the Middle East (1950); S. Shinah, Mi-Bavel le-Ẓiyyon (1955); M. Sicron, Immigration to Israel, 1948–1953 (1957); A. Agasi, 20 Shanah la-Pera'ot bi-Yhudei Baghdad (1961); S. Jackson, The Sassoons (1968); H.J. Cohen, Ha-Pe'ilut ha-Ẓiyyonit be-Iraq (1969); idem, in: jjso, 11 (1969), 59–66, Y. Atlas, Ad Ammud ha-Teliyyah (1969). contemporary period: Yalkut ha-Mizraḥ ha-Tikhon, 1–3 (1949–51); R. Alan, in: Commentary, 28 (1959), 185–92; J. Caspar, ibid., 193–201; The Baghdad daily newspapers Al-Zamān and Al-Bitād; N. Rokarion, in: J. Freid (ed.), Jews in Modern World (1962), 50–90. add. bibliography: N. Rejwan, The Jews of Iraq: 300 Years… (1985); Y. Bar-Moshe, al-Khurūj min al-'Irāq (1975); F. al-Barāk, al-Madāris al-Yahūdiyya fī al-'Irāq (1985); M. Basri, 'Alam al-Yahūd fi al-'Irāq al-Ḥadīth (1993); M. Ben-Porat, Le-Bagdad ve-Ḥazarah (1996); G. Bekhor, Fascinating Life and Sensational Death (1990); A. Ben-Ya'akov, Yehudei Bavel ba-Tekufot ha-Aḥaronot (1980); special issue of Pe'amim, 8 (1981) on Iraq's Jews; H. Cohen, "The Anti-Jewish Farhud in: Baghdad," in: MES, 3 (1966), 2–17; idem, Ha-Yehudim be-Arẓot ha-Mizraḥ ha-Tikhon be-Yameinu (1973); M. Gat, Kehillah Yehudit be-Mashber (1989); Y. Ghanima, Nuzḥat al-Mushtāq fī Ta'rīkh Yahūd al-'Irāq (1924); K. Grünwald, " Ha-Banka'im ha-Yehudim be-Irak," in: Ha-Mizraḥ he-Ḥadash, 9 (1961), 159–169; Iraqi Jews Speak for Themselves (1969); N. Kattan, Farewell Babylon (1976); N. Kazzaz, " Hashpa'at ha-Naẓizm be-Irak ve-ha-Pe'ilut ha-Anti-Yehudit 1933–1941," in: Pe'amim, 29 (1986), 48–71; idem, " Ha-Pe'ilut ha-Politit shel Yehudei Irak be-Shilhei ha-Tekufah ha-Otomanit," in: Pe'amim, 36 (1988), 35–51; idem, " Hamarot Dat be-Kerev ha-Yehudim be-Irak ba-Et ha-Ḥadashah," in: Pe'amim, 42 (1990), 157–166; idem, Yehudei Irak ba-Me'ah ha-Esrim (1991); idem, " Ha-Yehudim be-Irak bi-Tekufat ha-General 'Abd al-Karīm Qāsim," in: Pe'amim, 71 (1997), 55–82; idem, Sofah shel Golah (2002); E. Kedourie, "The Jews of Baghdad in 1910," in: mes, 3 (1970), 355–61; idem, "The Sack of Basra and the Farhud in Baghdad," in: E. Kedourie, Arabic Political Memoirs and other Studies (1974), 283–314; K. N. Ma ' ruf, al-Aqalliyya al-Yahūdiyya fi al-'Irāq bayna Sanat 1921 wa-1952 (1975, 1976); E. Meir, Ha-Tenu'ah ha-Ẓiyyonitve-Yehudei Irak (1994); idem, " Ha-Sikhsukh al Ereẓ Yisrael ve-Yaḥasei Yehudim-Muslemim be-Irak, " in: Pe'amim, 62 (1995), 111–131; Y. Meir, Me'ever la-Midbar (1973); idem, Hitpatteḥut Hevratit-Tarbutit shel Yehudei Irak (1989); idem, Be-Ikar ba-Mahteret (1993); A. Sha'ul, Qiṣṣssat Ḥayātīi fī Wādī al-Rāfidain (1980); M. Sawdayee, All Waiting To Be Hanged (1974); A. Shiblak, The Lure of Zion (1986); M. Shohet, Benei Adat Moshe (1979); G. Strasman, Ba-Ḥazarah min ha-Gardom (1992); R. Shnir, " Yaḥasei Yehudim-Muslemim ba-Sifrut u-va-Ittonut shel Yehudei Irak," in: Pe'amim 63 (1995), 5–40; S. G. Haim, "Aspects of Jewish Life in Baghdad under the Monarchy," in: mes, 12 (1976), 188–208; Z. Yehuda (ed.), Mi-Bavel le-Yerushalayim (1980). iraq and israel: E. Berger, The Covenant and the Sword, 1948 – 56 (1965). musical tradition: A. Idelsohn, Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, 2 (1923); J. al-Ḥanafi, al-Mughanūn al-Baghdadiyūn (1964), a directory of Baghdad – including Jewish – musicians. add. bibliography: A. Shiloah, The Musical Tradition of Iraqi Jews (1983); Avishur, Shirat ha-Nashim shel Yehudei Iraq (1987); S. Manasseh, "Daqqaqat: Jewish Women Musicians from Iraq," in: International Council for Traditional Music (uk Chapter), 25 (1990), 7–15; idem, "A Song To Heal Your Wounds. Traditional Lullabies in the Repertoire of the Jews of Iraq," in: Musica Judaica, 10 (1991/2), 1–29.

Iraq

Compiled from the June 2007 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:

Republic of Iraq

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 437,072 sq. km.; about the size of California.

Cities: Capital—Baghdad (5.7 million, 2004 estimate). Other cities—Basrah, Mosul, Kirkuk, Sulayman-iyah, Irbil.

Terrain: Alluvial plains, mountains, and desert. Climate: Mostly hot and dry.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Iraqi(s).

Population: (July 2007 est.) 27,499,638.

Population growth rate: (2007 est.) 2.618%.

Ethnic groups: Arab 75%-80%, Kurd 15%-20%, Turcoman, Chaldean, Assyrian, or others less than 5%.

Religions: Muslim 97%, Christian 3%, others less than 1%.

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Assyrian, Armenian.

Education: Years compulsory—primary school (age 6 through grade 6). Literacy (2006 UNESCO est.)—74.1%.

Health: Infant mortality rate—47.04 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy—69.3 yrs. (2007 est.)

Government

Type: Parliamentary democracy.

Constitution: October 15, 2005.

Independence: On October 3, 1932, Iraq gained independence from the League of Nations Mandate under British Administration. On June 28, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government. A new four-year, constitutionally based government took office in March 2006, and a new cabinet was installed in May 2006.

Government branches: Executive—Presidency Council (one president and two vice presidents); Council of Ministers (one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and 34 cabinet ministers). Judicial—Supreme Court appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Council of Representatives. Legislative—Council of Representatives (CoR) consisting of 275 members.

Political subdivisions: 18 governorates (muhafazat, singular—muhafazah)—Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta’mim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala’, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit. One region—the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Economy

GDP: (2006 est.) $50.93 billion (official exchange rate).

GDP per capita: (2006 est.) $1,771.

GDP real growth rate: (2006 est.) 3.0%.

Inflation: (2006) 64.8%

Unemployment rate: (2005 estimate) 27%.

Budget: (FY 2007) Revenues—$33.4 billion (est.); expenditures—$41 billion (est.)

Public debt: (2006 est.) $72.9 billion.

Natural resources: Oil, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur.

Agriculture: Products—wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, cotton, dates, cattle, sheep.

Industry: Types—petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing.

Trade: Exports (2006 est.)—$29.34 billion. Export commodities (2006 est.)—crude oil (97%), other exports (3%). Export partners (2005)—U.S. 49.7%, Jordan 20%, Canada 13%, Italy 10.4%. Imports (2006 est.)— $22.96 billion. Import commodities—food, medicine, manufactured goods, refined petroleum products. Import partners (2005)—Turkey 23.4%, Syria 23.1%, U.S. 11.7%, Jordan 6.3%.

GEOGRAPHY

Iraq is bordered by Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The country slopes from mountains over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) above sea level along the border with Iran and Turkey to the remnants of sea-level marshes in the southeast. Much of the land is desert or wasteland. The mountains in the northeast are an extension of the alpine system that runs eastward from the Balkans into southern Turkey, northern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, terminating in the Himalayas.

Average temperatures range from higher than 48°C (120°F) in July and August to below freezing in January. Most of the rainfall occurs from December through April and averages between 10 and 18 centimeters (4-7 in.) annually. The mountainous region of northern Iraq receives appreciably more precipitation than the central or southern desert region.

PEOPLE

Almost 75% of Iraq's population live in the flat, alluvial plain stretching southeast from Baghdad and Basrah to the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers carry about 70 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. Known in ancient times as Mesopotamia, the region is the legendary locale of the Garden of Eden. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and other ancient cities are in Iraq. Iraq's two largest ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds. Other distinct groups are Turcoman, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Persians, and Armenians. Arabic is the most commonly spoken language. Kurdish is spoken in the north, and English is the most commonly spoken Western language. The majority (60-65%) of Iraqi Muslims are members of the Shi’a sect, but there is a large (32-37%) Sunni population as well, made up of both Arabs and Kurds. Small communities of Christians, Jews, Bahais, Mandaeans, and Yezi-dis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim but differ from their Arab neighbors in language, dress, and customs.

HISTORY

Once known as Mesopotamia, Iraq was the site of flourishing ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Muslims conquered Iraq in the seventh century A.D. In the eighth century, the Abassid caliphate established its capital at Baghdad.

At the end of World War I, Iraq became a British-mandated territory. When it was declared independent in 1932, the Hashemite family, which also ruled Jordan, ruled as a constitutional monarchy. In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1956, the Baghdad Pact allied Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, and established its headquarters in Baghdad.

Gen. Abdul Karim Qasim took power in July 1958 coup, during which King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed. Qasim ended Iraq's membership in the Baghdad Pact in 1959. Qasim was assassinated in February 1963, when the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Ba'ath Party) took power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as prime minister and Col. Abdul Salam Arif as president.

Nine months later, Arif led a coup ousting the Ba'ath government. In April 1966, Arif was killed in a plane crash and was succeeded by his brother, Gen. Abdul Rahman Mohammad Arif. On July 17, 1968, a group of Ba'athists and military elements overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr reemerged as the President of Iraq and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).

In July 1979, Bakr resigned, and Saddam Hussein assumed both offices. The Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) devastated the economy of Iraq. Iraq declared victory in 1988 but actually achieved a weary return to the status quo antebellum. The war left Iraq with the largest military establishment in the Gulf region but with huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurdish elements in the northern mountains. The government suppressed the rebellion by using weapons of mass destruction on civilian targets, including a mass chemical weapons attack on the city of Halabja that killed several thousand civilians.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, but a U.S.-led coalition acting under United Nations (UN) resolutions expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991. After the war, Kurds in the north and Shi’a Muslims in the south rebelled against the government of Saddam Hussein. The government responded quickly and with crushing force, killing thousands. It also pursued damaging environmental and agricultural policy meant to drain the marshes of the south. As a result, the United States, United Kingdom, and France established protective no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. In addition, the UN Security Council required the regime to surrender its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and submit to UN inspections. When the Ba'ath regime refused to fully cooperate with the UN inspections, the Security Council employed sanctions to prevent further WMD development and compel Iraqi adherence to international obligations. Coalition forces enforced no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq to protect Iraqi citizens from attack by the regime and a no-drive zone in southern Iraq to prevent the regime from massing forces to threaten or again invade Kuwait.

A U.S.-led coalition removed the Ba’th regime in March-April 2003, bringing an end to more than 12 years of Iraqi defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The coalition formed the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to provide for the administration of Iraq during the period of transitional administration, to restore conditions of security and stability, and to create conditions in which the Iraqi people could freely determine their own political future. The UN Security Council acknowledged the authorities of the coalition and provided for a role for the UN and other parties to assist in fulfilling these objectives.

The CPA disbanded on June 28, 2004, transferring sovereign authority for governing Iraq to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). Based on the timetable laid out in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the IIG governed Iraq until elections were held on January 30, 2005; thereafter the Iraqi Transitional Government assumed authority.

In May 2005, the Iraqi Transitional Government appointed a multi-ethnic committee to draft a new Iraqi Constitution. The new constitution was finalized in September 2005, and was ratified in a nationwide referendum on October 15, 2005. On December 15, 2005, Iraqis again went to the polls to participate in the first legislative elections as laid out by the new constitution. The new four-year, constitutionally based government took office in March 2006, and the new cabinet was approved and installed in May 2006.

GOVERNMENT

Iraq is a constitutional democracy with a federal system of government.

The 2005 Iraqi Constitution guarantees all Iraqis basic rights in many areas. The executive branch is made up of the Presidency Council (one president, two deputy presidents) and a Council of Ministers (one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and 34 cabinet ministers). The President is the Head of State, protecting the Constitution and representing the sovereignty and unity of the state, while the Prime Minister is the direct executive authority and commander in chief. Beginning in 2006, the military and police began transitioning from being under the operational control of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq command to Iraqi command and control. The President and Vice Presidents are elected by the Council of Representatives (CoR). The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest bloc in the Council of Representatives. Upon designation, the Prime Minister names the members of his cabinet, the Council of Ministers, which is then approved by the Council of Representatives. The Council of Representatives may withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister, in which case the Prime Minister and Cabinet are considered resigned. Under normal circumstances, the executive branch serves a four-year term concurrent with that of the Council of Representatives.

Iraq's legislative branch consists of an elected Council of Representatives and an as-yet unformed Federation Council. The Council of Representatives consists of 275 members, each of whom is elected to four-year terms of service. At least one-quarter of the members of the Council of Representatives must be female. The responsibilities of the Council of Representatives include enacting federal laws, monitoring the executive branch, and electing the President of the Republic. The Federal Council will be established, by law, as a representative for governorates and territories that are not organized in a region.

Iraq's judicial branch is independent, and is under no authority but that of the law. The federal judicial authority is comprised of the Higher Judicial Council, Federal Supreme Court, Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department, Judiciary Oversight Commission, and other federal courts. The Higher Judicial Council supervises the affairs of the federal judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is the highest court in the country, and the final authority on legal decisions. The establishment of the federal courts, their types, and methods for judicial appointments will be set forth by laws enacted by the Council of Representatives.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 2/1/2008

President: Jalal TALABANI

Vice Pres.: Adil ABD AL-MAHDI

Vice Pres.: Tariq al-HASHIMI

Prime Minister: Nuri al-MALIKI

Dep. Prime Min.: Barham SALIH

Dep. Prime Min.: Salam al-ZUBAI

Min. of Agriculture: Ali Husayn al-BAHADILI

Min. of Communications: Muhammad Tawfiq ALLAWI

Min. of Culture: Asad Kamal al-HASHIMI

Min. of Defense: Abd al-Qadir al-MUFRIJI

Min. of Displacement & Migration: Abd al-Samad SULTAN

Min. of Education: Khudayr al-KHUZAI

Min. of Electricity: Karim Wahid al-HASAN

Min. of Environment: Nermin OTHMAN

Min. of Finance:Bayan JABR

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Hoshyar Mahmud ZEBARI

Min. of Health: Salih Mahdi Mutlab al-HASNAWI

Min. of Higher Education: Abid Dhiyab al-UJAYLI

Min. of Housing & Construction: Bayan DIZAYEE

Min. of Human Rights: Wijdan Mikhail SALIM

Min. of Industry & Minerals: Fawzi al-HARIRI

Min. of Interior: Jawad al-BULANI

Min. of Justice: Hashim al-SHIBLI

Min. of Labor & Social Affairs: Mahmud Muhammad Jawad al-RADI

Min. of Municipalities & Public Works: Riyadh GHARIB

Min. of Oil: Husayn al-SHAHRISTANI

Min. of Planning:Ali BABAN

Min. of Science & Technology: Raid Fahmi JAHID

Min. of Trade: Abd al-Falah al-SUDANI

Min. of Transportation (Acting): Shirwan al-WAILI

Min. of Water Resources:Latif RASHID

Min. of Youth & Sports: Jasim Muhammad JAFAR

Min. of State for Civil Society Affairs: Adil al-ASADI

Min. of State for Foreign Affairs: Rafi al-ISSAWI

Min. of State for National Assembly: Safa al-Din al-SAFI

Min. of State for National Dialogue: Akram al-HAKIM

Min. of State for National Security: Shirwan al-WAILI

Min. of State for Provinces: Saad Tahir Abd Khalaf al-HASHIMI

Min. of State for Tourism & Antiquities: Liwa SUMAYSIM

Min. of State for Women's Affairs: Fatin Abd al-RAHMAN

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Ali Muhammad AHMAD

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Hasan Radhi Kazim al-SARI

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Muhammad Abbas al-URAYBI

Governor, Central Bank of Iraq: Sinan al-SHABIBI

Ambassador to the US: Samir Shakir al-SUMAYDI

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Hamid al-BAYATI

Political Parties and Leaders

Assyrian Democratic Movement [Yonadam Kanna]; Al-Da'wa [Ibra-him al-Ja'afari]; Badr Organization [Hadi al-Amiri]; Constitutional Monarchy Movement [Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein]; General Conference of Iraqi People [Adnan al-Dulaymi]; Hewar National Iraqi Front [Saleh al-Mutlaq]; Independent Iraqi Alliance [Falah al-Naqib]; Iraqi Hizbal-lah [Karim Mahud al-Muhammadawi]; Iraqi Independent Democrats [Adnan Pachachi]; Iraqi Islamic Party [Muhsin Abd al-Hamid]; Iraqi National Accord (INA) [Ayad Allawi]; Iraqi National Congress (INC) [Ahmad Chalabi]; Iraqi National Unity Movement [Ahmad al-Kubaysi]; Iraqi Turkmen Front [Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman]; Jama’at al-Fadilah [Ayatollah Muhammad ‘Ali al-Yacoubi]; Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) [Mas-soud Barzani]; Kurdistan Islamic Union [Salaheddine Muhammad Bahaaeddin]; Mithal al-Alusi List [Mithal al-Alusi]; Muslim Ulama Council [Harith Sulayman al-Dari]; National Democratic Movement; Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) [Jalal Talabani]; Al-Risalyun [Muqtada al-Sadr]; Al-Sadr Movement [Muqtada al-Sadr]; Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI, formerly the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI) [Abdul Aziz al-Hakim]; Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress.

Note: The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan, the Iraqi List, and the United Iraqi Alliance were electoral blocs consisting of the representatives from the various Iraqi political parties. Alliances and Electoral blocs are subject to change.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Since March 2006, the Government of Iraq has been a broad coalition led by a Shi’ite legislative bloc known as the United Iraqi Coalition (UIC) or the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). The UIC currently holds 128 of 275 seats in the Council of Representatives. The UIC is currently composed of ISCI, the al-Sadr movement, al-Da’wa al-Islamiyya, Da’wa Tanzim al-Iraq, Jama’at al-Fadilah, and various independents. Politicians with Sunni religious affiliations, including the Tawaffuq and Hewar groups, presently hold 59 seats in the Council of Representatives. The Kurdish bloc known as the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (which includes the KDP & PUK) holds 53 legislative seats. Ayad Allawi's Iraqiyya or Iraqi National List (INL) holds 25 seats. The remaining seats are composed of various independents.

With regard to the executive branch, much care has been given to ensure that there is proportionate distribution of ministerial positions among the major political groups. For example, in the Presidency Council, President Jalal Talabani is Kurdish, Deputy President ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi is a Shi’a Muslim, and Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi is a Sunni Muslim. Additionally, the Council of Ministers consists of 18 Shi’a Muslims, 8 Sunni Muslims, 8 Kurds, and 5 members of Ayad Allawi's secular INA.

The Government of Iraq is currently working toward reviewing the Constitution. The process is likely to be a long and careful one, as consideration needs to be given to the interests of each of the major political groups. Issues to be addressed include federalism, the sharing of oil revenues, de-Ba’thification reform, and provincial elections.

ECONOMY

Historically, Iraq's economy was characterized by a heavy dependence on oil exports and an emphasis on development through central planning. Prior to the outbreak of the war with Iran in September 1980, Iraq's economic prospects were bright. Oil production had reached a level of 3.5 million barrels per day, and oil revenues were $21 billion in 1979 and $27 billion in 1980. At the outbreak of the war, Iraq had amassed an estimated $35 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

The Iran-Iraq war depleted Iraq's foreign exchange reserves, devastated its economy, and left the country saddled with a foreign debt of more than $40 billion. After hostilities ceased, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and the restoration of damaged facilities. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international sanctions, damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991, and neglect of infrastructure drastically reduced economic activity. Government policies of diverting income to key supporters of the regime while sustaining a large military and internal security force further impaired finances, leaving the average Iraqi citizen facing desperate hardships. Implementation of a UN Oil-For-Food (OFF) program in December 1996 improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. In December 1999, Iraq was authorized to export unlimited quantities of oil through OFF to finance essential civilian needs including, among other things, food, medicine, and infrastructure repair parts.

The drop in GDP in 2001-02 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Per capita food imports increased significantly, while medical supplies and health care services steadily improved. The occupation of the U.S.-led coalition in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central economic administrative structure. The rebuilding of oil infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, and other production capacities has proceeded steadily since 2004 despite attacks on key economic facilities and continuing internal security incidents. Despite uncertainty, Iraq is making progress toward establishing the laws and institutions needed to make and implement economic policy.

Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Current estimates show that oil production averages 2.0 million bbl/day.

One key issue that currently confronts economic policy makers in Iraq is inflation. The year-on-year inflation rate for 2006 was 64.8%, a significant increase over the 2005 rate of 31.6% and well above the IMF target rate of 30% annual inflation. In an effort to infuse some stability in prices in Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) began to appreciate the Iraqi Dinar (ID) relative to the U.S. Dollar (USD) in November 2006. As of June 7, the CBI had appreciated the ID by 17%. It has also accelerated interest rate increases; the deposit rate is currently 20%. Inflation in Iraq, however, is only partly a monetary problem, and is more strongly related to real sector effects, particularly bottlenecks resulting from the security situation.

The Iraqi Government is seeking to pass and implement laws to strengthen the economy, including a hydrocarbon law to encourage development of this sector, a revenue sharing law to equitably divide oil revenues within the nation in line with the Iraqi constitution, and writing regulations to implement a new foreign investment law. Controlling inflation, reducing corruption, and implementing structural reforms such as bank restructuring and private sector development will be key to Iraq's economic growth.

Foreign assistance has been an integral component of Iraq's reconstruction efforts over the past three years. At a Donors Conference in Madrid in October 2003, more than $33 billion was pledged to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq. Out of that conference, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank launched the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) to administer and disburse about $1.4 billion of those funds. The rest of the assistance is being disbursed bilaterally. To date $13.5 billion has been pledged in foreign aid for 2004-2007 from outside of the U.S.

The Government of Iraq has also made an agreement with the Paris Club to reduce some of its debt service obligations. This three-stage agreement will allow for the reduction of over $34 billion in Iraqi debt. Also, in December 2005, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to extend a stand-by agreement (SBA) to the Government of Iraq in the amount of SDR 475.4 million (about U.S. $685 million).

In July 2006, the Government of Iraq and the UN began work to formulate the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), a five-year framework for Iraq to achieve economic self-sufficiency within its region and the world. On May 3, 2007 in Sharm el-Sheikh the ICI was formally launched by more than 70 countries and international organizations, many represented at the ministerial level.

The Compact aims to create a mutually reinforcing dynamic of national consensus and international support. Domestically the aim is to build a national Compact around the government's political and economic program and to restore the Iraqi people's trust in the state and its ability to protect them and meet their basic needs. Internationally, the Compact establishes a framework of mutual commitments to provide financial and technical assistance and debt relief needed to support Iraq and strengthen its resolve to address critical reforms and policies.

Agriculture

Despite its abundant land and water resources, Iraq is a net food importer. Under the UN Oil-For-Food program, Iraq imported large quantities of grains, meat, poultry, and dairy products. Obstacles to agricultural development during the previous regime included labor shortages, inadequate management and maintenance, salinization, urban migration, and dislocations resulting from previous land reform and collectivization programs. A Ba’ath regime policy to destroy the “Marsh Arab” culture by draining the southern marshes and introducing irrigated farming to this region destroyed a natural food-producing area, while concentration of salts and minerals in the soil due to the draining left the land unsuitable for agriculture. Through assistance from USAID and USDA, targeted efforts have begun to overcome the damage done by the Ba’ath regime in ways that will rehabilitate the agricultural sector and confront environmental degradation. These efforts include infrastructure development, private sector development, veterinary clinic restoration, increased wheat production, and training and technical assistance in developing policies on sustainable water resources management and building Iraqi natural resources management.

Trade

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. Under the Oil-For-Food program Iraq was allowed to export oil and use the proceeds to purchase goods to address essential civilian needs, including food, medicine, and infrastructure spare parts. With the lifting of UN sanctions after the Ba’ath regime was removed in 2003, Iraq is gradually resuming trade relations with the international community, including with the U.S. The U.S. designated Iraq as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program in September 2004. Iraq was granted observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 2004, and began its WTO accession process in December 2004. On May 25, 2007, Iraq participated in its first Working Party meeting in Geneva. The meeting, in which Trade Minister al-Sudani participated, was characterized as a successful start to the WTO accession process, one that is crucial to Iraq's integration into the international economy. Dependent upon Iraqi progress on relevant issues, the next Working Party meeting could take place as early as spring 2008.

DEFENSE

The Iran-Iraq War ended with Iraq sustaining the largest military structure in the Middle East, with more than 70 divisions in its army and an air force of over 700 modern aircraft. Losses during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and subsequent expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991 by a UN coalition resulted in the reduction of Iraq's ground forces to 23 divisions and air force to less than 300 aircraft.

When major combat operations ended in April 2003, the Iraqi Army disintegrated, and its installations were destroyed by pilfering and looting. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officially dissolved the Iraqi military and Ministry of Defense on May 23, 2003. On August 7, 2003, the CPA established the New Iraqi Army as the first step toward the creation of the national self-defense force of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Support for the manning, training, and equipping of Iraq's security forces is led by the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I). In addition to defense forces, the Ministry of Interior, with the help of the MNSTC-I, is training and equipping civilian police forces to establish security and stability, primarily through combating the nation-wide insurgency. Initially under the command and control of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) command, in 2006 police and Iraqi Army units began to transition to Iraqi civilian control.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

With the fall of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath regime, Iraq has taken steps toward re-engagement on the international stage. Iraq currently has diplomatic representation in 54 countries around the world, including 3 permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the Arab League in Cairo. 48 countries have diplomatic representation in Iraq,

The Republic of Iraq belongs to the following international organizations: United Nations (UN); Arab League (AL); World Bank (WB); International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Nonaligned Movement (NAM); Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Interpol; World Health Organization (WHO); G-19; G-77; Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA); Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD); Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU); Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); International Community for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM); International Development Association (IDA); International Development Bank (IDB); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); International Finance Corporation (IFC); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS); International Labor Organization (ILO); International Maritime Organization (IMO); Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); World Customs Organization (WCO); World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); World Trade Organization (WTO) observer.

U.S.-IRAQI RELATIONS

The focus of United States policy in Iraq remains on helping the Iraqi people build a constitutional, representative government that respects the rights of all Iraqis and has security forces capable of maintaining order and preventing the country from becoming a safe haven for terrorists and foreign fighters. The ultimate goal is an Iraq that is peaceful, united, stable, democratic, and secure, with institutions capable of providing just governance and security for all Iraqis and is an ally in the war against terrorism. U.S. forces remain in Iraq as part of the Multi-National Force-Iraq to assist the Government of Iraq in training its security forces, as well as to work in partnership with the Government of Iraq to combat forces that seek to derail Iraq's progression toward full democracy. The U.S. Government is carrying out a multibillion-dollar program to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

Last Updated: 2/19/2008

BAGHDAD (E), APO/FPO APO/AE 09316, 240-553-0589, Fax 703-343-8485, Workweek: Sunday—Thursday 0800-1700, Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov.

BASRAH (BO) U.S. Embassy Office, Basrah, Iraq, APO/FPO Basrah Air Station, APO/AE 09375, 1-240-553-0650, ext. 4444, Workweek: Saturday—Thursday 8:30 am—5:30 pm, Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov.

KIRKUK (BO) U.S. Embassy Office, Kirkuk, Iraq, APO/FPO U.S. Embassy Office, APO, AE09338, 240 553 0590 VoIP (No operator, see Opennet GAL for extensions), INMARSAT Tel 873 763 603 853, Workweek: Saturday–Thursday 8 am-8 pm, Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov.

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet

January 22, 2008

Country Description: In 2005, Iraqi citizens adopted a new constitution and participated in legislative elections to create a permanent, democratic government, and in May 2006, a new Government of Iraq (GOI), led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was sworn in. Although the GOI has made political, economic and security progress over the past year and a half, Iraq still faces many challenges, including overcoming three decades of war and government mismanagement that stunted Iraq's economy, sectarian and ethnic tensions that have slowed progress toward national reconciliation, and ongoing (even if abating) insurgent, sectarian, criminal, and terrorist violence. Conditions in Iraq are extremely dangerous. The Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I) is assisting the Iraqi government in providing security throughout the country. The work-week in Iraq is Sunday through Thursday.

Entry Requirements: Passports valid for at least six months and visas are required for most private American citizens. An Iraqi visa may be obtained through the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C. Travelers should not rely on obtaining a visa upon arrival at an airport or port of entry in Iraq. Visitors to Iraq who plan to stay for more than 10 days must obtain a no-fee residency stamp. In Baghdad, the stamps are available for all visitors at the main Residency Office near the National Theater. Contractors in the International Zone may also obtain exit stamps at the Karadah Mariam Police Station (available Sunday and Wednesday, 10:00-14:00.). There is a 10,000 Iraqi Dinar (USD 8) penalty for visitors who do not obtain the required residency stamp. In order to obtain a residency stamp, applicants must produce valid credentials or proof of employment, two passport-sized photos, and HIV test results. An American citizen who plans to stay longer than two months must apply at the Residency Office for an extension. American citizens who stay fewer than 10 days may obtain an exit stamp at the airport. Americans traveling to Iraq for the purpose of employment should check with their employers and with the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, DC for any special entry or exit requirements related to employment. American citizens whose passports reflect travel to Israel may be refused entry into Iraq or may be refused an Iraqi visa, although to date there are no reported cases of this occurring.

Exit Requirements: U.S. Citizens who remains longer than 10 days must obtain an exit stamp at the main Residency Office before departing the country. In Baghdad, they are available for all visitors at the main Residency Office near the National Theater. Contractors in the International Zone may also obtain exit stamps at the Karadah Mariam Police Station (available Sunday and Wednesday, 10:00-14:00). Exit stamp fees vary from USD 20 to USD 200, depending on the length of stay, entry visa and other factors. Those staying fewer that 10 days do not need to get an exit stamp before passing through Iraqi Immigration at the airport. Visitors who arrive via military aircraft but depart on commercial airlines must pay a USD 80 departure fee at the airport

Visit the Iraqi Embassy web site at http://www.iraqiembassy.org for the most current visa information. The Embassy is located at 1801 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20036; phone number is 202-483-7500; fax is 202-462-5066.

Safety and Security: The risk of terrorism directed against U.S. citizens and interests in Iraq remains extremely high. The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous.

Remnants of the former Baath regime, transnational terrorists, criminal elements and numerous insurgent groups remain active throughout Iraq. Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) -led military operations continue, and attacks persist against MNF-I and the ISF through-out the country. Turkish government forces have carried out operations against elements of the Kongra-Gel (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Worker's Party, or Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK))) terrorist group that are located along Iraq's northern border. The security environment across Iraq is dangerous, volatile and unpredictable. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue, including in the International (or “Green”) Zone. Targets include hotels, restaurants, police stations, checkpoints, foreign diplomatic missions, and international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel. Such attacks can occur at any time. The use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), (especially Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs)) and/or mines on roads, which are sometimes placed in plastic bags, soda cans, and animal carcasses, all present risks to U.S. citizens. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from over-passes, particularly in crowded areas. Rockets and mortars have been fired at hotels, and vehicle-borne IEDs have been used against targets throughout the country. In addition to terrorist and criminal attacks, sectarian violence occurs often. Detailed security information is available on the Embassy's web site at http://iraq.usembassy.gov and at http://www.centcom.mil.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs’ web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts, as well as the Worldwide Caution, can be found. Travelers are also referred to the U.S. Embassy Baghdad's Warden Notices which are available on the Embassy web site at http://iraq.usembassy.gov.

Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada, or for callers out-side the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444.

Crime: The U.S. Embassy and MNF-I are working with Iraqi authorities to establish law enforcement and civil structures throughout the country. U.S. and British military personnel are providing police protection as well, as the security situation permits. Petty theft is common in Iraq, including thefts of money, jewelry, or valuable items left in hotel rooms and pick-pocketing in busy places such as markets. Carjacking by armed thieves is very common, even during daylight hours, and particularly on the highways from Jordan and Kuwait to Baghdad. Foreigners and Iraqi citizens are targets for kidnapping. The kidnappers often demand money but have also carried out kid-nnappings for political/religious reasons.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. While U.S. Consular Services in Iraq are limited due to security conditions, the Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Basic modern medical care and medicines are not widely available in Iraq. The recent conflict in Iraq has left some medical facilities non-operational and medical stocks and supplies severely depleted. The facilities in operation do not meet U.S. standards, and the majority lack medicines, equipment and supplies. Because the Baghdad International Airport has limited operations for security reasons, it is unlikely that a private medical evacuation can be arranged. Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’ web site at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's (WHO) web site at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Avian Influenza: The WHO and Iraqi authorities have confirmed human cases of the H5NI strain of avian influenza, commonly known as the "bird flu.” Travelers to Iraq and other countries affected by the virus are cautioned to avoid poultry farms, contact with animals in live food markets, and any surfaces that appear to be contaminated with feces from poultry or other animals. In addition, the CDC and WHO recommend eating only fully cooked poultry and eggs. For the most current information and links on avian influenza, see the State Department's Avian Influenza Fact Sheet.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation as well as whether medical evacuation would be possible from Iraq.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Iraq is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

All vehicular travel in Iraq is extremely dangerous. There have been numerous attacks on civilian vehicles, as well as military convoys. Attacks occur throughout the day, but travel at night is exceptionally dangerous and should be avoided. There have been attacks on civilian vehicles as well as military convoys on Highways 1,5, 10 and 15, even during day-light hours. Travelers are strongly urged to travel in convoys with at least four vehicles in daylight hours only. Travel in or through Ramadi and Fallujah, in and between al-Hil-lah, al-Basrah, Kirkuk, and Baghdad and between the International Zone and Baghdad International Airport, and from Baghdad to Mosul is particularly dangerous. Occasionally, U.S. Government personnel are prohibited from traveling to select areas depending on prevailing security conditions. There continues to be heavy use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and/or mines on roads, particularly in plastic bags, soda cans, and dead animals. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from over-passes, particularly in crowded areas. Travel should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary and with the appropriate security.

Buses run irregularly and frequently change routes. Poorly maintained city transit vehicles are often involved in accidents. Long distance buses are available, but are often in poor condition and drive at unsafe speeds. Jaywalking is common. Drivers usually do not yield to pedestrians at cross-walks and ignore traffic lights (if available), traffic rules and regulations. Roads are congested. Driving at night is extremely dangerous. Some cars do not use lights at night and urban street lights may not be functioning. Some motorists drive at excessive speeds, tailgate and force other drivers to yield the right of way.

Aviation Safety Oversight: As there is no direct commercial air service to the United States by air carriers registered in Iraq, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not assessed Iraq's Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA web site at http://www.faa.gov.

There is credible information that terrorists are targeting civil aviation. Civilian and military aircraft arriving and departing from Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) have been subjected to small arms and missile fire. Civilian aircraft do not generally possess systems such as those found on military aircraft, capable of defeating man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). Travelers choosing to utilize civilian aircraft to enter or depart Iraq should be aware of this potential threat, as well as the high risk to road transportation described above. Official U.S. Government (USG) personnel are strongly encouraged to use U.S. military or other USG aircraft when entering Iraq. All personnel serving in Iraq under Chief of Mission (COM) authority are prohibited from departing BIAP on commercial airlines until further notice due to security considerations. Other personnel not under COM authority must be guided by their own agency's policies and procedures.

Special Circumstances: As of September 21, 2006, Iraqi law prohibits adult Iraqis and foreigners from holding and transporting more than U.S. $10,000 in cash out of Iraq. In addition, it permits adult Iraqi and resident foreigners to hold and transport no more than 200,000 Iraqi dinars to cover travel expenses. Iraqi law also prohibits taking more than 100 grams of gold out of the country. Iraqi customs personnel are taking action to enforce these laws and may pose related questions to travelers during immigration and customs exit procedures. (Civil customs personnel also will verify passport annotations related to any items such as foreign currency, gold jewelry, or merchandise that were declared by passengers upon entry into Iraq on Form-8.)

All U.S. citizens are reminded that it is their duty to respect Iraqi laws, including legal restrictions on the transfer of currency outside of Iraq. If you are detained at the airport or at any other point of exit regarding your attempt to transfer currency out of Iraq, you should contact—or ask that Iraqi authorities immediately contact—the American Embassy.

Transporting large amounts of currency is not advisable. Almost all of the international companies working in Iraq have the capability to make payments to their employees and at least four Iraqi banks are also able to convert cash into an international wire transfer directed to a bank account outside Iraq. Branches of the Credit Bank of Iraq on Al-Sa’adoon St., Baghdad ([email protected]), Dar Es Salaam Bank ([email protected]), Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank (coinvst@ iraqimdlestbank.com) and Al-Warqaa Investment Bank (warkabank@ hotmail.com) all have this capability. Please be aware that large wire transfers may require Central Bank of Iraq approval because of measures in place to combat money laundering. Such approvals can be obtained by the sending bank, if information on the origin of the funds and the reason for its transfer are provided. Additional information on banking in Iraq is available at the Central Bank of Iraq web site http://www.cbiraq.org.

Customs and MNF-I officers have the broad authority to search persons or vehicles at Iraq ports of entry. Officers may confiscate any goods that may pose a threat to the peace, security, health, environment, or good order of Iraq or any antiquities or cultural items suspected of being illegally exported. Goods that are not declared may be confiscated by an officer. Persons may also be ordered to return such goods, at their expense, to the jurisdiction from which they came.

The banking and financial infrastructure has been disrupted and is in the process of rebuilding. Hotels usually require payment in foreign currency. Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are extremely limited but the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) provides ATM services in dinars and U.S. dollars at the TBI head office in central Baghdad and two other locations.

Telecommunications are very poor. There is very limited international phone service in Iraq at this time. Local calls are often limited to a neighborhood network. There are no public telephones in the cities; however, calls may be made from hotels, restaurants or shops. Limited cellular telephone service and Internet service are available in Iraq.

Due to security conditions, the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is able to provide only limited emergency services to U.S. citizens. Because police and civil structures are in the process of being rebuilt, emergency service and support will be limited.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Iraqi laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Iraq are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children's Issues: The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by Iraq's children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However Iraqi law does not permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States. It is not possible to adopt Iraqi children at this time. Iraq is not party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, nor are there any international or bilateral treaties in force between Iraq and the United States dealing with international parental child abduction.

The security situation in Iraq limits consular access to children. For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children's Issues website at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Registration and Embassy Locations: The Travel Warning on Iraq urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Iraq. However, Americans living or traveling in Iraq despite that Warning are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration web site so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security within Iraq. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. U.S. citizens may also contact the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq located in the International Zone via their e-mail address at [email protected], via landline at 1-240-553-0589(this number rings in Baghdad) or the U.S. Embassy's web site at http://iraq.usembassy.gov. The after-hours number in case of extreme emergency is GSM 1-914-822-1370 or Iraqna 07901-732-134.

International Adoption

August 2007

The Department of State has received many inquiries from American citizens concerned about the plight of the children of Iraq and wondering about the possibility of adopting them. At this time, it is not possible to adopt Iraqi children, for several reasons.

In general, intercountry adoptions are private civil legal matters governed by the laws of the children's home country, which has the primary responsibility and jurisdiction for deciding what would be in the children's best interests. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has confirmed that Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States.

Iraq does grant a more limited arrangement akin to guardianship; however, the U.S. Government is unaware of any non-Iraqis’ being granted guardianship of Iraqi children. In addition, even if an Iraqi court were to grant a U.S. citizen guardianship rights for an Iraqi child, the child would likely be unable to immigrate to the United States, unless the citizen could establish both that the child qualifies as an “orphan” as defined in section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, under Iraqi law, the “guardianship” order gave the citizen authority not only to care for the child but to bring the United States for the specific purpose of the child's adoption in the United States. Since Iraqi law does not permit adoption, it is not clear that an Iraqi guardianship order could give this authority.

The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by many Iraqi children, and it is completely under-standable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children's situation. It can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. It is not uncommon in a hostile situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. Even when it can be demonstrated that children are indeed orphaned or abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives. Staying with relatives in extended family units is generally a better solution than uprooting a child completely. There are still ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Iraq. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) say that what is needed most at this time are financial contributions. Individuals who wish to assist can do the most good by making a financial contribution to an established NGO that will be well placed to respond to Iraq's most urgent needs.

The American Red Cross is working through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian assistance in Iraq. The Red Cross and ICRC do assessments to determine needs and use monetary donations where the need is the greatest. To contact them, call 1-800-HELP-NOW. There is no mechanism to direct money to a specific child or person. The website http://www.red-cross.org/ has more information on directed contributions. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Web site, http://www.usaid.gov/iraq, provides information on how individuals can assist.

“Interaction” is a Washington-based coalition of NGOs. Those interested in children's issues/orphans may go on the website http://www.interaction.org and look at the “Guide to Appropriate Giving” and to “Emergency Relief in Iraq” both on the home page. Interested donors can read synopses on various organizations and in some cases make contributions. Interaction can also be reached at 202-667-8227.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous.

Travel Warning

July 23, 2007

This Travel Warning updates the current security situation and reiterates the dangers of the use of civilian aircraft and road travel within Iraq. This supersedes the Travel Warning of August 28, 2006.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous. Remnants of the former Ba’ath regime, transnational terrorists, criminal elements and numerous insurgent groups remain active. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue, including in the International (or “Green”) Zone. Targets include convoys en-route to venues, hotels, restaurants, police stations, checkpoints, foreign diplomatic missions, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel. These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries of American citizens, including those doing humanitarian work. In addition, there have been planned and random killings, as well as extortions and kidnappings. Several U.S. citizens subsequently were murdered by terrorists. U.S. citizens and other foreigners are targeted by insurgent groups and criminals for kidnapping and murder. Military operations continue. There are daily attacks against Multinational Forces—Iraq (MNF-I) and Iraqi Security Forces throughout the country.

There is credible information that terrorists are targeting civil aviation. Civilian and military aircraft arriving at and departing from Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) for other major cities in Iraq have been subjected to small arms and missiles. Civilian aircraft generally lack defense systems capable of defeating man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). As a result of a security incident at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), the U.S. Embassy has prohibited all U.S. government employees from departing BIAP on commercial airlines until further notice.

All vehicular travel in Iraq is extremely dangerous. There have been numerous attacks on civilian vehicles, as well as military convoys. Attacks occur throughout the day, but travel at night is exceptionally dangerous. Travel in or through Ramadi and Fallujah; in and between al-Hil-lah, al-Basrah, Kirkuk, Baqubah (Diyala Province), and Baghdad; between the International Zone and Baghdad International Airport; and from Baghdad to Mosul is particularly dangerous.

Occasionally, U.S. Government personnel are prohibited from traveling to certain areas depending on prevailing security conditions. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs), and mines often are placed on roads, concealed in plastic bags, boxes, soda cans, dead animals, and in other ways to blend with the road. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from overpasses, particularly in crowded areas. Overland travel should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary and with the appropriate security.

The U.S. Embassy is located in the International Zone. The Embassy can provide only limited emergency services to U.S. citizens in Iraq. The U.S. Government considers the potential threat to U.S. Government personnel assigned to Iraq sufficiently serious to require them to live and work under strict security restrictions. At present, travel to and from the International Zone is extremely limited. Unofficial travel to Iraq by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. The U.S. Embassy does not provide visa services to the general public. American citizens who choose to visit or reside in Iraq despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal security, avoid crowds, especially rallies or demonstrations, and to inform the U.S. Embassy of their presence in Iraq. All Americans in Baghdad are strongly encouraged to register with the Embassy online at the following website: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/home.asp.

American citizens may obtain the latest security information or other information about Iraq by contacting the U.S. Embassy, located in the International Zone, via landline at: 1-240-553-0589, via Iraqna cellular phones at 07901-191-0058/57/56/54/ 53/52/49/48, via e-mail to [email protected], or by accessing the U.S. Embassy's website at http://iraq.usembassy.gov. The after-hours number in case of extreme emergency are Iraqna 07901-732-134 or GSM 914-822-1370.

Updated information on travel and security in Iraq may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 in the United States and Canada, or for callers outside the United States, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Country Specific Information for Iraq, as well as the current Worldwide Caution and the Middle East and North Africa Travel Alerts, all of which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov.

IRAQ

Republic of Iraq

Al-Jumhuriyah al-'Iraqiyah

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

Iraq is located in the Middle East, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iraq is also bordered by Jordan and Syria to the west, Kuwait to the south, and Turkey to the north. A very small sliver of the Persian Gulf (58 kilometers, or 36.04 miles) abuts Iraq on its southeast border. With an area of 437,072 square kilometers (168,753 square miles), Iraq is slightly more than twice the size of Idaho. Iraq's capital city, Baghdad, is located in the center of the country. Other major cities include al-Basra in the south and Mosul in the north.

POPULATION.

The population of Iraq is the fifth largest in the Middle East and North Africa. The population was estimated at 22,675,617 in July of 2000, an increase of 4.675 million from the 1980 population of 18 million. In 2000, Iraq's birth rate stood at 35.04 per 1,000, while the death rate was reported at 6.4 per 1,000. With a projected growth rate of 2 percent between 2000 and 2015, the population is expected to reach 38 million by the year 2030.

Some 97 percent of the population are Muslims. Shi'ite Muslims make up the majority (60-65 percent), while Sunnis comprise 32-37 percent of Muslims in the country. The remaining 3 percent is made up of Christians and other religious groups. The Kurds, descendants of Indo-European tribes who settled in Iraq in the 2nd century B.C., make up 15-20 percent of the population. Arabic is the official language, but Kurdish, Assyrian, and Armenian are also spoken.

Iraq's population growth has increased since 1993, despite the exodus of the middle class as a result of the Gulf War and the adverse effects of the United Nations (UN) economic sanctions imposed since 1991. Population growth before the 1991 Gulf War was as high as 3.6 percent annually. The government has strongly encouraged population growth. With a high fertility rate and a relatively young population, 45 percent of which is under 15 years of age, population growth is expected to remain high. Population growth dropped significantly to 1.9 percent in 1993 but resumed in recent years, with the growth rate reaching 2.98 percent in 1998. This rate suggests that the emigration of the middle class has slowed. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also estimates that the effects of the UN sanctions have begun to fade. An estimated 1 to 2 million Iraqis live abroad, many as political exiles. The large majority of these are concentrated in Iran, after having been forced to leave in the wake of the 1990-91 Gulf War.

As in many developing countries, a majority of Iraqis live in urban areas. The population of urban areas has grown significantly since the 1960s at a rate of 5.2 percent annually. Baghdad and its suburbs are home to some 31 percent of the population. Rural-urban migration has eroded some of the ethno-religious and linguistic differences between regions, with the exception of the Kurdish minority, which is concentrated in the north. Iraqi society is dominated by tribal and familial affiliations.

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY

Iraq's economy has suffered greatly as a result of the United Nations sanctions, imposed following Iraq's military defeat at the hands of a U.S.-led coalition that freed Kuwait after it was invaded by Iraq in 1990. The sanctions were imposed to contain militarily the regime of Saddam Hussein by ensuring that all weapons of mass destruction (such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capable of killing large numbers of people indiscriminately) at its disposal are destroyed by a UN-appointed inspections committee. However, Iraq's incomplete compliance with UN resolutions pertaining to the destruction of its weapons has precluded the removal of the trade sanctions more than a decade after the war.

Iraq entered the 20th century as part of an enfeebled Ottoman Empire (a 700-year empire that spanned much of the Middle East and centered in what is now Turkey). By 1915, Iraq became a British mandate area administered by a civil government headed by a British high commissioner. In 1921, the British replaced their direct rule with a monarchy headed by King Faisal. Iraq became a sovereign independent state in 1932 after the British finally acceded to local demands for full independence. Iraq was proclaimed a republic in 1958, after the monarchy was overthrown by a military coup executed by officers under the leadership of General Abdul Karim Qasim, who became Iraq's first president. In fact, Iraq has been controlled by a series of strongmen, the latest of which is Saddam Hussein, who took power in 1979.

Oil, discovered in Iraq in the early 1950s, has made Iraq one of the world's largest oil producers. Its economy is largely dependent on the oil sector, which has traditionally accounted for about 95 percent of foreign exchange. Iraq's economy has, however, been on a downward trend since the early 1980s. Gains achieved during the initial years of the Ba'ath party (Iraq's only political party and the center of power in the country) rule were reversed as the Hussein regime sought to finance the 10-year war with Iran that broke out in 1980. As a result of the war, Iraq's oil production capabilities were curtailed, and the government's debts to Western nations for the purchase of military materiél grew considerably throughout the 1980s. Iraq sustained heavy debts as a result of its war with Iran. Accurate figures regarding Iraq's total external liabilities are hard to establish because the Iraqi government did not publish official information on its debt. In 1986, Iraq's total debt was estimated to be between US$50 billion and US$80 billion. Of this total, Iraq owed about US$30 billion to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the other Gulf states. Most of this debt resulted from the sale of crude oil on Iraq's behalf. Iraq's total foreign debt today is estimated to be in the range of US$130 billion. Iraq has not made any debt payments since the United Nations' sale of its overseas assets to compensate the Kuwaiti victims of the invasion and to pay creditors.

Since 1996, Iraq has been allowed to export only a limited quantity of oil, worth US$2.14 billion every 6 months, in return for food and medical supplies to address the country's deteriorating humanitarian conditions after the war, which include a lack of clean water supplies and basic services. Of revenues accruing from the sale of oil, some 53 percent is used to finance the import of food and medicine for the Iraqi people, while 13 percent is being diverted by UN agencies to the Kurdish provinces in the north. The effects of the sanctions have led to a sharp increase in poverty and infant mortality, especially in the south, and much of the country's infrastructure is not functioning.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND TAXATION

A complex web of social, economic, ethnic, religious, and ideological conflicts has hindered the process of state formation in Iraq since it gained independence from Britain in 1932. Festering socioeconomic problems—such as widespread poverty and deep divisions between the Sunnis and the Shi'ites in the post-World War II period—were compounded by an enduring leadership crisis that continued to afflict Iraqi politics and society for more than 5 decades after independence. The political process has been characterized by deep social and political divisions that have meant that no single political group was able to gain enough support to rule the country without resorting to violence. As a result, Iraq's deep-rooted fragmentation has allowed the armed forces to exercise great control over politics since the 1930s. A total of 11 coups took place between 1936 and 1968. The Ba'ath party, which came to power in 1968, also through a military coup, has greatly shaped the country's modern history and its economic system. The party espouses the goals of socialism , freedom, and unity, and has attempted to redress widespread social inequality through the redistribution of wealth.

According to the constitution, Iraq is a republic with an elected legislature and an independent judiciary. Executive power is concentrated in the hands of the president and Council of Ministers. In reality, and owing to the revolutionary nature of Iraqi politics, all executive and legislative powers rest with the Revolutionary Command Council president (RCC). The RCC elects the president, who, in addition to being the chairman of the RCC, also serves as prime minister and commander of the armed forces. The president and the Council of Ministers are accountable to the RCC.

Since the late 1960s, the ruling Ba'ath Party has used vast oil revenues to build a modern state, although it is also one of the most highly militarized countries in the world. The Ba'ath party adopted a centralized socialist welfare system, which regulated every aspect of the economy, with the exception of the agriculture and personal services sectors. Much of Ba'ath party's ambitious plans to develop Iraq and exploit its vast oil resources were done with Soviet technical assistance. Since taking office in 1979, President Saddam Hussein pursued a state-sponsored industrial modernization program that led to a more equitable distribution of wealth, greater social mobility, improved education and health-care standards, as well as the redistribution of land. The government experimented with economic liberalization in the 1980s, which sought to ease state control of the economy and to increase commercialization in the state sector. These efforts, however, were largely unsuccessful, mainly due to a long legacy of state control and a bloated state bureaucracy that was unable to meet the challenges of reform.

Iraq's spending on defense has traditionally accounted for 25-33 percent of the state budget, even when the country was not at war with any of its neighbors. Since the early 1970s, the government has dedicated huge resources to thwart efforts by the Kurdish people to establish their own state in the northern Kurdistan region. After efforts to reach an agreement to establish a politically and culturally autonomous area in the north failed in 1975, the government waged in 1976 a costly campaign to forcibly evacuate 800 Kurdish villages along the border with Iran. This campaign to replace the Kurdish population with Arabs resumed after an 8-year hiatus during the Iraq-Iran war. At least 300,000 Kurds were deported from their villages in the north, and chemical weapons were used against Kurdish civilians at Halabjah in 1988 in which more than 5,000 Kurds were killed. Following Iraq's military defeat in 1991, U.S.-led allied forces carved out an autonomous region for the Kurds in the north, effectively separating the region from the rest of the country. Since 1991, the Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed a large degree of autonomy from the central government in Baghdad under the protection of allied forces. Nevertheless, the Kurds live in primitive conditions, often in large "tent cities," with only the barest necessities (such as food, medicine and clean water) supplied by aid agencies.

In the wake of the Gulf War and its aftermath, the Iraqi government's role in the economy is bigger than ever, as it continues to control the vast majority of imports and foreign exchange flowing into the country from the limited sale of oil allowed under the sanctions. The government, however, lacks a clear economic objective, given its primary goal since the 1990 Gulf War has been to ensure the survival of the regime in the face of international political and economic isolation. Instead of using its limited resources from oil sales to benefit the economy and expand its base, the state has redirected its efforts toward guaranteeing the continued support of the regime's chief domestic allies, mainly the merchant class and the military. This class has been both paid off and allowed to accumulate wealth illegally to ensure its continued allegiance to the state.

Taxation is not and has never been a major source of government income. Iraq's relative prosperity in the years preceding the Iran-Iraq war enabled the government to adopt a welfare system that exempted the population from paying taxes. After the 1990 Gulf War, however, the government has attempted to impose taxes to increase its revenue, but collection enforcement has been rather poor. Private sector employees are required to pay income tax , although the tax is rarely collected. State employees continue to be exempt from taxation.

INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Prior to the Gulf War, Iraq's infrastructure was one of the most highly developed and extensive in the region. The government has been largely successful in its efforts to repair the severe damage the infrastructure sustained as a result of the 1990 Gulf War. The lack of resources available to the government, however, has meant that most of the repair work is substandard. In 1996, the country was serviced by a network of over 45,550 kilometers (28,304 miles) of primary and secondary roads, 38,400 kilometers (23,862 miles) of which were paved. The nation's 2,032-kilometer (1,263-mile) railway system is in good condition and connects Iraq to its neighbors to the north, Syria and Turkey.

Iraq has 2 major airports, located in Baghdad and Basra. Both airports are in fairly good condition. There are 3 smaller civil airfields at Haditha, Kirkuk and Mosul. All commercial airlines stopped service to Iraq in 1991 under the United Nations sanctions. A number of countries, mainly France, Russia, and Jordan, began sending humanitarian flights carrying food and medicine to Baghdad in mid-2000, in violation of the sanctions. These flights were sent as an expression of opposition to the continuation of the UN sanctions against Iraq. The country has 3 ports at Umm Qasr, Khawr az-Zubayr, and al-Basra, which currently have limited functionality because of the damage sustained during the Gulf War and the subsequent trade sanctions. Since 1997, most of Iraq's needs are serviced at Umm Qasr, the main point of entry for most food imports.

Electric power is supplied to Iraqis by state-owned power stations throughout the country, which have a total capacity of 17,000 megawatts of power. As a result of repeated bombings during the Iran-Iraq war and the Gulf War, power stations today can barely meet local demand, and it is estimated that in 2000, capacity in the central and southern regions supplied only 50 percent of demand. Despite the construction of 4 new power stations after the Gulf War, blackouts are common, and at least 14 central and southern provinces experience an average of 12 hours of power cuts daily. In Baghdad, 4-hour power outages are routine.

Telecommunications services in Iraq are in poor condition and are quite unreliable, mainly as a result of repeated air strikes by allied forces during and after the war. The country had 675,000 working lines in 1995. Mobile cellular service is unavailable. Internet service is available but is both costly and unreliable.

ECONOMIC SECTORS

Iraq's economic sectors reflect the state of devastation that the country has endured as a result of war. The economy has traditionally been heavily dependent on the oil sector, which accounted for more than 60 percent of the GDP before the Gulf War. The oil sector's contribution to the GDP, however, greatly diminished in the immediate years after the war, but its contribution to GDP has increased since the 1996 introduction of the United Nations oil-for-food program, which allows limited oil exports in return for food and medicine. Iraq in 1991 exported less than 10 percent of its pre-war oil export levels. By 2001, Iraq had regained three-quarters of the pre-war oil export levels. However, the UN's control of oil exports removed these revenues as a source of the GDP.

In the post-Gulf War era, services was the largest contributor to the GDP at 81 percent in 1993. Industry contributed 13 percent in the GDP, while agriculture accounted for 6 percent of the GDP. Real GDP was cut by around 63 percent in 1991, a direct result of the war and subsequent sanctions. The GDP was estimated in 1999 to be equivalent to US$59.9 billion. The country's major economic sectors witnessed a serious decline in 1990-91 because of the Gulf War, and continued allied bombardment of key Iraqi infrastructure facilities, including power generators and communications equipment. The manufacturing sector was hit by the shortage of imported raw materials and spare parts, while the collapse of the country's irrigation system in the aftermath of the war has left the agricultural sector in dire straits.

AGRICULTURE

Despite intermittent government efforts to develop the sector, agricultural production has always been a modest contributor to Iraq's economy, accounting for 7 percent of GDP prior to the 1980 Iran-Iraq war and 6 percent in 1993. Despite declining performance, however, the sector continues to employ almost one-third of the country's labor force . The agricultural sector employed 30 percent of the labor force in 1989, and although the number is believed to have declined as a result of the sector's declining performance, no hard figures are available to support this contention.

Iraq's arable land is estimated at 8 million hectares, comprising less than 15 percent of the country's total area. However, only 4 to 5 million hectares of this land is being cultivated. Arable land is mostly concentrated in the north and northeast, where winter crops—mainly wheat and barley—are grown, and in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The sector's contribution to the GDP has steadily declined since the early 1980s, despite repeated government efforts to boost agricultural production. Until the late 1980s, cultivable land was under the control of the state, the direct result of the land reforms begun in 1958. In 1988-89, in an effort to boost agricultural production, the state privatized agriculture, but the sector's weakness persisted. Further, the government continued to control the price of agricultural products, mainly to protect the urban consumer. Despite government efforts to encourage agricultural production after the Gulf War by raising the price of staple foods—especially of wheat, barley and rice—the labor-intensive sector remains in 2001 under-developed and inefficient, as a result of the high costs of energy, credit, and land and lack of investment. The problem is further aggravated by the lack of pesticides, fertilizers, and machinery. Further, competition from produce and agriculture products imported under the UN food-for-oil program, which allows the sale of a given amount of oil in return for basic foodstuffs and medicine, has also hurt the sector. In 2000, Iraq's farmers were also hit hard by the worst drought in a century. This drought devastated output and forced many farmers to ask the government to loan them the money to pay local banks back for funds they had borrowed to plant their crops, which in the summer of 2000 were failing.

Major agricultural products are cereals, including wheat and barley. Iraq is also a producer of dates, sheep and goat meat, chicken meat, and milk. Most agricultural activity is concentrated in the fertile lowlands in the Mesopotamian plains irrigated from the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Kurdish areas in the north, which have received minimal attention due to the conflict between the central government and the Kurds, remain underdeveloped and mostly dependent on rainwater. Agricultural production in Kurdish areas has improved under the UN sanctions regime, due to the distribution of fertilizers and spare parts by international agencies in those areas.

INDUSTRY

MINING.

Oil dominates the country's mining activity, and accounted for more than 60 percent of the GDP before the 1990 Gulf War. Iraq has 112,500 billion barrels in proven reserves—the second largest known reserves in the world. Prior to its war with Iran, which began in 1980, Iraq was also the second-largest exporter of oil in the world.

Oil production is concentrated in the north in Kirkuk, Jambur, Bai Hassam, Ain Zalah, Butman, and Baiji. Oil fields in the south include Rumaila and Zubeir, and until the Gulf War, oil was exported via the Gulf port at Khor al-Amaya. In addition, smaller fields can be found at Luhais, Nahr Umr, Buzurgan, Abu Ghuraib, and Jabal Fauqi. Iraqi oil exports consist of 2 types of crude. The "Kirkuk Crude," which forms the majority of exported oil, is extracted from the northern oil fields and exported via Turkey. The "Basra Light" comes from the fields in the south and is exported via the Mina al-Bakr terminal on the Persian Gulf.

Oil production and output has more than once been interrupted as a result of armed conflict, first with Iran and then with the allied forces during the Gulf War. Production before the Iran-Iraq war reached as high 3.5 million barrels a day (b/d) in 1979 but declined to 700,000-870,000 b/d with the start of the war in 1980. Although most damage to Iraq's facilities was repaired, and production was restored to 3.07 million b/d by the end of the 1980s, the Gulf War and subsequent UN sanctions imposed once more severely depressed both production and output capacity. Until 1996, Iraqi exports were forbidden under the terms of the UN sanctions, with the exception of 65,000 b/d exported to Jordan as part as a special deal worked out with the United Nations. As a result, oil production averaged only 500,000-600,000 b/d between 1990 and 1996, with the majority used for domestic consumption.

Iraq was allowed to resume partial exports in 1996, as part of the food-for-oil program designed to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. Oil production was estimated at 2.52 million b/d in 1999, 1.76 million of which are exported under the food-for-oil program. Local consumption accounts for 500,000 million b/d, while an estimated 166,000 million b/d are believed to be smuggled through Turkey and Iran. In June 1998, Iraq was permitted to import spare parts in the amount of $300 million every 6 months to repair its oil facilities. In December 1999, the value of imports was doubled to $600 million per 6 months, but Iraq was allowed to purchase parts only from a list of parts drawn up by the United Nations. Despite an increase in production, which reached 2.49 million b/d in July 2000, the oil sector continues to suffer from the lack of adequate investment and of the kind of Western expertise that was once available to Iraq before the war.

Before 1972, a consortium of British, U.S., French and Dutch companies virtually dominated the oil industry through the Iraqi Petroleum Company and its associates. This company was nationalized by the Iraqi government in 1972, and the U.S. and Dutch interests in the last remaining foreign oil firm—the Basra Petroleum Company—were confiscated because of their governments' pro-Israel stance during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The entire oil sector was nationalized in December 1975 and placed under the control of the state-owned Iraqi National Oil Company. In the late 1990s, however, and as a direct result of the sanctions, the Iraqi government has once again allowed production-sharing agreements with foreign companies, mainly Russian and Chinese, to develop the oil sector and increase production to 3.4 million b/d in the short-term and 6 million b/d in the medium-term. These agreements, however, are contingent upon the lifting of the UN sanctions, and it remains to be seen whether the United States will allow the Russian and Chinese firms to benefit from the development of the Iraqi oil sector.

In addition to oil, Iraq ranks tenth in the world in terms of proven reserves of natural gas, which are estimated at 3.1 trillion cubic meters. In 1998, Iraq's production of natural gas reached 2.9 billion cubic meters, most of which was used for domestic consumption. Natural gas is currently not being exported, although the government has recently signed agreements with Turkish companies to export 10 billion cubic meters worth of gas annually from its northern field.

Iraq also has phosphate deposits located at Akashat near its border with Syria, which are used to produce fertilizers. Sulphur deposits can also be found in Mishraq. European companies were involved in the mining of sulphur before the Iran-Iraq war, but these efforts came to a standstill during the war and have not resumed. The mining of both phosphates and sulphur has largely remained limited in scope due to the dominance of the oil sector.

MANUFACTURING.

The manufacturing sector is the second largest non-oil sector, accounting in 1993 for 13 percent of the GDP. The sector's contribution to the GDP in 2001 is hard to assess in the absence of government data about manufacturing activity in the country. Total employment in manufacturing in 1989 stood at 968,000 or 22 percent of the labor force.

Historically, the sector has been dominated by oil refining and natural gas processing industries. Refineries are situated in Baghdad, Basra, al-Hadithah, Khanaqin, Kirkuk, and Qayyarah, and by the late 1980s were producing a total of 743.3 million barrels of petroleum and 3.7 billion cubic meters (131 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per year. Since the 1970s, Iraqi companies have processed iron and steel at plants located at Khawr az-Zubayr. Other manufacturing activities include the production of advanced military hardware, tractors, electrical goods, car assembly, truck manufacture, aluminum smelting, detergents, and fertilizers.

Since the mid-1970s, Iraqi industries have been under the control of the state. The government experimented with privatization in late 1988, right after the end of its war with Iran, in an effort to boost manufacturing production. The state, however, continues to control all heavy industry, the oil sector, power production, and the infrastructure, while private investment is restricted to light industry. An important reason for the failure of the privatization program was the price controls that the government was forced to introduce following the outbreak of popular unrest over rising prices in 1989.

Overall, the sector has been characterized by mismanagement and constant policy shifts, which severely hindered its development. In the 1970s, the government encouraged the development of local food processing and building supplies industries to substitute for imports, but by the late 1970s, the government shifted its focus toward the development of heavy industries, such as iron and steel. The initiative, however, never took off. Efforts to expand the manufacturing sector came to a standstill during the Iran-Iraq war, as resources had to be reallocated to finance the war, and greater emphasis was placed on increasing the output of existing industries.

In the 1990s, the manufacturing sector has also been severely hurt by the UN sanctions and has shrunk considerably as a result. The UN closely monitors the import of industrial raw materials to ensure that implements necessary for the production of weapons of mass destruction do not enter the country. The sector has also been hurt by the lack of the foreign currency needed to purchase imported parts.

CONSTRUCTION.

The construction sector has been a major contributor to the economy for most of the last 3 decades. The sector's growth can be attributed to the government's continuous involvement since the 1970s in reconstructing war-damaged facilities or in expanding the military infrastructure. Spending on construction dropped significantly in 1991, reaching ID578 million, down from ID1.7 billion in 1990. Spending on construction, however, has been on an upward trend since 1991, reaching some ID20 billion in 1994.

SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES.

Financial services in Iraq are fairly outdated. As a result of the nationalization of banks and insurance companies in 1964, all financial transactions are controlled by the government through the Central Bank of Iraq, which is responsible for issuing and monitoring all aspects of the Iraqi dinar. Black market currency dealings are prohibited but continue to take place. International banking transactions are undertaken by the Rafidain Bank, which represents the government in all transactions not undertaken by the Central Bank. The Rasheed Bank, established in 1989, deals with domestic transactions. The banking sector was liberalized in 1991, paving the way for the establishment of 6 new banks.

RETAIL.

Iraq has a poor retail sector. Baghdad's once well-developed commercial centers have been severely hurt by the UN sanctions, and the lack of imported goods has forced many of them to close in the last 10 years. The majority of shops in major cities, including Baghdad, consist of small family-owned and-run businesses. Small shops and temporary road stands also characterize the majority of towns in the interior of the country.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Iraq's imports have declined dramatically in the last decade, as a direct result of the UN sanctions. In 2001, Iraq's total imports were estimated at US$8.9 billion, almost 40 percent lower than their 1989 levels of US$22 billion. Iraq was not allowed to import any goods until 1997. After the conclusion of the food-for-oil agreement, Iraq's imports have been regulated by the UN, which approves all goods entering the country.

Iraq imports a variety of goods, but food imports (wheat, rice, barley, sugar and meat) and medicine are by far the largest component of the import bill. However, the Iraqi government and its agencies control the purchase and marketing of imported goods. Before the Gulf War, Iraq imported the majority of its goods from the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and Turkey. By the late 1990s, France (19.2 percent of total imports), Australia (18 percent), China (12.5 percent), Russia (8.2 percent), and the United States (2.1 percent) are the largest exporters of goods to Iraq.

The majority of exports are dominated by oil, which accounted for about 95 percent of total sales abroad before the Gulf War. Iraq in 2000 had restored three-quarters of its pre-war oil export levels, which means that oil sales in 2001 account for around 70 percent of total exports. Other non-oil exports included fertilizers and dates. Sales of liquefied natural gas are expected to surge, but the prospects for that eventuality are far from certain. In 1999, Iraq exported the majority of its oil to the United States (US$3,879 million), the Netherlands (US$848 million), Japan (US$644 million), France (US$521 million), and Spain (US$402 million). Given its weak industrial base and the unlikely removal of the UN sanctions, oil is expected to continue to be the country's major export. Total exports in 1999 reached US$12.7 billion, with the vast majority of export earnings coming from the sale of oil.

MONEY

The value of the Iraqi dinar has declined steadily on the world market over a period of 20 years, making it increasingly harder for the average Iraqi to afford imported goods. The value of the dinar held steady until the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, but that trend was reversed with the collapse of oil prices in mid-1980s. The dinar, which sold at ID0.3109=US$1 in 1982 (which is still the official rate set by the Iraqi government), was further weakened in the aftermath of the Gulf War, reaching a

low of ID2,660:US$1 in December 1995. Despite occasional peaks, the value of the dinar against the U.S. dollar has held steady in the last 2 years at ID2,000:US$1 on the black market, the same rate sold by state banks since June 1999. However, the dinar's instability is likely to persist as a result of the uncertain political and the continuation of the UN sanctions.

Iraq has a single stock market, established in Baghdad in March 1992 in the wake of the privatization of state enterprises. Trading, however, remains thin due to the uncertain political conditions prevailing in the country.

POVERTY AND WEALTH

The UN sanctions imposed on Iraq since 1990 have severely affected the social fabric and living conditions in the country. As a result of the severe deterioration of services—including water and sanitation, health care, and education—the living standards of all Iraqis have declined. Rising unemployment and inflation , which was estimated at around 250 percent in 1995 and 135 percent in 1999, coupled with the falling purchasing power of salaries and rising prices, have deepened social divisions and inequalities, with all sectors of the society growing more impoverished. Wealth as of 2001 is concentrated in the hands of a small privileged group of regime supporters, mainly from among the military and the business community who have been allowed to benefit from the sanctions. This group is heavily involved in black market currency dealing and the smuggling of food and merchandise on a regional scale.

The economic embargo has also had an uneven impact on different Iraqi regions. Ethnic, religious, and tribal rivalries have always been the dominant feature of Iraqi society. The Sunni-dominated central government in Baghdad has historically discriminated against the Shi'ites in the south and the Kurds in the north. Systematic efforts to "Arabize" the predominantly Kurdish region in the north resulted in a rebellion in the 1970s that brought the Kurds further retribution. Under the sanctions regime, living conditions in the northern provinces that are under Kurdish control have improved, partly because the UN, rather than the government of Iraq, is administering the oil-for-food program there, and partly as a result of the infusion of higher per capita international humanitarian assistance to this region between 1991-96. The future social and economic prospects of this region, however, remain uncertain, given that the status of the region is yet to be determined.

The predominantly Shi'ite south, which witnessed an uprising against the Sunni-controlled Baghdad government in the wake of the 1991 war, has been less fortunate. The military continued its water-diversion and other projects in the south designed to displace the Shi'ite community there, known as the "marsh Arabs." Since the 1980s, the government has drained most of the southern areas by either drying up or diverting the streams and rivers, effectively cutting off water supplies to the Shi'ite community inhabiting those areas for thousands of years.

The government also limited the delivery of food, medical supplies, drinking water, and transportation to the region. The regime has used food rations allowed under the oil-for-food program to reward regime supporters and silence opponents. As a result of this policy, the humanitarian conditions of Shi'ites in the south continued to deteriorate, despite a significant expansion of the oil-for-food program after 1997.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Iraq's labor force has increased steadily since the 1970s, reaching over 6 million workers in 1998. No official statistics are available for the unemployment rate in the country, but it is widely believed that the unemployment rate has increased dramatically as a result of the war and the subsequent sanctions. Iraq suffered labor shortages in the 1980s as result of the conscription of thousands of Iraqi men in the military. Declining economic conditions forced thousands of foreign workers who migrated to Iraq for work opportunities during the war to leave after the war ended. This problem was further aggravated by the exodus of thousands of Iraqi professionals at the outset of the Gulf War. The majority of the labor force (67 percent) is concentrated in the services sector, which is dominated by the military, in comparison to only 14 percent in the agricultural sector and 19 percent in the industrial sector.

Iraq's trade unions were legalized in 1936, and although more than a dozen are in existence today, the labor movement has been largely ineffective due to the domination of the government and Ba'ath Party. In 1987, the government established the Iraqi General Federation of Trade Unions (IGFTU) as the sole legal trade federation, which is used to promote the principles and policies of the Ba'ath party among union members. Iraqi employees work a 6-day, 48-hour week, but working hours in the public sector are set by the head of each ministry. Child labor is prohibited, although children under the age of 14 can work in the agricultural sector and are encouraged to help support their families.

Although labor laws protecting the right of workers have been in place since 1958 and subsequently amended in 1964, working conditions in Iraq are not ideal. Workers do not enjoy the right to strike, as mandated by the 1987 Labor Law; do not have the right to bargain collectively; and are often arbitrarily moved from their positions for political considerations. Salaries in the public sector are set by the government, but no information is available on minimum wages. Declining economic conditions in the 1990s have forced many government employees to take second and third jobs to support themselves.

Since the 1970s, the ruling Ba'ath party has encouraged the participation of women in the labor force and much effort was exerted to improve their level of education. The percentage of women in the labor force has, however, remained rather steady in the 2 decades between 1970 and 1990, hovering at around 16.8 percent. According to World Bank figures, Iraqi women's participation in the labor force has risen consistently since the 1990/91 Gulf War, jumping from 16.6 percent in 1991 to a high of 19 percent in 1998. This increase can be best explained in terms of the harsh economic conditions that Iraqis have had to endure as a result of the war, which have forced many women to seek employment opportunities outside their homes to earn a living.

COUNTRY HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1917. As the Ottoman Empire collapses, Iraq comes under the control of the British.

1921. The British declare Faisal king of Iraq.

1932. Modern Iraq gains independence. A new government headed by General Nouri al-Said is formed.

1933. Ghazi, the son of King Faisal, becomes king.

1941. The Ba'ath Party is founded by 2 Syrian students, espousing the goals of socialism, freedom, and unity.

1939. King Ghazi is killed in a car accident and is succeeded by his son Faisal II.

1958. Hashemite monarchy is overthrown by officers of the Nineteenth Brigade under the leadership of Brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassem and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. Iraq is declared a republic.

1963. President Abdul-Karim Qassem is overthrown by Abdul Salam Arif and a coterie of military officers in a bloodless coup.

1970. The government signs a 15-article peace plan with the Kurds after years of rebellion and conflict.

1972. Iraq and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of friendship for political and economic cooperation. Iraqi Petroleum Company is nationalized and Iraq National Oil Company is established to exploit new oil concessions.

1979. President Bakr resigns, and Saddam Hussein officially replaces him as president of the republic, secretary general of the Ba'ath Party Regional Command, chairman of the RCC, and commander in chief of the armed forces.

1979. Shah of Iran is overthrown.

1980. Iran-Iraq War begins.

1988. Iran-Iraq War ends.

1988. Government launches privatization program to spur economy.

1990. Iraq invades Kuwait.

1991. Iraq is defeated by allied forces. United Nations sanctions are imposed.

1997. Iraq is permitted to export limited amounts of oil in return for food and medicine.

FUTURE TRENDS

Iraq entered the 21st century under a cloud of great uncertainty. Despite the large sums of money that have entered the government's coffers from the sale of oil in the last 50 years, Saddam Hussein's legacy of war, first with Iran and then as a result of the invasion of Kuwait, has left the economy in ruins. The country's economic and social achievements during the 1970s and 1980s have been completely lost. Despite the food-for-oil program approved by the United Nations in 1997, the Iraqi economy will continue to suffer as a result of the sanctions.

Further, the prospects for the lifting of the United Nations sanctions remain uncertain, given that their termination has been made conditional upon the removal of President Saddam Hussein from power. Even after the sanctions are lifted, it is estimated that Iraq will have to pay US$12 billion in debt-servicing annually and to pay for food imports, medicine, and reconstruction. The problem will be further aggravated by the massive reparations payments that Iraq will be forced to pay. Unless forgiven, Iraq's debts will continue to greatly hinder its ability to undertake large-scale reconstruction and repair needed to restore the civilian infrastructure.

Internally, the social and ethnic divisions that have long characterized Iraq are stronger than ever. Despite being greatly weakened by the Gulf War and the sanctions, the repressive Saddam Hussein regime continues to rule the country unchallenged. The country itself has been divided into 3 zones, with the center and the south remaining under the control of the Iraqi government. Meanwhile, the north, where the Kurdish minority is concentrated, has been granted, at least temporarily, the right to administer its own affairs. For the last 10 years, the Kurds have enjoyed the protection of U.S. and British forces against potential military attacks by the Iraqi government. However, it remains uncertain whether such an arrangement can be sustained after the U.N. sanctions are lifted.

DEPENDENCIES

Iraq has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Another Dry Year Means Bad Harvest For Iraq." Arabia.com/Iraq.

<http://www.arabia.com/iraq/business/article/english/0,5508, 24836,00.html>. Accessed June 2001.

Arnove, Anthony, editor. Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War. Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press,2000.

Batatu, Hanna. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq: A Study of Iraq's Old Landed and Commercial Classes and of Its Communists, Bathists, and Free Officers. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978.

Clawson, Patrick. How Has Saddam Hussein Survived?: Economic Sanctions, 1990-93. Washington, D.C.: Institute for National Strategic Studies, 1993.

Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Profile Iraq, 2000/2001. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000.

Helms, Christine Moss. Iraq, Eastern Flank of the Arab World. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1984.

"Kurds Despair Under West's Leaky Umbrella." Guardian Unlimited. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/The_Kurds/Story/ 0,2763,440396,00.html>. Accessed June 2001.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook 2000. <http:// www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>. Accessed July 2001.

—Reem Nuseibeh

CAPITAL:

Baghdad.

MONETARY UNIT:

Iraqi dinar (ID). One Iraqi dinar equals 20 dirhams, or 1,000 fils. Coins of ID1, and 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 fils. Notes are in denominations of 5, 10, 50, and 100 dinars.

CHIEF EXPORTS:

Crude oil.

CHIEF IMPORTS: Food, medicine, manufactures.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:

US$59.9 billion (purchasing power parity, 1999 est.).

BALANCE OF TRADE:

Exports: US$12.7 billion (1999 est.). Imports: US$8.9 billion (1999 est.).

Iraq

Compiled from the October 2006 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:
Republic of Iraq

PROFILE

GEOGRAPHY

PEOPLE

HISTORY

GOVERNMENT

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

ECONOMY

DEFENSE

FOREIGN RELATIONS

U.S.-IRAQI RELATIONS

TRAVEL

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 437,072 sq. km.; about the size of California.

Cities: Capital—Baghdad (5.7 million, 2004 estimate). Other cities—Basrah, Mosul, Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah, Irbil.

Terrain: Alluvial plains, mountains, and desert.

Climate: Mostly hot and dry.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Iraqi(s).

Population: (2006 estimate) 26,800,000.

Population growth rate: (2006 estimate) 3.0%.

Ethnic groups: Arab 75%-80%, Kurd 15%-20%, Turcoman, Chaldean, Assyrian, or others less than 5%.

Religions: Muslim 97%, Christian 3%, others less than 1%.

Languages: Arabic (Official), Kurdish (Official), Assyrian, Armenian.

Education: Years compulsory—primary school (age 6 through grade 6). Literacy (2006 UNESCO est.)—74.1%.

Health: Infant mortality rate—48.64 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy—69 yrs. (2006 est.)

Government

Type: Parliamentary democracy.

Constitution: October 15, 2005.

Independence: On October 3, 1932, Iraq gained independence from the League of Nations Mandate under British Administration. On June 28, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government. A new four-year, constitutionally based government took office in March 2006, and a new cabinet was installed in May 2006.

Government branches: Executive—Presidency Council (one president and two vice presidents); Council of Ministers (one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and 34 cabinet ministers). Judicial—Supreme Court appointed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Council of Representatives. Legislative—Council of Representatives (CoR) consisting of 275 members.

Political subdivisions: 15 governorates and one regional government. Governorates—Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Kirkuk, Babil, Baghdad, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala’, Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit. Regional government—Kurdistan Regional Government.

Economy

GDP: (2006 proj.) $47 billion (official exchange rate).

GDP per capita: (2006 proj.) $1635.

GDP real growth rate: (2006 proj.) 4.0%.

Rate of inflation: (12 months ending August 2006) 76.6%.

Unemployment rate: (2005 estimate) 27%.

Budget: (2006 est.) $48.0 billion revenues and $64.5 billion expenditures.

Public debt: Approximately $125 billion.

Natural resources: Oil, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur.

Agriculture: Products—wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, cotton, dates, cattle, sheep.

Industry: Types—petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing.

Trade: Exports (2006 est.)—$30 billion. Export commodities (2006 est.)—crude oil (97%), other exports (3%). Export partners (2005 est.)—U.S. 49%, Jordan 20%, Canada 13%, Italy 12%. Imports (2006 est.)—$29.7 billion. Import commodities—food, medicine, manufactured goods, refined petroleum products. Import partners (2005 est.)—Turkey 22%, U.S. 21%, Jordan 12%, Vietnam 5%.

GEOGRAPHY

Iraq is bordered by Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The country slopes from mountains over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) above sea level along the border with Iran and Turkey to the remnants of sea-level marshes in the southeast. Much of the land is desert or wasteland. The mountains in the northeast are an extension of the alpine system that runs eastward from the Balkans into southern Turkey, northern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, terminating in the Himalayas.

Average temperatures range from higher than 48°C (120°F) in July and August to below freezing in January. Most of the rainfall occurs from December through April and averages between 10 and 18 centimeters (4-7 in.) annually. The mountainous region of northern Iraq receives appreciably more precipitation than the central or southern desert region.

PEOPLE

Almost 75% of Iraq’s population live in the flat, alluvial plain stretching southeast from Baghdad and Basrah to the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers carry about 70 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. Known in ancient times as Mesopotamia, the region is the legendary locale of the Garden of Eden. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and other ancient cities are in Iraq.

Iraq’s two largest ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds. Other distinct groups are Turcoman, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Persians, and Armenians. Arabic is the most commonly spoken language. Kurdish is spoken in the north, and English is the most commonly spoken Western language.

The majority (60-65%) of Iraqi Muslims are members of the Shi’a sect, but there is a large (32-37%) Sunni population as well, made up of both Arabs and Kurds. Small communities of Christians, Jews, Bahais, Mandaeans, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim but differ from their Arab neighbors in language, dress, and customs.

HISTORY

Once known as Mesopotamia, Iraq was the site of flourishing ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Muslims conquered Iraq in the seventh century A.D. In the eighth century, the Abassid caliphate established its capital at Baghdad.

At the end of World War I, Iraq became a British-mandated territory. When it was declared independent in 1932, the Hashemite family, which also ruled Jordan, ruled as a constitutional monarchy. In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1956, the Baghdad Pact allied Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, and established its headquarters in Baghdad.

Gen. Abdul Karim Qasim took power in July 1958 coup, during which King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed. Qasim ended Iraq’s membership in the Baghdad Pact in 1959. Qasim was assassinated in February 1963, when the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Ba’ath Party) took power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as prime minister and Col. Abdul Salam Arif as president.

Nine months later, Arif led a coup ousting the Ba’ath government. In April 1966, Arif was killed in a plane crash and was succeeded by his brother, Gen. Abdul Rahman Mohammad Arif. On July 17, 1968, a group of Ba’athists and military elements overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr reemerged as the President of Iraq and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).

In July 1979, Bakr resigned, and Saddam Hussein assumed both offices. The Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) devastated the economy of Iraq. Iraq declared victory in 1988 but actually achieved a weary return to the status quo antebellum. The war left Iraq with the largest military establishment in the Gulf region but with huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurdish elements in the northern mountains. The government suppressed the rebellion by using weapons of mass destruction on civilian targets, including a mass chemical weapons attack on the city of Halabja that killed several thousand civilians.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, but a U.S.-led coalition acting under United Nations (UN) resolutions expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991. After the war, Kurds in the north and Shi’a Muslims in the south rebelled against the government of Saddam Hussein. The government responded quickly and with crushing force, killing thousands. It also pursued damaging environmental and agricultural policy meant to drain the marshes of the south.

As a result, the United States, United Kingdom, and France established protective no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. In addition, the UN Security Council required the regime to surrender its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and submit to UN inspections. When the Ba’ath regime refused to fully cooperate with the UN inspections, the Security Council employed sanctions to prevent further WMD development and compel Iraqi adherence to international obligations. Coalition forces enforced no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq to protect Iraqi citizens from attack by the regime and a no-drive zone in southern Iraq to prevent the regime from massing forces to threaten or again invade Kuwait.

A U.S.-led coalition removed the Ba’ath regime in March and April 2003, bringing an end to more than 12 years of Iraqi defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The coalition, international agencies, and nongovernmental organizations quickly established aid systems, preventing any general humanitarian crisis. The coalition formed the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to provide for the administration of Iraq during the period of transitional administration, restore conditions of security and stability, and create conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future. The UN Security Council

acknowledged the authorities of the coalition and provided for a role for the UN and other parties to assist in fulfilling these objectives.

The CPA disbanded on June 28, 2004, transferring sovereign authority for governing Iraq to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). Based on the timetable laid out in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the IIG governed Iraq until elections were held on January 30, 2005; thereafter the Iraqi Transitional Government assumed authority.

In May 2005, the Iraqi Transitional Government appointed a multi-ethnic committee to draft a new Iraqi Constitution. The new constitution was finalized in September 2005, and was ratified in a nationwide referendum on October 15, 2005. On December 15, 2005, Iraqis again went to the polls to participate in the first legislative elections as laid out by the new constitution. The new four-year, constitutionally based government took office in March 2006, and the new cabinet was approved and installed in May 2006.

GOVERNMENT

Iraq is a constitutional democracy with a federal system of government. The 2005 Iraqi Constitution guarantees all Iraqis basic rights in many areas. The executive branch is made up of the Presidency Council (one president, two deputy presidents) and a Council of Ministers (one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and 34 cabinet ministers). The President is the Head of State, protecting the Constitution and representing the sovereignty and unity of the state, while the Prime Minister is the direct executive authority and commander in chief. Beginning in 2006, the military and police began transitioning from being under the operational control of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq command to Iraqi command and control. The President and Vice Presidents are elected by the Council of Representatives (CoR). The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest bloc in the Council of Representatives. Upon designation, the Prime Minister names the members of his cabinet, the Council of Ministers, which is then approved by the Council of Representatives. The Council of Representatives may withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister, in which case the Prime Minister and Cabinet are considered resigned. Under normal circumstances, the executive branch serves a four-year term concurrent with that of the Council of Representatives.

Iraq’s legislative branch consists of an elected Council of Representatives and an as-yet unformed Federation Council. The Council of Representatives consists of 275 members, each of whom is elected to four-year terms of service. At least one-quarter of the members of the Council of Representatives must be female. The responsibilities of the Council of Representatives include enacting federal laws, monitoring the executive branch, and electing the President of the Republic. The Federal Council will be established, by law, as a representative for governorates and territories that are not organized in a region.

Iraq’s judicial branch is independent, and is under no authority but that of the law. The federal judicial authority is comprised of the Higher Judicial Council, Federal Supreme Court, Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department, Judiciary Oversight Commission, and other federal courts. The Higher Judicial Council supervises the affairs of the federal judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is the highest court in the country, and the final authority on legal decisions. The establishment of the federal courts, their types, and methods for judicial appointments will be set forth by laws enacted by the Council of Representatives.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 12/18/2006

President: Jalal TALABANI

Vice Pres.: Adil ABD AL-MAHDI

Vice Pres.: Tariq al-HASHIMI

Prime Minister: Nuri al-MALIKI

Dep. Prime Min.: Barham SALIH

Dep. Prime Min.: Salam al-ZUBAI

Min. of Agriculture: Yuarib Nadhim alABUDI

Min. of Communications: Muhammad Tawfiq ALLAWI

Min. of Culture: Asad Kamal alHASHIMI

Min. of Defense: Abd al-Qadir alMUFRIJI

Min. of Displacement & Migration: Abd al-Samad SULTAN

Min. of Education: Khudayr al-KHUZAI

Min. of Electricity: Karim Wahid alHASAN

Min. of Environment: Nermin OTHMAN

Min. of Finance: Bayan JABR

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Hoshyar Mahmud ZEBARI

Min. of Health: Ali al-SHAMMARI

Min. of Higher Education: Abid Dhiyab al-UJAYLI

Min. of Housing & Construction: Bayan DIZAYEE

Min. of Human Rights: Wijdan Mikhail SALIM

Min. of Industry & Minerals: Fawzi alHARIRI

Min. of Interior: Jawad al-BULANI

Min. of Justice: Hashim al-SHIBLI

Min. of Labor & Social Affairs: Mahmud Muhammad Jawad al-RADI

Min. of Municipalities & Public Works: Riyadh GHARIB

Min. of Oil: Husayn al-SHAHRISTANI

Min. of Planning: Ali BABAN

Min. of Science & Technology: Raid Fahmi JAHID

Min. of Trade: Abd al-Falah al-SUDANI

Min. of Transportation (Acting): Yuarib Nadhim al-ABUDI

Min. of Water Resources: Latif RASHID

Min. of Youth & Sports: Jasim Muhammad JAFAR

Min. of State for Civil Society Affairs: Adil al-ASADI

Min. of State for Foreign Affairs: Rafi alISSAWI

Min. of State for National Assembly: Safa al-Din al-SAFI

Min. of State for National Dialogue: Akram al-HAKIM

Min. of State for National Security: Shirwan al-WAILI

Min. of State for Provinces: Saad Tahir Abd Khalaf al-HASHIMI

Min. of State for Tourism & Antiquities: Liwa SUMAYSIM

Min. of State for Women’s Affairs: Fatin Abd al-RAHMAN

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Ali Muhammad AHMAD

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Hasan Radhi Kazim al-SARI

Min. of State Without Portfolio: Muhammad Abbas al-URAYBI

Governor, Central Bank of Iraq: Sinan alSHABIBI

Ambassador to the US: Samir Shakir alSUMAYDI

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Hamid al-BAYATI

POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Since March 2006, the Government of Iraq has been a broad coalition led by a Shi’ite legislative bloc known as the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). The UIA currently holds 128 of 275 seats in the Council of Representatives. The UIA is currently composed of SCIRI, the al-Sadr movement, al-Da’wa, Jama’at al-Fadilah, and various independents. Politicians with Sunni religious affiliations, including the Tawafooq and Hewar groups, presently hold 59 seats in the Council of Representatives. The Kurdish bloc known as the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (which includes the KDP & PUK) holds 53 legislative seats. Ayad Allawi’s Iraqi National Accord (INA) holds 25 seats. The remaining seats are composed of various independent and secular politicians.

With regard to the executive branch, much care has been given to ensure that there is proportionate distribution of ministerial positions among the three major ethnic groups. For example, in the Presidency Council, President Jalal Talabani is Kurdish, Deputy President ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi is a Shi’a Muslim, and Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi is a Sunni Muslim. Additionally, the Council of Ministers consists of 18 Shi’a Muslims, 8 Sunni Muslims, 8 Kurds, and 5 members of Ayad Allawi’s secular INA.

The Government of Iraq is currently working toward amending the Constitution. The process is likely to be a long and careful one, as consideration needs to be given to the interests of each of the three major ethnic groups. Issues to be addressed include federalism and the sharing of oil revenues.

ECONOMY

Historically, Iraq’s economy was characterized by a heavy dependence on oil exports and an emphasis on development through central planning. Prior to the outbreak of the war with Iran in September 1980, Iraq’s economic prospects were bright. Oil production had reached a level of 3.5 million barrels per day, and oil revenues were $21 billion in 1979 and $27 billion in 1980. At the outbreak of the war, Iraq had amassed an estimated $35 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

The Iran-Iraq war depleted Iraq’s foreign exchange reserves, devastated its economy, and left the country saddled with a foreign debt of more than $40 billion. After hostilities ceased, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and the restoration of damaged facilities. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international sanctions, damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991, and neglect of infrastructure drastically reduced economic activity. Government policies of diverting income to key supporters of the regime while sustaining a large military and internal security force further impaired finances, leaving the average Iraqi citizen facing desperate hardships.

Implementation of a UN Oil-For-Food (OFF) program in December 1996 improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. In December 1999, Iraq was authorized to export unlimited quantities of oil through OFF to finance essential civilian needs including, among other things, food, medicine, and infrastructure repair parts.

The drop in GDP in 2001-02 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Per capita food imports increased significantly, while medical supplies and health care services steadily improved. The occupation of the U.S.-led coalition in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central economic administrative structure.

The rebuilding of oil infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, and other production capacities has proceeded steadily since 2004 despite attacks on key economic facilities and continuing internal security incidents. Despite uncertainty, Iraq is making progress toward establishing the laws and institutions needed to make and implement economic policy. The government has also targeted privatization and private sector investment.

The Iraqi economy continues to rely heavily on the oil industry. Presently, government oil revenue is responsible for roughly 70% of total revenue. Current estimates show that oil production is consistently above 2.0 million barrels per day (mbpd), and that oil exports have been hovering above 1.5 mbpd.

One key issue that currently confronts economic policymakers in Iraq is inflation. The twelve-month rate of inflation remained relatively stable (though high) at roughly 31.6% through 2004 and 2005. In 2006, inflation began to rise quite rapidly, with twelve-month inflation currently estimated at 77%. This swift rise in the rate of inflation is largely attributable to the ongoing insurgency, which has caused shortages of certain goods (especially gasoline) and slowed the growth of the non-oil sector. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has attempted to combat the rising rate of inflation by raising interest rates in July to 12.0%.

Foreign assistance has been an integral component of Iraq’s reconstruction efforts over the past three years. At a Donors Conference in Madrid in October 2003, more than $33 billion was pledged to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq. Out of that conference, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank launched the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) to administer and disburse about $1.4 billion of those funds. The rest of the assistance is being disbursed bilaterally. To date, non-U.S. government disbursements are over $3.5 billion.

The Government of Iraq has also made an agreement with the Paris Club to reduce some of its debt service obligations. This three-stage agreement will allow for the reduction of over $34 billion in Iraqi debt. Also, in December 2005, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to extend a stand-by agreement (SBA) to the Government of Iraq in the amount of SDR 475.4 million (about US$685 million).

In July 2006, the Government of Iraq and the UN launched the International Compact with Iraq, a five-year joint initiative that seeks to build a framework for Iraq’s economic transformation and integration into the regional and global economy. The Compact operates under the idea that Iraqi reform efforts must be under-girded by international support in order to produce meaningful changes in the Iraqi economy and in the lives of ordinary Iraqis. As Iraq implements tough reforms that will change its political economy, the international community will step forward to help through debt reduction, technical assistance, new investment, and project support, among other things.

Agriculture

Despite its abundant land and water resources, Iraq is a net food importer. Under the UN Oil-For-Food program, Iraq imported large quantities of grains, meat, poultry, and dairy products. Obstacles to agricultural development during the previous regime included labor shortages, inadequate management and maintenance, salinization, urban migration, and dislocations resulting from previous land reform and collectivization programs. A Ba’ath regime policy to destroy the “Marsh Arab” culture by draining the southern marshes and introducing irrigated farming to this region destroyed a natural food-producing area, while concentration of salts and minerals in the soil due to the draining left the land unsuitable for agriculture. Through assistance from USAID, targeted efforts have begun to overcome the damage done by the Ba’ath regime in ways that will rehabilitate the agricultural sector and confront environmental degradation. These efforts include infrastructure development, private sector development, veterinary clinic restoration, increased wheat production, and training and technical assistance in developing policies on sustainable water resources management and building Iraqi natural resources management.

Trade

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. Under the Oil-For-Food program Iraq was allowed to export oil and use the proceeds to purchase goods to address essential civilian needs, including food, medicine, and infrastructure spare parts. With the lifting of UN sanctions after the Ba’ath regime was removed in 2003, Iraq is gradually resuming trade relations with the international community, including with the U.S. The U.S. designated Iraq as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program in September 2004. Iraq was granted observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 2004, and began its WTO accession process in December 2004.

DEFENSE

The Iran-Iraq War ended with Iraq sustaining the largest military structure in the Middle East, with more than 70 divisions in its army and an air force of over 700 modern aircraft. Losses during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and subsequent expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991 by a UN coalition resulted in the reduction of Iraq’s ground forces to 23 divisions and air force to less than 300 aircraft.

When major combat operations ended in April 2003, the Iraqi Army disinte-grated, and its installations were destroyed by pilfering and looting. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officially dissolved the Iraqi military and Ministry of Defense on May 23, 2003. On August 7, 2003, the CPA established the New Iraqi Army as the first step toward the creation of the national self-defense force of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Support for the manning, training, and equipping of Iraq’s security forces is led by the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I). In addition to defense forces, the Ministry of Interior, with the help of the MNSTC-I, is training and equipping civilian police forces to establish security and stability, primarily through combating the nation-wide insurgency. Initially under the command and control of the MultiNational Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) command, in 2006 police and Iraqi Army units began to transition to Iraqi civilian control.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

With the fall of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath regime, Iraq has taken steps toward reengagement on the international stage. Iraq currently has diplomatic representation in 54 countries around the world, including 3 permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the Arab League in Cairo. 47 countries have diplomatic representation in Iraq.

The Republic of Iraq belongs to the following international organizations: United Nations (UN); Arab League (AL); World Bank (WB); International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Nonaligned Movement (NAM); Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Interpol; World Health Organization (WHO); G-19; G-77; Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA); Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD); Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU); Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); International Community for Radio-nuclide Metrology (ICRM); International Development Association (IDA); International Development Bank (IDB); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); International Finance Corporation (IFC); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS); International Labor Organization (ILO); International Maritime Organization (IMO); Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); World Customs Organization (WCO); World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); World Trade Organization (WTO) observer.

U.S.-IRAQI RELATIONS

The United States, having led the international coalition to remove the Ba’ath regime, is committed to the establishment of a stable, united, prosperous, democratic, and pluralistic Iraq. U.S. forces remain in Iraq as part of the Multi-National Force-Iraq to assist the Government of Iraq in training its security forces, as well as to work in partnership with the Government of Iraq to combat forces that seek to derail Iraq’s progression toward full democracy. The U.S. Government is carrying out a multibil-lion-dollar program to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

BAGHDAD (E) Address: APO/FPO: APO AE 09316; Phone: 240-553-0589; Workweek: Sunday–Thursday 0800-1830; Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov/iraq/index.html.

Last Updated: 12/11/2006

BASRAH (BO) Address: U.S. Embassy Office, Basrah, Iraq; APO/FPO: U.S. Embassy Office-Basrah, APO, AE 09375; Phone: 240-553-0650, ext. 4444; Workweek: Saturday–Thursday 8:30 am–5:30 pm; Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov.

Last Updated: 12/13/2006

KIRKUK (BO) Address: U.S. Embassy Office, Kirkuk, Iraq; APO/FPO: U.S. Embassy Office, APO, AE 09338; Phone: 240 553 0590 VoIP (No operator, see Opennet GAL for extensions); INMARSAT Tel: 873 763 603 853; Workweek: Saturday–Thursday 8 am–8 pm; Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov/.

Last Updated: 4/16/2006

MOSUL (BO) Address: U.S. Embassy Office Mosul; APO/FPO: APO, AE 09334; Phone: 240 553-0661 see email GAL for extensions; INMARSAT Tel: 870-764-100-817; Workweek: 8am–8pm 7 days a week; Website: http://iraq.usembassy.gov/.

Last Updated: 3/21/2006

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet : September 6, 2006

Country Description: On October 15, 2005, Iraqi citizens adopted a new constitution, and in December participated in legislative elections to create a permanent, democratic government. Three decades of war and government mismanagement stunted Iraq’s economy, leading to increased crime and poverty. Infrastructure is antiquated. Conditions in Iraq are extremely dangerous. The Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I) is assisting the Iraqi government in providing security throughout the country. The workweek in Iraq is Sunday through Thursday.

Entry/Exit Requirements: Pass-ports valid for at least six months and visas are required for most private American citizens. An Iraqi visa may be obtained through the Iraqi Embassy in Washington D.C. Travelers should not rely on obtaining a visa upon arrival at an airport or port of entry in Iraq. Visitors to Iraq who plan to stay for more than 10 days must obtain a residency stamp at the main Residency Office in Baghdad near the National Theater or at the Karadat Mariam Police Station in the International Zone. In order to obtain a residency stamp, applicants must produce valid credentials or proof of employment, two passport-sized photos, and HIV test results.

An American citizen who plans to stay longer than two months must apply at the Residency Office for an extension. American citizens who stay fewer than 10 days may obtain an exit stamp at the airport. Those who stay longer than 10 days must obtain an exit stamp at the main Residency Office or the Karadat Mariam Police Station.

Visit the Iraqi Embassy website at http://www.iraqiembassy.org for the most current visa information. The Embassy is located at 1801 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20036; phone number is 202-483-7500; fax is 202-462-5066.

Safety and Security: The risk of terrorism directed against U.S. citizens and interests in Iraq remains extremely high.

Remnants of the former Baath regime, transnational terrorists, and criminal elements remain active throughout Iraq. Multinational Force-Iraq (MNF-I)-led military operations continue, and there continue to be attacks against MNF-I throughout the country. While a number of attacks have been concentrated in Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, Tikrit, Bayji, Baqubah, Mosul, al-Basrah, alHillah and Kirkuk, the security environment across Iraq is dangerous, volatile and unpredictable. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue, including in the International (or “Green”) Zone. Targets include hotels, restaurants, police stations, checkpoints, foreign diplomatic missions, and international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel. Such attacks can occur at any time, especially during nighttime hours. There has been an increase in the use of Improvised Explosive Devices and/or mines on roads, particularly in plastic bags, soda cans, and animal carcasses. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from overpasses, particularly in crowded areas. Rockets and mortars have been fired at hotels, and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices have been used against targets throughout the country. In addition to terrorist and criminal attacks, sectarian violence occurs often. Detailed security information is available at the Embassy’s website http://iraq.usembassy.gov or and at http://www.centcom.mil.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site, where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, Travel Warnings and Public Announcements and the Middle East and North Africa Public Announcement, can be found. Travelers are also referred to the U.S. Embassy Baghdad’s Warden Notices which are available on the Embassy website at http://iraq.usembassy.gov. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Crime: The U.S. Embassy and MNFI are working with Iraqi police to establish law enforcement and civil structures throughout the country. U.S. and British military personnel are providing police protection as well, as the security situation permits. Petty theft is common in Iraq, including thefts of money, jewelry, or valuable items left in hotel rooms and pick-pocketing in busy places such as markets. Carjacking by armed thieves is very common, even during daylight hours, and particularly on the highways from Jordan and Kuwait to Baghdad. Foreigners and Iraqi citizens are targets for kidnapping. The kidnappers often demand money but have also carried out kidnappings for political/religious reasons.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, to contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Basic modern medical care and medicines are not widely available in Iraq. The recent conflict in Iraq has left some medical facilities non-operational and medical stocks and supplies severely depleted. The facilities in operation do not meet U.S. standards, and the majority lack medicines, equipment and supplies. Because the Baghdad International Airport has limited operations for security reasons, it is unlikely that a private medical evacuation can be arranged.

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’s internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Avian Influenza: The WHO and Iraqi authorities have confirmed human cases of the H5NI strain of avian influenza, commonly known as the “bird flu.” Travelers to Iraq and other countries affected by the virus are cautioned to avoid poultry farms, contact with animals in live food markets, and any surfaces that appear to be contaminated with feces from poultry or other animals. In addition, the CDC and WHO recommend eating only fully cooked poultry and eggs. For the most current information and links on avian influenza, see the State Department’s Avian Influenza Fact Sheet.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Iraq is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

All vehicular travel in Iraq is extremely dangerous. There have been numerous attacks on civilian vehicles, as well as military convoys. Attacks occur throughout the day, but travel at night is exceptionally dangerous and should be avoided. There have been attacks on civilian vehicles as well as military convoys on Highways 1, 5, 10 and 15, even during daylight hours. Travelers are strongly urged to travel in convoys with at least 4 vehicles in daylight hours only. Travel in or through Ramadi and Fallujah, in and between al-Hillah, al-Basrah, Kirkuk, and Baghdad and between the International Zone and Baghdad International Airport, and from Baghdad to Mosul is particularly dangerous. Occasionally, U.S. Government personnel are prohibited from traveling to select areas depending on prevailing security conditions. There continues to be heavy use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and/or mines on roads, particularly in plastic bags, soda cans, and dead animals. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from over-passes, particularly in crowded areas. Travel should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary and with the appropriate security.

Buses run irregularly and frequently change routes. Poorly maintained city transit vehicles are often involved in accidents. Long distance buses are available, but are often in poor condition and drive at unsafe speeds. Jay-walking is common. Drivers usually do not yield to pedestrians at crosswalks and ignore traffic lights (if available), traffic rules and regulations. Roads are congested. Driving at night is extremely dangerous. Some cars do not use lights at night and urban street lights may not be functioning. Some motorists drive at excessive speeds, tailgate and force other drivers to yield the right of way.

Aviation Safety Oversight: As there is no direct commercial air service between the United States and Iraq, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not assessed Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with ICAO aviation safety standards. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA Internet website at http://www.faa.gov.

There is credible information that terrorists are targeting civil aviation. Civilian and military aircraft arriving and departing from Baghdad International Airport have been subjected to small arms and missile fire. Civilian aircraft do not generally possess systems such as those found on military aircraft, capable of defeating man-portable, surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS). Anyone choosing to utilize civilian aircraft to enter or depart Iraq should be aware of this potential threat, as well as the high risk to road transportation described above. Official U.S. Government (USG) personnel are strongly encouraged to use U.S. military or other USG aircraft when entering and departing Iraq due to concerns about security of civilian aircraft servicing Iraq. Currently USG personnel are only authorized to travel to Iraq commercially on AirServ and Royal Jordanian and prohibited from outgoing travel on commercial airlines.

Special Circumstances: As of December 25, 2005, Iraqi law now prohibits non-Iraqi adults from transporting more than U.S. $10,000 in cash out of Iraq. Iraqi law also prohibits carrying out more than 100 grams of gold. Iraqi customs personnel are taking action to enforce this law and may pose related questions to travelers during immigration and customs exit procedures. (Civil customs personnel also will verify passport annotations related to any items such as foreign currency, gold jewelry, or merchandise that were declared by passengers upon entry into Iraq on Form-8.)

All U.S. citizens are reminded that it is their duty to respect relevant Iraqi laws, including legal restrictions on the transfer of currency outside of Iraq. If you are detained at the airport or at any other point of exit regarding your attempt to transfer currency out of Iraq, you should contact – or ask that Iraqi authorities immediately contact—the American Embassy.

Transporting large amounts of currency is not advisable. Almost all of the international companies working in Iraq have the capability to make payments to their employees and at least four Iraqi banks are also able to convert cash into an international wire transfer directed to a bank account outside Iraq. Branches of the Credit Bank of Iraq (Al-Sa’adoon St., Baghdad), Dar Es Salaam Bank ([email protected]), Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank ([email protected]) and Al-Warqaa Investment Bank ([email protected]) all have this capability. Please be aware that large wire transfers may require Central Bank of Iraq approval because of measures in place to combat money laundering. Such approvals can be obtained by the sending bank, if information on the origin of the funds and the reason for its transfer is provided. Customs and MNF-I officers have the broad authority to search persons or vehicles at Iraq ports of entry. Officers may confiscate any goods that may pose a threat to the peace, security, health, environment, or good order of Iraq or any antiquities or cultural items suspected of being illegally exported. Goods that are not declared may be confiscated by an officer. Persons may also be ordered to return such goods, at their expense, to the jurisdiction from which they came.

The banking and financial infrastructure has been disrupted and is in the process of rebuilding. Hotels usually require payment in foreign currency. No ATM machines exist. Restrictions on the use of the U.S. passport have been lifted.

Telecommunications are very poor. There is very limited international phone service in Iraq at this time. Local calls are often limited to a neighborhood network. There are no public telephones in the cities; however, calls may be made from hotels, restaurants or shops. Limited cellular telephone service is available in Baghdad. Public Internet service is not available.

The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is able to provide limited emergency services to U.S. citizens only. Because police and civil structures are in the process of being rebuilt, U.S. citizens may have little recourse to these entities in emergency situations, and may have to seek assistance from MNF-I police.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Iraqi laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Iraq are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children’s Issues: The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by Iraq’s children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children’s situation since it can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. Therefore, it is not possible to adopt Iraqi children, at this time.

Registration/Embassy Location: The Travel Warning on Iraq urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Iraq. However, U.S. citizens living or traveling in Iraq despite that Warning are encouraged to register with nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Iraq. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. U.S. citizens may also contact the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq located in the International Zone via their email address at [email protected], via their telephone number 1-240-553-0584 x5340 or 5606 (these number ring in Baghdad), or the Embassy’s website at http://iraq.usembassy.gov. The after-hours number in case of extreme emergency is 1-914-822-5493.

International Adoption : June 2006

The Department of State has received many inquiries from American citizens concerned about the plight of the children of Iraq and wondering about the possibility of adopting them. At this time, it is not possible to adopt Iraqi children, for several reasons.

In general, intercountry adoptions are private civil legal matters governed by the laws of the children’s home country, which has the primary responsibility and jurisdiction for deciding what would be in the children’s best interests. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has confirmed that Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States.

Iraq does grant a more limited arrangement akin to guardianship; however, the U.S. Government is unaware of any non-Iraqis’ being granted guardianship of Iraqi children. In addition, even if an Iraqi court were to grant a U.S. citizen guardianship rights for an Iraqi child, the child would likely be unable to immigrate to the United States, unless the citizen could establish both that the child qualifies as an “orphan” as defined in section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, under Iraqi law, the “guardianship” order gave the citizen authority not only to care for the child but to bring the United States for the specific purpose of the child’s adoption in the United States. Since Iraqi law does not permit adoption, it is not clear that an Iraqi guardianship order could give this authority.

The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by many Iraqi children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children’s situation. It can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. It is not uncommon in a hostile situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. Even when it can be demonstrated that children are indeed orphaned or abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives. Staying with relatives in extended family units is generally a better solution than uprooting a child completely.

There are still ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Iraq. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) say that what is needed most at this time are financial contributions. Individuals who wish to assist can do the most good by making a financial contribution to an established NGO that will be well placed to respond to Iraq’s most urgent needs.

The American Red Cross is working through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian assistance in Iraq. The Red Cross and ICRC do assessments to determine needs and use monetary donations where the need is the greatest. To contact them, call 1-800-HELP-NOW. There is no mechanism to direct money to a specific child or person. The website http://www.redcross.org/has more information on directed contributions. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Web site, http://www.usaid.gov/iraq, provides information on how individuals can assist.

“Interaction” is a Washington-based coalition of NGOs. Those interested in children’s issues/orphans may go on the website http://www.interaction.org and look at the “Guide to Appropriate Giving” and to “Emergency Relief in Iraq” both on the home page. Interested donors can read synopses on various organizations and in some cases make contributions. Interaction can also be reached at 202-667-8227.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous.

Travel Warning : August 28, 2006

This Travel Warning updates the current security situation and reiterates the dangers of the use of civilian aircraft and road travel within Iraq. This supersedes the Travel Warning of December 29, 2005 and the Public Announcement dated March 24, 2006.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous. Remnants of the former Ba’ath regime, transnational terrorists, criminal elements and numerous insurgent groups remain active. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue, including in the International (or “Green”) Zone. Targets include convoys en-route to venues, hotels, restaurants, police stations, checkpoints, foreign diplomatic missions, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel. These attacks have resulted in deaths and injuries of American citizens, including those doing humanitarian work. In addition, there have been planned and random killings, as well as extortions and kidnappings. U.S. citizens have been kidnapped and several were subsequently murdered by terrorists in Iraq. U.S. citizens and other foreigners continue to be targeted by insurgent groups and opportunistic criminals for kidnapping and murder. Military operations continue. There are daily attacks against Multinational Forces—Iraq (MNF-I), Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi Police throughout the country.

There is credible information that terrorists are targeting civil aviation. Civilian and military aircraft arriving at and departing from Baghdad International Airport for other major cities in Iraq have been subjected to small arms and missiles. Civilian aircraft do not generally possess systems, such as those found on military aircraft, capable of defeating man-portable, surface-to-air missiles (MANPADS). Anyone choosing to utilize civilian aircraft to enter or depart or travel within Iraq should be aware of this potential threat, as well as the extremely high risk to road transportation described below. As a result of a recent security incident at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), the U.S. Embassy is prohibiting all U.S. government employees from departing BIAP on commercial airlines until further notice.

All vehicular travel in Iraq is extremely dangerous. There have been numerous attacks on civilian vehicles, as well as military convoys. Attacks occur throughout the day, but travel at night is exceptionally dangerous. Travel in or through Ramadi and Fallujah; in and between al-Hillah, al-Basrah, Kirkuk, and Baghdad; between the International Zone and Baghdad International Airport; and from Baghdad to Mosul is particularly dangerous.

Occasionally, U.S. Government personnel are prohibited from traveling to certain areas depending on prevailing security conditions. There continues to be heavy use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), (especially new-type Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFP), and/or mines on roads, concealed in plastic bags, boxes, soda cans, dead animals, and in other ways to blend with the road. Grenades and explosives have been thrown into vehicles from over-passes, particularly in crowded areas. Overland travel should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary and with the appropriate security.

The U.S. Embassy is located in the International Zone. The Embassy can provide only limited emergency services to U.S. citizens in Iraq. At present, travel to and from the International Zone is extremely limited. The U.S. Embassy does not provide visa services to the general public. American citizens who choose to visit or reside in Iraq despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal security, avoid crowds, especially rallies or demonstrations, and to inform the U.S. Embassy of their presence in Iraq. All Americans in Baghdad are strongly encouraged to register with the Embassy at the following website: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/home.asp.

American citizens may obtain the latest security information or other information about Iraq by calling the U.S. Embassy, located in the International Zone, via landline at: 1-240-553-0584 x5340 or x5346, via Iraqna cellular phones at 07901-732-134 or 07901-168-383, via email to [email protected], or via the U.S. Embassy’s website at http//iraq.usembassy.gov. The after-hours number in case of extreme emergency is 1-914-822-5493.

Updated information on travel and security in Iraq may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or, from overseas, 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Consular Information Sheet for Iraq, the current Worldwide Caution and the Middle East and North Africa Public Announcements, all of which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov.