CAPITAL CITY OF Iraq: Baghdad
LANGUAGE OF Iraq: Arabic
CURRENCY OF Iraq: New Iraqi dinar (NID)
COMMENTS ABOUT Iraq:
Iraq is a country in the Middle East.
Cities : Baghdad (capital), Arbil, Basra, Dahuk, Fallujah, Karbala, Kirkuk, Mosul, Najaf, Nassiriya, Osiraq, Samarra, Ar Ramadi, Ar Rutba, As Sulaymaniyah, Tikrit, Umm Qasr
Beat Places : Babylon, Nineveh, Sumer, Ur
Electricity : 230V/50Hz
Calling Code : +964
Time Zone : UTC +3
Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen ruled the country, the latest was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years resulted in the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime. Coalition forces remain in Iraq, helping to restore degraded infrastructure and facilitating the establishment of a freely elected government, while simultaneously dealing with a robust insurgency. The Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government (IG) in June 2004. Iraqis voted on 30 January 2005 to elect a 275-member Transitional National Assembly that will draft a permanent constitution and pave the way for new national elections at the end of 2005.
CLIMATE OF Iraq: mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq
RELIGION OF Iraq: Muslim 97% (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3%
POPULATION OF Iraq: 26,074,906 (July 2005 est.)>>>