Religion: 90% Muslim (50% Shia Muslim, 40% Sunni Muslim), 8% Christian, 2% other
Language: Arabic, Kurdish minority speaks Kurdish
Literacy: 20% to 40%
Labor force: 3.1 million (1977); 30% agriculture, 27% industry, 21% government, 22% other; rural underemployment high, but not serious because low subsistence levels make it easy to care for unemployed; severe shortage of technically trained personnel
Organized labor: 11% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Republic of Iraq
Type: republic; National Front government consisting of Ba’th Party (BPI) and proadministration Kurds; Communists play no role in government
Capital: Baghdad
Political subdivisions: 18 provinces under centrally appointed officials
Legal system: based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; provisional constitution
adopted in 1968; judicial review was suspended; legal education at University of Baghdad; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 17 July
Branches: Ba’th Party of Iraq has been in power since 1968 coup
Government leaders: President Saddam HUSAYN; Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council ‘Izzat IBRAHIM
Suffrage: universal
Elections: elections — first held since overthrow of monarchy in 1958—to National Assembly and to Legislative Council for autonomous region held in June and September 1980
Communists: est. 2,000 hardcore members
Political or pressure groups: political parties banned, possibly some opposition to regime from disaffected members of the regime, army officers, and religious and ethnic dissidents
Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Major industry: crude petroleum 1.3 million b/d (1981); petroleum revenues for 1981, $13 billion
Electric power: 3,840,000 kW capacity (1980); 10.429 billion kWh produced (1980), 767 kWh per capita
Exports: $13.2 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); net receipts from oil, $13 billion; nonoil, $200 million est.
Imports: $17 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); 15% from Communist countries (1981)
Major trade partners: exports—France, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Turkey, UK, USSR, other Communist countries; imports—West Germany, Japan, France, US, UK, USSR and other Communist countries (1980)
Budget: public revenue $20 billion, current expenditures $8.9 billion, development expenditures $11.1 billion (1979 est.)
Railroads: 1,700 km total; 1,123 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 577 km meter gauge (1.00 m); 16 km meter gauge double track
Highways: 20,791 km total; 6,490 km paved, 4,645 km improved earth, 9,656 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 1,015 km; Shatt al Arab navigable by maritime traffic for about 104 km; Tigris and Euphrates navigable by shallow-draft steamers
Ports: 3 major (Basra, Umm Qasr, Al Faw)
Pipelines: crude oil, 3,821 km; 585 km refined products; 1,360 km natural gas
Civil air: 30 major transport aircraft
Airfields: 87 total, 73 usable; 29 with permanent-surface runways; 39 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good network consists of coaxial cables, radio-relay links, and radiocommunication stations; 320,000 telephones (2.5 per 100 popl.); 9 AM, no FM and 13 TV stations; 1 satellite station with Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean antennas
DEFENSE FORCES
Military manpower: males 15-49, 3,146,000; 1,809,000 fit for military service; about 156,000 reach military age (18) annually
Military budget: est. for fiscal year ending 31 December 1980, $2.9 billion; 24% of central government budget
The World Factbook (1982) by the Central Intelligence Agency
