1981 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1981 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Area
445,480 km2; 18% cultivated, 68% desert, waste, or urban, 10% seasonal and other grazing land, 4% forest and woodland
Coastline
58 km
Land boundaries
3,668 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
70.9% Arabs, 18.3% Kurds, 2.4% Turkomans, 0.7% Assyrians, 7.7% other
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
Language
Arabic, Kurdish minority speaks Kurdish
Literacy
20% to 40%
Nationality
noun — Iraqi(s); adjective — Iraqi
Organized labor
11% of labor force
Population
14,034,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.3%
Religion
90% Muslim (50% Shia Muslim, 40% Sunni Muslim), 8% Christian, 2% other
Government
Branches
Ba'th Party of Iraq has been in power since 1968 coup
Capital
Baghdad
Communists
est. 2,000 hardcore members
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
Government leaders
President Saddam HUSAYN; Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council 'Izzat IBRAHIM
Legal system
based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; provisional constitution 7RAQ (Continued) adopted in 1968; judicial review was suspended; legal education at University of Baghdad; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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
National holiday
17 July
Official name
Republic of Iraq
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
Political subdivisions
18 provinces under centrally appointed officials
Suffrage
universal
Type
republic; National Front government consisting of Ba'th Party (BPI) and proadministration Kurds; Communists play no role in government
Economy
Agriculture
dates, wheat, barley, rice, livestock
Budget
public revenue $20 billion, current expenditures $8.9 billion, development expenditures $11.1 billion (1979 est.)
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.
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$35.2 billion (1979 est.), $2,730 per capita
Imports
$17 billion (f.o.b., 1981 est.); 15% from Communist countries (1981)
Major industry
crude petroleum 1.3 million b/d (1981); petroleum revenues for 1981, $13 billion
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)
Monetary conversion rate
1 Iraqi dinar=US$3.39 (1980)
Communications
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
Civil air
30 major transport aircraft
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
Military budget
est. for fiscal year ending 31 December 1980, $2.9 billion; 24% of central government budget
Military manpower
males 15-49, 3,146,000; 1,809,000 fit for military service; about 156,000 reach military age (18) annually
Pipelines
crude oil, 3,821 km; 585 km refined products; 1,360 km natural gas
Ports
3 major (Basra, Umm Qasr, Al Faw)
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
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