Currency:
Iranian rial (plural - rials); 1 Iranian rial (IR) = 100 dinars; note -
domestic figures are generally referred to in terms of the toman (plural -
tomans), which equals 10 rials
Exchange rates:
Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 65.515 (January 1992), 67.505 (1991), 68.096
(1990), 72.015 (1989), 68.683 (1988), 71.460 (1987); note - black-market
rate 1,400 (January 1991)
Fiscal year:
21 March - 20 March
:Iran Communications
Railroads:
4,850 km total; 4,760 km 1.432-meter gauge, 92 km 1.676-meter gauge; 480 km
under construction from Bafq to Bandar Abbas, rail construction from Bafq to
Sirjan has been completed and is operational
Highways:
140,072 km total; 42,694 km paved surfaces; 46,866 km gravel and crushed
stone; 49,440 km improved earth; 1,200 km (est.) rural road network
Inland waterways:
904 km; the Shatt-al-Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about
130 km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war
Pipelines:
crude oil 5,900 km; petroleum products 3,900 km; natural gas 4,550 km
Ports:
Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war), Bandar Beheshti,
Bandar-e Abbas, Bandar-e Bushehr, Bandar-e Khomeyni, Bandar-e Shahid Raja,
Khorramshahr (largely destroyed in fighting during 1980-88 war)
Merchant marine:
134 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,466,395 GRT/8,329,760 DWT; includes
38 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 32 oil tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 3
refrigerated cargo, 47 bulk, 2 combination bulk, 1 liquefied gas
Civil air:
48 major transport aircraft
Airports:
214 total, 188 usable; 81 with permanent-surface runways; 16 with runways
over 3,659 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 71 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
radio relay extends throughout country; system centered in Tehran; 2,143,000
telephones; broadcast stations - 77 AM, 3 FM, 28 TV; satellite earth
stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; HF radio
and radio relay to Turkey, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and
Uzbekistan
:Iran Defense Forces
Branches:
Islamic Republic of Iran Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, and Revolutionary
Guard Corps (includes Basij militia and own ground, air, and naval forces);
Law Enforcement Forces
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 13,267,810; 7,895,591 fit for military service; 552,408 reach
military age (21) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $13 billion, 14-15% of GNP (1991 est.)
:Iraq Geography
Total area:
436,245 km2
Land area:
435,292 km2 (est.)
Comparative area:
slightly more than twice the size of Idaho
Land boundaries:
3,576 km; Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 134 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 808 km,
Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km
Coastline:
58 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
not specific
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations in 1990 but are still trying to
work out written agreements settling outstanding disputes from their
eight-year war concerning border demarcation, prisoners-of-war, and freedom
of navigation and sovereignty over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway; in April 1991
official Iraqi acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 687, which
demands that Iraq accept the inviolability of the boundary set forth in its
1963 agreement with Kuwait, ending earlier claims to Bubiyan and Warbah
Islands or to all of Kuwait; a United Nations Boundary Demarcation
Commission is demarcating the Iraq-Kuwait boundary persuant to Resolution
687, and, on 17 June 1992, the UN Security Council reaffirmed the finality
of the Boundary Demarcation Commission's decisions; periodic disputes with
upstream riparian Syria over Euphrates water rights; potential dispute over
water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Climate:
mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers;
northernmost regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold
winters with occasionally heavy snows
Terrain:
mostly broad plains; reedy marshes in southeast; mountains along borders
with Iran and Turkey
Natural resources:
crude oil, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
Land use:
arable land 12%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 9%; forest and
woodland 3%; other 75%; includes irrigated 4%
Environment:
development of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers system contingent upon agreements
with upstream riparians (Syria, Turkey); air and water pollution; soil
degradation (salinization) and erosion; desertification
:Iraq People
Population:
18,445,847 (July 1992), growth rate 3.7% (1992)
Birth rate:
45 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
84 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
62 years male, 64 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
7.0 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Iraqi(s); adjective - Iraqi
Ethnic divisions:
Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%
Religions:
Muslim 97%, (Shi`a 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christian or other 3%
Languages:
Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian
Literacy:
60% (male 70%, female 49%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
4,400,000 (1989); services 48%, agriculture 30%, industry 22%, severe labor
shortage; expatriate labor force about 1,600,000 (July 1990)
Organized labor:
less than 10% of the labor force
:Iraq Government