Irrigated land: 25,500 sq km (1989 est)
Environment:
current issues: government water control projects have drained most of
the inhabited marsh areas west of Al Qurnah by drying up or diverting
the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Shi'a
Muslims, who have inhabited these areas for thousands of years, has
been displaced; furthermore, the destruction of the natural habitat
poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations; inadequate
supplies of potable water; development of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers
system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian Turkey; air
and water pollution; soil degradation (salinization) and erosion;
desertification
natural hazards: duststorms, sandstorms, floods
international agreements: party to - Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban;
signed, but not ratified - Environmental Modification
@Iraq:People
Population: 20,643,769 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (female 4,850,028; male 5,009,513)
15-64 years: 49% (female 5,021,710; male 5,125,191)
65 years and over: 3% (female 338,790; male 298,537) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.72% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 43.6 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 6.82 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 62.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)