Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
Land use: arable land: 12% permanent crops: 1% other: 87% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 35,250 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms, floods
Environment - current issues: government water control projects have drained most of the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah 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 (salination) and erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban signed, but not ratified: Geography - note: strategic location on
Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf
People Iraq
Population: 24,001,816 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.1% (male 5,003,755; female 4,849,238) 15-64 years: 55.9% (male 6,794,265; female 6,624,662) 65 years and over: 3% (male 341,520; female 388,376) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.82% (2002 est.)