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 Marsh
Arabs, who 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 the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian
Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salination) and
erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Law of the Sea
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Geography - note:
strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the
Persian Gulf
People Iraq
Population:
26,074,906 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (male 5,293,709/female 5,130,826)
15-64 years: 57% (male 7,530,619/female 7,338,109)
65 years and over: 3% (male 367,832/female 413,811) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.43 years
male: 19.35 years
female: 19.51 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.7% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
32.5 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
5.49 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)