May 1993 final report of the UN
Iraq/Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission was welcomed by the Security
Council in Resolution 833 of 27 May 1993, which also reaffirmed that the
decisions of the commission on the boundary were final, bringing to a
completion the official demarcation of the Iraq-Kuwait boundary; Iraqi
officials still make public statements claiming Kuwait; 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:
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
Land use:
arable land:
12%
permanent crops:
1%
meadows and pastures:
9%
forest and woodland:
3%
other:
75%
Irrigated land:
25,500 km2 (1989 est)

*Iraq, Geography

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:
19,161,956 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.73% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
44.57 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
7.71 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.42 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
71.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
64.96 years
male:
64.2 years
female:
65.76 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.86 children born/woman (1993 est.)
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, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
60%
male:
70%
female:
49%
Labor force:
4.4 million (1989)
by occupation:
services 48%, agriculture 30%, industry 22%
note:
severe labor shortage; expatriate labor force was about 1,600,000 (July