Country Information

The population of Iraq is approximately 28.4 million. Iraq is predominantly Arab (75-80%). The largest minority group is the Kurds, composing 15-20% of the population. Smaller minority groups include the Turkoman, Chaldean, and Assyrian. Iraq is predominantly Muslim: 60% Shi'a and 35% Sunni. There is also a small Christian minority (3%). Languages spoken are Arabic, Kurdish, Turkoman, and Assyrian. Iraq is bordered by Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey.

Political and Economic Environment


Iraq was declared a state in 1958 after being a part of the Ottoman Empire and then governed under British mandate in the early twentieth century. After being ruled by a series of military leaders, Saddam Hussein came into power in 1979. During his period of control Iraq fought a territorial war with Iran in the 1980s, invaded Kuwait in 1990 leading to the first Gulf War, and violently suppressed a Kurdish rebellion with the use of chemical weapons.

In March 2003, the United States initiated Operation Iraqi Freedom, invaded Iraq, and toppled the government of Saddam Hussein on the pretext that Iraq had acquired weapons of mass destruction. After a period of control by the Coalition Provisional Authority, powers were transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004. At the beginning of 2005 elections were held to select the Transitional National Assembly that would later draft a new Iraqi constitution. Elections for a permanent government under the new constitution were held at the end of 2005. Allegations of election fraud and tensions between religiously-affiliated political parties have complicated the transfer of power from the transitional government to a permanent one. Coalition forces remain in Iraq to help combat the continuing insurgency, support the post-war government, and facilitate reconstruction. In early 2007, the U.S. launched the Baghdad Security Plan, sending an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq. While violence has decreased, so has the number of returnees.

Violence over the past years has had a major impact on the economy, which is dependent on oil production. Prior to the war with Iran from 1980 to 1988, Iraq was a middle-income country, with a well-developed urban infrastructure and substantial hard currency reserves, which were used to import food and other essential goods. The war with Iran, followed by the Gulf War, and the imposition of UN sanctions, devastated the Iraqi economy. International sanctions prevented investment in infrastructure maintenance and in developing the country, while illegal oil exports benefited individuals within Saddam Hussein's ruling circle. Iraq’s ranking in the U.N.’s Human Development Index list fell from 76th to 127th from 1991 to 2001 (HDI rankings have not been available since 2003).

The U.S. invasion and subsequent insecurity has hampered economic recovery, especially in major infrastructure sectors. The UN and World Bank estimate reconstruction costs at $55 billion. The U.N., U.S., other countries, and international organizations currently shoulder the principal financial requirements of post-war reconstruction. Regional insecurity delays reconstruction of means of production, including in the oil and electricity sectors. An estimated 60 percent of Iraqis are unemployed. Nearly a quarter of Iraqis depend on the Public Distribution System to alleviate food insecurity and poverty.

Growing sectarian violence is the main security concern in Iraq at the present moment. Shi’a militias hold increasing power, as do their Sunni rivals, while moderate leaders calling for reconciliation and an end to violence, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, are increasingly sidelined. The main goal of sectarian militias appears to be an ethnic cleansing of areas where they are in the majority, forcing a growing number of Iraqis to seek refuge either in other parts of the country or abroad.

Humanitarian Situation

A long history of conflict and a poor economy have created a precarious humanitarian situation for the Iraqi people. Oppressive government policies under Saddam Hussein led to the internal displacement of 900,000 Iraqis, primarily Kurds who fled from Arabization campaigns (which involved forcing Kurds to renounce their Kurdish identity or lose their property) and Marsh Arabs (who fled the government's campaign to dry up the southern marshes for agricultural use). Protection for these and other populations of concern remains a complex obstacle to reconstruction and reintegration. Since the toppling of the Hussein regime, as many as 600,000 Iraqis have been killed by conflict between Iraqi insurgents and coalition forces.

Since sectarian violence in Samarra, Iraq in February 2006, displacement has increased, both internally and in the flow of refugees from Iraq. UNHCR estimates that there are close to five million Iraqis living outside Iraq (500,000 in Jordan and 1.2 to 1.4 million in Syria – the main receiving countries). UNHCR estimated in October 2006 that approximately 40,000 Iraqis were entering Syria alone each month. Internally displaced persons are similarly estimated to be around 1.8 million, with Shi’a fleeing to strongholds in the south, Sunnis seeking refuge in the center of the country, Kurds heading north, and various minority groups moving to locations around the country where their numbers are largest. It is theorized that only middle and upper-class Iraqis are able to leave the country, as Iraqis in general do not fall under any current temporary protected status internationally. Poorer Iraqis are increasingly making up the bulk of IDPs.

IDPs and Iraqi refugees are especially hard hit by the poor humanitarian situation and ongoing conflict. Internally, humanitarian operations have been severely limited by the precarious security situation, and much of the international humanitarian staff has left the country. In host countries throughout the region, resources are not much better. The main recipient countries, Syria and Jordan, do not recognize Iraqis as refugees and do not have systems in place to provide for their needs. Similarly, the UNHCR budget for Iraqis has been slashed from a high of $150 million in 2003 to only $29 million in 2006. At the individual level, many displaced and refugee Iraqis report the inability to earn a living or the need to take a job at a lower skill level than they hold as a top concern.

Updated April 2008