| Geography |
| |
| Location: |
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait |
| Geographic coordinates: |
33 00 N, 44 00 E |
| Map references: |
Middle East |
| Area: |
total: 437,072 sq km
land: 432,162 sq km
water: 4,910 sq km |
| Area - comparative: |
slightly more than twice the size of Idaho
|
| Land boundaries: |
total: 3,650 km
border countries: Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 352 km |
| Maritime claims: |
continental shelf: not specified
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Climate: |
mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq |
| Terrain: |
mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: unnamed peak; 3,611 m; note - this peak is neither Gundah Zhur 3,607 m nor Kuh-e Hajji-Ebrahim 3,595 m |
| Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur |
| Land use: |
arable land: 13.12%
permanent crops: 0.61%
other: 86.27% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: |
35,250 sq km (2003) |
| Total renewable water resources:: |
96.4 cu km (1997) |
| Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 42.7 cu km/yr (3%/5%/92%)
per capita: 1,482 cu m/yr (2000) |
| 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 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
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| Geography - note: : |
strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
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