Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932.

A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen ruled the country until 2003. The last was SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88).

In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime.

Coalition forces remain in Iraq under a UNSC mandate, helping to provide security and to support the freely elected government. The Coalition Provisional Authority, which temporarily administered Iraq after the invasion, transferred full governmental authority on 28 June 2004 to the Iraqi Interim Government, which governed under the Transitional Adm

inistrative Law for Iraq (TAL). Under the TAL, elections for a 275-member Transitional National Assembly (TNA) were held in Iraq on 30 January 2005. Following these elections, the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) assumed office. The TNA was charged with drafting Iraq's permanent constitution, which was approved in a 15 October 2005 constitutional referendum. An election under the constitution for a 275-member Council of Representatives (CoR) was held on 15 December 2005.

The CoR approval in the selection of most of the cabinet ministers on 20 May 2006 marked the transition from the ITG to Iraq's first constitutional government in nearly a half-century.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 28,221,180 (July 2008 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.2% (male 5,613,420/female 5,438,770) 15-64 years: 57.9% (male 8,270,573/female 8,057,423) 65 years and over: 3% (male 396,751/female 444,244) (2008 est.)

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Median age: total: 20.2 years male: 20.1 years female: 20.2 years (2008 est.)

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Population growth rate: 2.562% (2008 est.)

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Birth rate: 30.77 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Death rate: 5.14 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

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Net migration rate: NA (2008 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 45.43 deaths/1,000 live births male: 51.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 39.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.62 years male: 68.32 years female: 70.99 years (2008 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.97 children born/woman (2008 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: fewer than 500 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

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Nationality: noun: Iraqi(s) adjective: Iraqi

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Ethnic groups: Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5%

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Religions: Muslim 97% (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or other 3%

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Languages: Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic), Armenian

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 74.1% male: 84.1% female: 64.2% (2000 est.)

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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total: 10 years male: 11 years female: 8 years (2005)

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Education expenditures: NA

Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Although looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined economy rebuilding efforts, economic activity is beginning to pick up in areas recently secured by the US military surge. Oil exports are around levels seen before Operation Iraqi Freedom, and total government revenues have benefited from high oil prices. Despite political uncertainty, Iraq is making some progress in building the institutions needed to implement economic policy and has negotiated a debt reduction agreement with the Paris Club and a new Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. Iraq has received pledges for $13.5 billion in foreign aid for 2004-07 from outside of the US, more than $33 billion in total pledges.

The International Compact with Iraq was established in May 2007 to integrate Iraq into the regional and global economy, and the Iraqi government is seeking to pass laws to strengthen its economy. This legislation includes a hydrocarbon law to establish a modern legal framework to allow Iraq to develop its resources and a revenue sharing law to equitably divide oil revenues within the nation, although both are still bogged down in discussions. The Central Bank has been successful in controlling inflation through appreciation of the dinar against the US dollar. Reducing corruption and implementing structural reforms, such as bank restructuring and developing the private sector, will be key to Iraq's economic success.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $102.4 billion (2007 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $60.12 billion (2007 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 5.9% (2007 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,700 (2007 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5% industry: 68% services: 27% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 7.4 million (2004 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

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Unemployment rate: 25% to 30% (2005 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 64.8% (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $42.3 billion expenditures: $48.4 billion (FY08 est.)

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Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, cotton; cattle, sheep, poultry

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Industries: petroleum, chemicals, textiles, leather, construction materials, food processing, fertilizer, metal fabrication/processing

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Industrial production growth rate: 7.9% (2007 est.)

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Electricity - production: 33.53 billion kWh (2007 est.)

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Electricity - consumption: 35.84 billion kWh (2007 est.)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2007)

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Electricity - imports: 2.315 billion kWh (2007 est.)

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Oil - production: 2.094 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 295,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)

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Oil - exports: 1.67 million bbl/day (2007 est.)

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 115 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 3.5 billion cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 1.8 billion cu m note: 1.48 billion cu m were flared (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2007 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 3.17 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

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Current account balance: $6.025 billion (2007 est.)

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Exports: $38.14 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

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Exports - commodities: crude oil 84%, crude materials excluding fuels 8%, food and live animals 5%

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Exports - partners: US 36.8%, Italy 12.6%, South Korea 9.5%, Taiwan 6.3%, Spain 5.2%, Canada 4.7%, France 4.4%, Netherlands 4.2% (2007)

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Imports: $25.67 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

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Imports - commodities: food, medicine, manufactures

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Imports - partners: Syria 30.5%, Turkey 19.8%, US 11.1%, Jordan 5%, China 4.8% (2007)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $25.66 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

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Debt - external: $100.9 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $13.5 billion pledged in foreign aid for 2004-07 from outside of the US, over $33 billion pledged total (2004)

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Currency (code): New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004

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Exchange rates: New Iraqi dinars (NID) per US dollar - 1,255 (2007), 1,466 (2006), 1,475 (2005), 1,890 (second half, 2003)