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Geography
Republic of Iraq جمهورية العراق or ancient Mesopotamia is a country in south west Asia, shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north and Iran to the east. It has a very narrow section of coastline on the Persian Gulf. There are two major flowing rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The capital city is Baghdad.
Demographics
An April 2008 estimate of the total Iraqi population is 28,221,181. Seventy-five to eighty percent of Iraq’s population is Arabs; the other major ethnic groups are the Kurds at 15-20%, Assyrians, Iraqi Turkmen and others (5%), who mostly live in the north and northeast of the country. Other distinct groups are Persians and Armenians. About 20,000 Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq.
Languages
Arabic and Kurdish are official languages. Assyrian and Turkmen are official languages in areas where the Assyrians and Iraqi Turkmen are located respectively. Armenian and Persian are also spoken, but to a lesser extent. English is the most commonly spoken Western language.
Religion
Muslim, 97%; Christian or other, 3%. There are no official figures available, mainly due to the highly politically charged nature of the subject. Two estimates of the Muslim proportions of the population are:
-Shi’a as much as 60%, Sunni about 40% (source: Britannica, Religion section of Iraq article).
-Shi’a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37% (source: CIA World Fact Book).
The Shi’a are mostly Arabs, some are Turkmen and Faili Kurds, and almost all are Twelver school. Sunnis are composed of Arabs, Turkmen who are Hanafi School and Kurds who are Shafi School.
Ethnic Assyrians (most of whom are adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East) account for most of Iraq’s Christian population, along with Armenians. Bahá’ís, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist.
Government
The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as numerous independent commissions. Aside from the federal government, there are regions (made of one or more governorates), governorates, and districts within Iraq with jurisdiction over various matters as defined by law.
Economy & Finances
Iraq’s economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings in addition to natural gas, sulfur, phosphate and iron. The currency is Dinar.
Education
Iraq is administered by the Ministry of Education. UNESCO reports that prior to the first Gulf War in 1991 Iraq had one of the best educational performances in the region. Primary school Gross Enrollment Rate was 100% and literacy levels were high. Since that time education has suffered as a result of war, sanctions, and instability
Multinational Forces
The Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I), is a military command, led by the United States, that is fighting the Iraq War against Iraqi insurgents. MNF-I include the following countries:
- United States of America: As of May 30, 155,000 troops.
- UK
- Georgia
- South Korea
- Australia
- Poland
- Romania
- El Salvador
- Bulgaria
- Albania
- 100 or fewer military personnel from Mongolia, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Tonga, Denmark, Armenia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Latvia and Singapore.
There have been many large-scale waves of emigration from Iraq, beginning early in the regime of Saddam Hussein and continuing through to 2007. The UN High Commission for Refugees has estimated that nearly two million Iraqis have fled the country in recent years, mostly to Jordan and Syria. In addition to the 2 million Iraqis who fled to neighboring countries, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates the number of people currently displaced within the country at 1.9 million.
Roughly 40% of Iraq’s middle class is believed to have fled, the U.N. said. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return. Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries.
Orphans
- In Iraq now, there are 4.5 millions Iraqi orphans with 500,000 living in streets without any home or family to care for them.
- Orphans and street-kids that live a current tragic reality in Iraq, with an unknown future awaiting them, especially when considering that there are no pre-existing legislations or decrees that protect them and their rights.
- It is estimated that in Baghdad alone, there are 5,000 orphaned children scavenging the streets daily to secure food and a safe place to sleep. While looking only for what they need to endure another day, they are being strongly recruited into the terrorist networks that oppose a new democratic Iraqi State. Ignored and left to fend for themselves, with no hope for education or good instilled values, many will inevitably slide toward destructive activities.
- There are 800 Iraqi orphans in American Iraqi prisons until January 2008 (700 orphans in Iraqi prisons and 100 another orphans in American prisons.
- With the current tragic circumstances of children in Iraq, a generation will grow up cultivated in an atmosphere of rebellious violence.
- Violence and bloodshed will have negative mental effects on children, and their personality, and it would be difficult for a generation to grow up in a healthy manner without the required environments.
- Children in Iraq are deprived of health care in schools, playing with their friends, and the right to self-expression
- Children in Iraq are subjected to sexual harassment, some of them are conducting hard jobs unsuitable to their ages, and others use begging to earn their living.
Refugees
- According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 2 million Iraqis have fled their country. Of these, 1.2 million are in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon, 10,000 in Turkey and 200,000 in various Persian Gulf countries.
- Iraqis have no legal work options in most host countries and are increasingly desperate and in need of humanitarian assistance. They face challenges in finding housing, obtaining food, and have trouble accessing host countries’ health and education systems. Iraqi refugees are subject to more security checks than those from almost all other nations.
- Forty seven percent of Iraqi refugees are women facing particularly difficult circumstances. Women make up 20 percent of all heads of families, taking care of children because so many men have been killed in some way in conflict in Iraq.
- Four to five million Iraqis are estimated to have fled their country, many to Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, although authorities say exact figures are difficult.
- Neighboring countries are overwhelmed by the massive influx of Iraqi refugees. The Government of Iraq is not providing adequate assistance to displaced Iraqis. UNHCR does not have enough resources to assist Iraqi refugees in the Middle East
- The United States bears a special obligation, for we cannot deny that the proximate cause of this human tragedy is the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. It is believed by many that this is an American-made crisis. On the other hand, the problem is not America’s alone but an international humanitarian issue.
Translators
- It’s one of the most dangerous civilian jobs in one of the world’s most dangerous countries: translating Arabic for the U.S. military in Iraq.
- In Iraq, translators are seen as a critical link between U.S. troops and Iraqis.
- Riding in bomb-blasted Humvees, tagging along on foot patrols or dashing into buildings behind Marines, translators are dying on the job, but also facing danger at home: hunted by insurgents who call them pro-American collaborators.
- Dozens of interpreters have been killed – mostly Iraqis. They account for 40% of the 300-plus death claims filed by private contractors with the U.S. Labor Department.
- Iraqi translators are embedded with literally every military unit in Iraq, facing the same life-threatening dangers as our U.S. combat forces
- Some Iraqis interpreters said they spent months on the job before being issued helmets, body armor, and ear- and eye-protection given to U.S. troops and foreign contractors.
- Under those salaries, U.S. government death benefits for families of slain Iraqi translators would range from $300 to $700 a month, according to a formula in the Defense Base Act, which sets a maximum payout of less than $4,190 a month.
References
CIA World Fact Book http://www.cia.gov/
http://www.govtrack.us/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
http://www.america.gov/
Homeland Security http://www.uscis.gov/ / http://www.dhs.gov/ http://www.travel.state.gov/
US Department of State http://www.state.gov/
International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq http://www.irffi.org/
http://www.britannica.com/
http://www.wikipedia.com/ (for general, non-academic Iraq information reference)
http://www.alertnet.org/