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
water: 4,910 sq km
land: 432,162 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 |
| Coastline: | 58 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified |
| 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: unamed peak 3,611 m; note - this peak is not Gundah Zhur 3,607 m or Kuh-e Hajji-Ebrahim 3,595 m |
| Natural resources: | petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur |
| Land use: | arable land: 13.15%
permanent crops: 0.78%
other: 86.07% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 35,250 sq km (1998 est.) |
| 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 |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Law of the Sea
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
| Geography - note: | strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf
Source: CIA World Factbook
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