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| Location: |
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
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| Geographic coordinates: |
33 00 N, 44 00 E
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| Map references: |
Middle East
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| Area: |
total:
437,072 sq km
land:
432,162 sq km
water:
4,910 sq km
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| Area - comparative: |
slightly more than twice the size of Idaho
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| Land boundaries: |
total:
3,631 km
border countries:
Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 242 km, Saudi Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km
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| Maritime claims: |
continental shelf:
not specified
territorial sea:
12 NM
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| 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
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| Terrain: |
mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey
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| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point:
Haji Ibrahim 3,600 m
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| Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
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| Land use: |
arable land:
12%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
9%
forests and woodland:
0%
other:
79% (1993 est.)
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| Irrigated land: |
25,500 sq km (1993 est.)
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| Natural hazards: |
dust storms, sandstorms, floods
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| 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 Shi'a Muslims, who have 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 Tigris-Euphrates Rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salination) and erosion; desertification
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| Environment - international agreements: |
party to:
Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban
signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification
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