REPUBLIC OF IRAQ Official name: Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah (Republic of Iraq) Location: West Asia International organisations: The Arab League, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, The United Nations. Borders: Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey Coastline: Persian Gulf Land area: 437,072 Km2 Population: 24,000,000

Ethnicity: Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%.
Languages: Arabic is the official language and is spoken by 75% of the population. Kurdish is spoken by the Kurdish minority, and Assyrian and Armenian by small minorities.
Religion: Shi'a Moslem 65%, Sunni Moslem 32%, Christian and other 3%
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic federal republic. Iraq is divided into 18 provinces.
Capital: Baghdad
Constitution: A new Constitution of Iraq was approved by referendum in October 2005.
Head of state: The President, chosen by the legislature for a four-year term. President Jalal Talabani took office on 7 April 2005.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party or parties commanding a majority in the National Assembly.
Legislature: The Council of Representatives has 230 members elected for a four-year term by proportional representation from the Governorates, and 45 members representing minor parties polling 1/275th of the national vote. Free elections were held in December 2005.
Electoral authority: The Independent Election Commission of Iraq organises Iraqi elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 7, Civil Liberties 5
(This rating is too low for a country which has just successfully adopted a constitution and held free and fair elections in the face of a terrorist insurgency. I would rate Iraq a 3 or 4 on both criteria.)

Political history

Iraq comprised four provinces of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until 1918, when the Ottomans were evicted by the British. The area then became a League of Nations Mandate ruled by Britain, contrary to the promises of independence which had been given to Arab nationalist leaders during the First World War. A member of the al-Hashemi family was imported from Arabia and became King Faisal I.

The British had no desire to rule Iraq directly and a constitutional monarchy was established in 1922, with the prospect of full independence to follow in 1932. The discovery of huge oilfields enhanced Iraq's prospects for prosperity, but the state was weakened by conflicts between Sunni and Shi'a and with the Kurds in the north. King Feisal II, who came to the throne as a minor in 1935, pursued a pro-Western policy. This was undermined by the Arab-Israeli conflict and the prestige of Egyptian President Nasser, who was probably behind the coup in 1958 which overthrew the monarchy and installed a radical military regime in power. Between 1958 and 1968 there was a series of transient rulers, but in 1968 another coup brought officers supporting the Ba'ath Socialist Party to power. These were led first by President Hasan al-Bakr and then, after al-Bakr's retirement in 1979, by President Saddam Hussein, who ruled in an increasingly autocratic way. In 1980 Saddam began a long, costly and indecisive war with Iran, which greatly weakened Iraq's economy.

Iraq recognised the independence of Kuwait in 1963, although the Emirate had been once part of the Ottoman province of Basra. In August 1990, however, Iraq suddenly invaded and annexed Kuwait. This provoked intervention by a an American-led coalition, which evicted Iraq from Kuwait but did not overthrow Saddam's regime. As part of the ceasefire agreement, Iraq was forced to recognise the autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan and to give up all advanced weapons. Iraq's violation of this agreement led eventually to the Iraq crisis of 2003, culminating in military action by the United States and its allies. Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed on 9 April and Iraq came under American and British military occupation. The occupation continued until July 2004, when authority was handed over to an interim Iraqi administration. Elections were held in 2005 and a fully democratic government established, despite a continuing terrorist campaign by remnants of the former regime and jihadists from other countries.

The most active political parties in Iraq are the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the the pro-Iranian Shi'ite Islamic Daawa Party, which represents the Shi'ite majority, and the Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdestan.