Iraq Travel Guide

Iraq — Country and Tourist Information

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Country Facts

Location: Middle East.
Language: 80% Arabic (official). Other languages spoken include Kurdish, Persian, Chaldean, Assyrian and Armenian. English is quite widely spoken in urban centres. In the northern region known as Iraqi Kurdistan, many people, especially younger Kurds, will speak only Kurdish with no Arabic. Although, English is widely spoken in towns.
Area: 438,317 sq km (169,235 sq miles).
Time Zone: GMT + 3 (GMT + 4 from 1 April to 1 October).
Electricity: 230 volts AC, 50Hz. Various two- and three-pin plugs are in use. Electricity supplies were severely affected in the 2003 conflict and are still unreliable.
Population: 30.7m (2009).
Population Density: 70.04 per sq km.
Capital City: Baghdad. Population: 5.7 million (2006 estimate).
Government: Iraqi Transitional Government.
Head of Government: Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki since 2006.
Head of State: President Jalal Talabani since 2005.
Religion: Islam. Muslims make up 95% of the population, with considerably more Shiites than Sunni. Others are Christians who belong to various sects, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrian and Roman Catholics, Orthodox Armenians and Jacobites. Other religious minorities are the Yezidis and the Sabaeans, or Mandeans, who are followers of John the Baptist.

Recent History

Since March 2003 when the US-led coalition declared war on Iraq and successfully ousted the regime of Saddam Hussein, the country has been in a period of transition. The transferal of power was finally granted to a new Iraqi government in 2004. Countrywide elections in 2005 appointed a National Assembly, with the majority of seats assigned to the Shia United Iraqi Alliance. This assembly elected a president, Jalal Talabani, who, in turn, designated Ibrahim Jaafari as prime minister. Parliamentary elections took place in December 2005 and following months of political deadlock, Jaafari withdrew his candidature for prime minister in April 2006, making way for Jawad al-Maliki.

Since 2006 Mr Maliki has become increasingly popular with Iraqis. His tough stance in 2008 during negotiations with the United States over security agreements was popular within Iraq and Washington agreed to pull all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Since then, the Obama administration has set a new date for withdrawal as the end of August 2010. Mr Maliki was also given credit for successful security operations against Shia militias in Baghdad and around Basra in the south.

Communications

Telephone

Country Code: +964.

Mobile Telephone

Roaming agreements with several international mobile phone companies exist. There is good coverage in major cities.

Internet

Internet cafés are springing up across Iraq, especially in Baghdad.

Media

There has been a surge of media outlets since the downfall of Saddam Hussein. Hundreds of publications and dozens of radio and TV stations are now available. Newspapers printed in Iraq include Al-Sabah, sponsored by state-run Iraqi Media Network. During Saddam's dictatorship, satellite TV was banned in Iraq, but now is extremely popular especially Al-Aribiya, Al-Jazeera and BBC Arabic Television.

Post

All mail may take several weeks to process and is inadvisable.

Public Holidays

Below are listed Public Holidays for the January 2011-December 2012 period.
2011
1 Jan New Year’s Day
6 Jan Army Day
15 Feb Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet Muhammad)
9 Apr Baghdad Liberation Day
17 Apr FAO Day
1 May Labor Day
14 Jul Republic Day
8 Aug Ceasefire Day (End of Iran-Iraq War)
30 Aug Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan)
3 Oct Iraqi Independence Day (National Day)
6 Nov Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice)
26 Nov Islamic New Year
5 Dec Ashura

2012
1 Jan New Year’s Day
6 Jan Army Day
4 Feb Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet Muhammad)
9 Apr Baghdad Liberation Day
17 Apr FAO Day
1 May Labor Day
14 Jul Republic Day
8 Aug Ceasefire Day (End of Iran-Iraq War)
19 Aug Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan)
3 Oct Iraqi Independence Day (National Day)
25 Oct Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice)
15 Nov Islamic New Year
24 Nov Ashura
Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon and the dates given above are approximations. During the lunar month of Ramadan that precedes Eid al-Fitr, Muslims fast during the day and feast at night and normal business patterns may be interrupted. Many restaurants are closed during the day and there may be restrictions on smoking and drinking. Some disruption may continue into Eid al-Fitr itself. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha may last anything from two to 10 days, depending on the region.