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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: 3,650 km
border countries: Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 352 km
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Coastline: |
58 km
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Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified
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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: unnamed peak; 3,611 m; note - this peak is not Gundah Zhur 3,607 m or Kuh-e Hajji-Ebrahim 3,595 m
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Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur
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Land use: |
arable land: 13.15%
permanent crops: 0.78%
other: 86.07% (2001)
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Irrigated land: |
35,250 sq km (1998 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 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
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Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Law of the Sea
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
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Geography - note: |
strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf
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