Distribution of Religious and Ethnic Groups in Iraq
Iraq was known in the west as Mesopotamia until the 20th century. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and other ancient cities are here, as is the legendary location of the Garden of Eden. Almost 75% of Iraq's population lives in the flat, alluvial plain stretching southeast from Baghdad to Basra and the Persian Gulf. The Tigris River and the Euphrates River carry about 70 million cubic meters of silt annually from this plain down to the delta. The water from these two great rivers, and the fertility of the soil in the alluvial plain and the delta, allowed early agriculture to sustain a stable population as far back as the 4th millennium BC.
Over its long history, many civilizations grew and flourished in the region. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was formed by the League of Nations from three Ottoman vilayets (regions), gaining independence in 1932.
Iraqis today are an overall indigenous Mesopotamian people, who are closely related to the indiginous ancient people, much like the case with the people of the Levant. While modern-day Iraqis are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history — they are in fact largely a blend of the various Aramaic speaking groups indigenous to the region, as well as other groups like the Kurds and Turks, who were arabized when Muslim Arabs from Arabia arrived and settled following the Arab expansion.
Sunni Muslim is the predominant religion, while there's also Shia and Christianity. Small communities of Jews, Bahá'ís, Mandaeans, and Yezidis also exist, although most Jews have fled Iraq over the last century. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim, with about 10% being Shi'a Faili Kurds in central Iraq.
Iraqi Kurds & Assyrians differ from their Arab neighbors in language, dress, and customs.
Population: 26,783,383 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.7% (male 5,398,645; female 5,231,760) 15-64 years: 57.3% (male 7,776,257; female 7,576,726) 65 years and over: 3% (male 376,700; female 423,295) (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.66% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 31.45 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 5.37 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 48.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.01 years male: 67.76 years female: 70.31 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.18 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Religions: Muslim 97% (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian 3% down from 7% 50 years ago. According to Minority Rights Group Report (ISBN 1-904584-60-8, www.minorityrights.org), there were 2005 ca 20 Jews in Bagdad, most of them ca 70 years old.
