Facts

Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait

Area (only Total) total: 437,072 sq km

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

Terrain: mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey

Population: 28,221,180

Main Language (only first: Arabic

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital (Name): Baghdad

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+3

Independence: 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration); note - on 28 June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi-controlled Government

National holiday: Revolution Day, 17 July (1968); note - this holiday was celebrated under the SADDAM Husayn regime; the Government of Iraq has yet to declare a new national holiday