Demography of iraq

Nearly 75 percent of Iraq's people live on flat floodplains that extend southeast toward Baghdad and Basra and the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers bring approximately 70 million cubic meters of sediment to the delta each year. Known in ancient times as Mesopotamia, the area is the legendary site of the Garden of Eden. The ruins of Ur, Babylon and other ancient cities are found here.

The two largest ethnic groups in Iraq are Arabs and Kurds with a population of 6.5 million. Other notable groups are the Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Iranians, Lurs, and Armenians. Arabic is the most commonly spoken language. Kurdish is spoken in the north, and the most commonly spoken Western language is English.

It is accepted that the majority of Iraqi Muslims belong to the Shia sect, and that there is also a significant population of Sunni Muslims, made up of both Arabs and Kurds. There are also small communities of Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Mandaeans and Yazidis. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims but differ from their Arab neighbors in their language, dress and customs.

The proportions of Sunnis and Shiites within Iraq are a controversial issue. Although the idea (also adopted by the United States in its intervention in the country) that the Shiites are a majority group, subjected to the pre-eminence of the Sunnis in the institutions during the Saddam Hussein era, is generally accepted as valid, other sources affirm the same. contrary. Thus, some authors believe that the percentage of Shiites was intentionally fattened in Iraqi demographic studies at the time when Saddam Hussein was one of the main allies of the United States in the region, with the aim of magnifying the possible influence of the neighbor and enemy. They will target the Shiite population of Iraq and thus justify the authoritarian regime and its need for a well-armed army.

Thus, according to the data that is usually taken for granted since before the ethnic-religious composition of Iraq became extremely important (2005 Elections) this would be the demographic composition of Iraq:

Ethnicity

• Arab: 75-80 %
• Kurds: 15-20 %
• Turks, Assyrians and others: 5%

Religion

• Muslims: 97 %
• Christians and others: 3 %

Subdivisions among Muslims

• Sunnis: 32-37 % (Arabs: 71-73 %; Kurds and Turkmens: 29-27 %)
• Chii: 60-65 % (mainly Arab: 98-99 %; Kurds: 1-2 %)

However, it should be noted that some experts advocate a different composition. Along these lines, a study by the London-based Al-Quds Press Research Center gives the following ethnic and religious composition:

Ethnicity

• Arabs: 82-84 %
• Kurds, Turkmen, etc.: 16-18 %

Religion

• Muslims: 95-98 %
• Christians and others: 2-5 % Turkmen and Asuri

Subdivisions among Muslims

• Sunnis: 60-62 % (Arabs: 42-44 %; Kurds and Turkmens: 16-18 %)
• Chinese: 38-40 % (Arabs: 86-88 %; Kurds and Turkmens: 2-4 %)