Are your friends and family out in Iraq? Test your local knowledge with these 21 facts about Iraq!
- Iraq is a large, desert country in Western Asia.
- It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest and Syria to the west.
- Heading to the sandy dunes of Iraq? Follow the coordinates 33.3333° N, 44.4333°
- The terrain here is mostly broad desert plains, with mountains in the north and east.
- The total land area of Iraq is 168,754 square miles (437,072 square kilometres)…
- …that’s almost twice the size of the UK.
- Iraq’s population was 37.1 million in 2015…
- …that’s around half the UK population!
- Residents here are known as Iraqis.
- The capital is Baghdad; it covers an area of 78.8 square miles (204 square kilometres) and had a population of 6.6 million in 2015.
- Iraqis enjoy a desert climate with cool winters and very hot summers.
- Sand and dust storms can occur for up to 50 days a year in Iraq. Sand storms here can reach around 50 feet high, whilst dust storms have been recorded at an incredible 3,000-6,000 feet high!
- The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, although Turkoman, Assyrian and Armenian are also spoken here.
- Iraq has, on occasion, been plagued by swarms of 40-80 million locusts that can travel more than 8 miles per day!
- One of the most venomous snakes in the world, the Saw-Scaled Viper is found in Iraq!
- Iraqi Dinar the official currency here.
- The average life span in Iraq is 69 years.
- Iraq grows wheat, rice, barley and vegetables; they also rear cattle.
- Its industry consists of petroleum, chemicals, textiles and construction materials.
- Iraq also exports crude oil.
- Do you know someone living in Iraq? You can make cheap calls to Iraq through Cherry Call. Don’t forget you’ll also need to use the international dialling code of 00964.
Would you like to keep up-to-date with what’s new in Iraq? Head over to the Iraqi News website.