Demographics of Iraq

Further information: Iraqi people

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Iraq, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

The population is estimated to be 32,585,692 as of July 2014, with most of the population being Arab (75-80%), followed by Kurds (15-20%) and others (5%). 99% are Muslims, 0.8% Christians and the rest belong to other minorities.

Background

See also: History of Iraq

Iraq is the region known outside the Islamic world as Mesopotamia. The population estimate in 1920 was 3 million. The ruins of Ur, Babylon and other ancient cities are situated in Iraq, 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 Tikrit to the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and the Euphrates 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 7th millennium BC.

Population

Ethno-religious map of Iraq from 2003, produced by the CIA
32,585,692 (July 2014 estimate),[1] up from 31,234,000 (April 2009 IMF estimate)[2]
Iraq fertility rate by region (2006)[3]
  5 - 6
  4 - 5
  3 - 4
  2 - 3

Vital statistics

UN estimates[4]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR1 CDR1 NC1 TFR1 IMR1
1950-1955 327 000 158 000 169 000 53.2 25.8 27.5 7.30 197.6
1955-1960 297 000 133 000 164 000 42.6 19.1 23.5 6.20 152.9
1960-1965 343 000 122 000 221 000 43.3 15.4 27.9 6.60 120.7
1965-1970 430 000 121 000 309 000 46.5 13.1 33.4 7.40 96.0
1970-1975 475 000 121 000 354 000 43.6 11.1 32.5 7.15 76.4
1975-1980 526 000 124 000 402 000 41.2 9.8 31.5 6.80 60.4
1980-1985 571 000 185 000 387 000 39.1 12.6 26.5 6.35 48.9
1985-1990 638 000 132 000 505 000 38.8 8.0 30.8 6.15 41.8
1990-1995 719 000 105 000 614 000 38.2 5.6 32.6 5.80 43.4
1995-2000 836 000 119 000 717 000 37.9 5.4 32.5 5.40 38.1
2000-2005 960 000 144 000 816 000 37.5 5.6 31.9 5.12 35.9
2005-2010 1 079 000 187 000 892 000 36.6 6.3 30.2 4.86 34.6
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Births and deaths [5]

Year Population (x1000) Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase TFR
2013 1 077 645 189 118 888 527
2014 36 004 552

Fertility ages average in 1997-2006[6][7]

Age groups 1997 2006
15-19 56.2 68
20-24 210 187
25-29 276.2 221
30-34 257.9 188
35-39 196.5 136
40-44 101.4 56
45-49 31 9
Total 1128.2 865
TFR 4.3

Structure of the population [5]

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) :

Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 17,710,750 17,083,444 34,794,194 100
0-4 2,495,131 2,405,862 4,900,993 14.09
5-9 2,374,908 2,191,807 4,566,714 13.12
10-14 2,232,712 2,048,891 4,281,603 12.31
15-19 1,937,714 1,825,963 3,763,677 10.82
20-24 1,701,884 1,593,679 3,295,563 9.47
25-29 1,424,739 1,316,462 2,741,201 7.88
30-34 1,176,433 1,134,882 2,311,316 6.64
35-39 983,570 1,044,325 2,027,895 5.83
40-44 933,785 897,936 1,831,722 5.26
45-49 746,884 763,311 1,510,195 4.34
50-54 508,498 562,274 1,070,772 3.08
55-59 356,581 393,511 750,093 2.16
60-64 345,830 378,456 724,285 2.08
65-69 187,626 218,991 406,617 1.17
70-74 133,277 138,375 271,651 0.78
75-79 81,742 90,630 172,373 0.50
80+ 89,436 78,087 167,523 0.48
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0-14 7,102,751 6,646,560 13,749,311 39.52
15-64 10,115,318 9,910,801 20,026,119 57.56
65+ 492,081 526,083 1,018,164 2.93

Ethnic and religious groups

Main articles: Iraqi people and Minorities in Iraq
Ethnic and religious groups in Iraq

Iraq's dominant ethnic group are the Iraqi or Mesopotamian Arabs, who account for around three-quarters of the population. They are a fusion of old Mesopotamian, Arabian, Iranian, and other populations, who now speak Mesopotamian Arabic.

Iraqi Arabs (including Palestinians, Marsh Arabs, Bedouins and other Arab subgroups): 72-75%, Kurds (including Feylis, Yazidis, Shabaks and Kaka'is): 20-22%, Turkmen: 2%, Assyrians: 2%, other: 1% (Armenians, Circassians, Persians, Mandaeans/Sabians, Bahá'ís and Afro-Iraqis and Doms).[1]

Kurds have one of the highest birth rates of any group in Iraq and the middle east.[8]

Languages

Arabic and Kurdish is the official two language of Iraq. Arabic is spoken or understood by almost all the population.

Kurdish is the largest second language and has regional language status in Iraqi Kurdistan. Aramaic, once spoken by the whole country, is now only spoken by the Assyrian minority.

Azerbaijani is spoken in pockets of northern Iraq and Persian is spoken in pockets of southern Iraq. Numerous languages of the Caucasus are also spoken by minorities across the country.

Religions

Religion in Iraq (est. 2010)[9]

  Islam (99%)
  Christianity (1%)

96% of Iraqis follow Islam: 51% Shia and 42% Sunni. 5% of these describe themselves as "Just a Muslim".[10] Christianity accounts for 0.8%, and the rest practice Mandaeism, Yazidism and other religions.

While there has been voluntary relocation of many Christian families to northern Iraq, recent reporting indicates that the overall Christian population may have dropped by as much as 50 percent since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with many fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (2010 estimate).[1] The percentage of Christians has fallen from 6% in 1991 or 1.5 million to about one third of this, due to massive exodus - two-thirds of Assyrian Christians have fled to other countries in the Middle East, Europe, United States and Canada.

Nearly all Iraqi Kurds are Sunni Muslims. A survey in Iraq concluded that "98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias".[11] The religious differences between Sunni Arabs and Sunni Kurds are small. While 98 percent of Shia Arabs belief that visiting the shrines of saints is acceptable, only 71 percent of Sunni Arabs and 59 percent of Sunni Kurds support this practice.[11] About 94 percent of the population in Iraqi Kurdistan is Muslim [12]

Demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[13]=

Age structure

0-14 years: 37.6% (male 5,959,562/ female 5,751,970)
15-64 years: 59.3% (male 9,355,176/ female 9,094,953)
65 years and over: 3% (male 376,700; female 423,295) (2006 est.)

Ethnic groups

Arab 75%-80%
Kurdish 15%-20%
Turkoman, Assyrian and Other 5%

Religions

Islam (official) 99% (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%)
Christian 0.8%
Hindu <0.1
Buddhist <0.1
Jewish <0.1
Folk religion <0.1
Unaffiliated 0.1
Other <0.1

Languages

Arabic (official)
Kurdish (official)
Turkmen (a Turkish dialect) (official in majority speaking area)
Assyrian (Neo-Aramaic) (official in majority speaking area)
Armenian

Median age

total: 21.3 years
male: 21.2 years
female: 21.4 years (2013 est.)

Population growth rate

2.23% (2014 est.)

Crude birth rate

27.1 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)

Crude death rate

4.65 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.12 children born/woman (2015 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2013 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 66.5% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization: 3.05% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

63 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

Infant mortality rate

38.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2010)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 68 years
male: 69.67 years
female: 72.67 years (2013 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

51.2% (2011)

Health expenditures

8.4% of GDP (2011)

Physicians density

0.69 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

Hospital bed density

1.3 beds/1,000 population (2010)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

27% (2008)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

7.1% (2006)

Nationality

noun: Iraqi(s)
adjective: Iraqi

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 78.2%
male: 86%
female: 70.6% (2010 est.)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Iraq". The World Factbook. 22 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Iraq". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  3. ↑ "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 - unicef statistics" (PDF). Unicef. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  4. ↑ World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
  5. 1 2 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
  6. ↑ http://cosit.gov.iq/en/population-manpower-staatistics/life
  7. ↑ http://www.childinfo.org/files/MICS3_Iraq_FinalReport_2006_eng.pdf
  8. ↑ On the Margins of Nations: Endangered Languages and Linguistic Rights. Foundation for Endangered Languages. Conference, Joan A. Argenter, R. McKenna Brown - 2004
  9. ↑ "Iraq". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/
  11. 1 2 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/20/who-are-the-iraqi-kurds/
  12. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-mansfield/religious-neutrality-iraqi-kurdistan_b_1587042.html
  13. ↑ "Middle East :: IRAQ". CIA The World Factbook.

External links

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