Demographics of Iraq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iraq population pyramid in 2020

The Iraqi people (Arabic: العراقيون, Kurdish: گه‌لی عیراق, Syriac: ܥܡܐ ܥܝܪܩܝܐ, Turkish: Iraklılar) are people identified with the country of Iraq.[1]

Iraqi Arabs are the largest Semitic people in Iraq, whIle Iraqi Kurds are the largest Indo-European, non-Semitic ethnic group and largest ethnic minority. Iraqi Turkmen are the third largest ethnic group in the country.[2][3] Studies indicate that the different ethno-religious groups of Iraq and Mesopotamia share significant similarities in genetics and that Iraqi Arabs, who make up the majority of Iraqis, are genetically distinct from other Arab populations in the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula.[4][5]

The population was estimated to be 39,650,145 in 2021 (residing in Iraq) [6] with most of the population being Shi'a Arabs (15 million), Sunni Arabs (9 million), followed by Kurds (8.4 million),[7] Turkmen (3 million), Assyrians and Armenians (0.5 million), Afro-Iraqis (1 million), Yazidis (500,000) and Shabaks (250,000). Other minorities include Mandaeans (3,000), Roma (50,000) and Circassians (2,000).[8] The most spoken languages are Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac and Iraqi Turkmen dialects. The percentages of different ethno-religious groups residing in Iraq vary from source to source due to the last Iraqi census having taken place over 30 years ago. A new census of Iraq was planned to take place in 2020,[9] but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

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. 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[]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1955 6,502,657—    
1960 7,289,760+12.1%
1965 8,375,790+14.9%
1970 9,917,983+18.4%
1975 11,684,590+17.8%
1980 13,653,354+16.8%
1985 15,555,800+13.9%
1990 17,419,113+12.0%
1995 20,149,338+15.7%
2000 23,497,585+16.6%
2005 26,922,284+14.6%
2010 29,741,976+10.5%
2015 35,572,261+19.6%
2020 40,222,493+13.1%
Sources:[11]

39,650,145 (2021 estimate),[12] 38,433,600 (2018 estimate),[13][14] up from 31,234,000 (April 2009 IMF estimate)[15]

Iraq fertility rate by region (2006)[16]
  5–6
  4–5
  3–4
  2–3

Vital statistics[]

UN estimates[17][]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR1 CDR1 NC1 TFR1 IMR1
1950–1955 325,800 169,000 156,800 53.3 27.7 25.7 7.30 225.0
1955–1960 295,200 137,600 157,600 42.8 19.9 22.9 6.20 170.0
1960–1965 342,000 124,400 217,600 43.7 15.9 27.8 6.60 129.0
1965–1970 427,400 121,000 309,000 46.7 12.9 33.9 7.40 91.0
1970–1975 472,200 117,600 354,600 43.7 10.8 32.9 7.15 73.0
1975–1980 522,000 118,800 403,200 41.2 9.4 31.8 6.80 57.0
1980–1985 569,800 149,400 420,400 39.0 10.2 28.8 6.35 51.0
1985–1990 632,000 129,800 502,200 38.3 7.9 30.5 6.09 44.0
1990–1995 698,800 122,000 576,800 37.2 6.5 30.7 5.65 38.0
1995–2000 799,000 125,800 673,200 36.6 5.8 30.8 5.19 37.0
2000–2005 879,800 141,600 738,200 34.9 5.6 29.3 4.71 34.0
2005–2010 947,400 163,000 784,400 33.4 5.8 27.7 4.40 32.0
2010–2015 1,075,000 169,600 905,400 32.9 5.2 27.7 4.25 28.0
2015–2020 1,104,000 181,800 922,200 29.1 4.8 24.3 3.68 24.0
2020–2025 1,173,200 199,800 973,400 27.5 4.7 22.8 3.45 21.0
1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1,000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1,000); NC = natural change (per 1,000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1,000 births

Births and deaths[18][19]

Year Population (×1,000) Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase TFR
2011 4.6
2013 1,077,645 189,118 888,527
2014 36,004,552
2017 1,001,754
2018 39,846,636 1,087,757 3.6
2019 39,127,889 1,053,429 140,621 912,808 27.6 4.3 23.3
2020 40,150,174 1,022,227 173,928 848,299 25.8 4.4 21.4

Fertility ages average in 1997–2006[]

Age groups[20][21] 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 1,128.2 865
TFR 4.3

Life expectancy at birth[]

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.[22]

Period Life expectancy in
Years 		Period Life expectancy in
Years
1950–1955 37.9 1985–1990 64.3
1955–1960 44.9 1990–1995 67.4
1960–1965 50.9 1995–2000 69.1
1965–1970 56.4 2000–2005 68.9
1970–1975 59.5 2005–2010 68.0
1975–1980 61.7 2010–2015 69.2
1980–1985 59.0

Structure of the population[18][]

Structure of the population (1 July 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 8,005,327 7,674,802 15,680,129 39.01
15–24 3,976,085 3,829,086 7,805,171 19.24
25–54 6,900,984 6,752,797 13,653,781 33.97
55–64 788,602 839,291 1,627,893 4.05
65+ 632,753 794,489 1,427,242 3.55

Ethnic and religious groups[]

Main articles: Iraqi people and Minorities in Iraq
  Sunni Arabs
  Shiite Arabs
  Sunni Kurds
  Assyrians
  Yazidis
  Turkmen

Iraq's dominant ethnic group are Arabs, who account for more than three-quarters of the population.

According to the CIA World Factbook, citing a 1987 Iraqi government estimate,[23] the population of Iraq is formed of 70% Arabs followed by 25% Kurds.[23] In addition, the estimate claims that other minorities form 5% of the country's population, including the Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabaks, Kaka'i, Bedouins, Roma, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Circassians, , Sabian-Mandaeans, and Persians.[23] However, the International Crisis Group points out that figures from the 1987 census, as well as the 1967, 1977, and 1997 censuses, "are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation" because Iraqi citizens were only allowed to indicate belonging to either the Arab or Kurdish ethnic groups;[24] consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Turkmen.[24]

A report published by the European Parliamentary Research Service suggests that in 2015 there was 24 million Arabs (15 million Shia and 9 million Sunni); 8.4 million Kurds;[7] 3 million Iraqi Turkmen; 1 million Black Iraqis; 500,000 Christians[25] (including, in alphabetical order: Arab Christians, Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldean Catholics, and Syriac Orthodox); 500,000 Yazidis; 250,000 Shabaks; 50,000 Roma; 3,000 Sabian-Mandaeans; 2,000 Circassians; 1,000 Baháʼí; and a few dozen Jews.[26]

Languages[]

See also: Languages of Iraq

Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages of Iraq. Arabic is taught across all schools in Iraq, however in the north the Kurdish language is the most spoken. Eastern Aramaic languages, such as Syriac and Mandaic are spoken, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen language, and various other indigenous languages.

Kurdish, including several dialects, is the second largest language and has regional language status in the north of the country. Aramaic, in antiquity spoken throughout the whole country, is now only spoken by the Assyrian Chaldean minority. The Iraqi Turkmen dialect is spoken in northern Iraq (particularly in the Turkmeneli region) and numerous languages of the Caucasus are also spoken by minorities, notably the Chechen community.

Religions[]

Main articles: Religion in Iraq, Islam in Iraq, and Christianity in Iraq

Religion in Iraq (2017)[27]

  Shia Islam (64%)
  Sunni Islam (34%)
  Christianity (1%)
  Other (1%)

According to the CIA World Factbook, 98-99% of Iraqis follow Islam: 64-69% Shia and 29-34% Sunni. 5% of Muslims in Iraq describe themselves as "Just a Muslim".[28] Christianity accounts for 1–2%, and the rest practice Yazidis, Mandaeism, 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).[23] The percentage of Christians has fallen from 6% in 1991 or 1.5 million to about one third of this. Estimates say there are 500,000 Christians in Iraq.[29]

Nearly all Iraqi Kurds identify as Sunni Muslims. A survey in Iraq concluded that "98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias".[30] The religious differences between Sunni Arabs and Sunni Kurds are small. While 98 percent of Shia Arabs believe that visiting the shrines of saints is acceptable, 71 percent of Sunni Arabs did and 59 percent of Sunni Kurds support this practice.[30] About 94 percent of the population in Iraqi Kurdistan is Muslim.[31]

Demographic statistics[]

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[32]

Age structure[]

0–14 years: 39.01% (male 8,005,327/female 7,674,802)
15-24 years: 19.42% (male 3,976,085/female 3,829,086)
25-54 years: 33.97% (male 6,900,984/female 6,752,797)
55-64 years: 4.05% (male 788,602/female 839,291)
65 years and over: 3.55% (male 632,753/female 794,489) (2018 est.)

Ethnic groups[]

Arab: 70%
Kurd: 27%
Turkoman: 2%
Chaldean, Assyrian and Other: 1%

Languages[]

Arabic (official)
Kurdish (official)
Iraqi Turkmen dialect (official only in majority speaking area)
Assyrian dialect (Neo-Aramaic) (official only in majority speaking area)

Median age[]

total: 20.2 years
male: 20 years
female: 20.5 years (2019 est.)

Population growth rate[]

2.5% (2018 est.)

Crude birth rate[]

30 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Crude death rate[]

3.8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Total fertility rate[]

3.94 children born/woman (2018 est.)

Net migration rate[]

−1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.)

Urbanization[]

urban population: 70.5% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.)

Sex ratio[]

at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0–14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55–64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

Maternal mortality rate[]

50 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

Infant mortality rate[]

total population: 37.5 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 40.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 34.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

Life expectancy at birth[]

total population: 74.9 years
male: 72.6 years
female: 77.2 years (2018 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate[]

51.5% (2011)

Health expenditures[]

5.5% of GDP (2011)

Physicians density[]

0.85 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density[]

1.4 beds/1,000 population (2014)

Obesity – adult prevalence rate[]

30.4% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight[]

8.5% (2011)

Nationality[]

noun: Iraqi(s)
adjective: Iraqi

Literacy[]

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79.7%
male: 85.7%
female: 73.7% (2015 est.)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Iraqi – a native or inhabitant of Iraq". Reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  2. ^ "Minorities in Iraq: EU Research Service" (PDF).
  3. ^ Mitchell, T. F. (1990–1993). Pronouncing Arabic. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press. p. 37. ISBN 0198151519. OCLC 18020063.
  4. ^ Nadia Al-Zahery; Maria Pala; Vincenza Battaglia; Viola Grugni; Mohammed A. Hamod; Baharak Hooshiar Kashani; Anna Olivieri; Antonio Torroni; Augusta S. Santachiara-Benerecetti; Ornella Semino (2011). "In search of the genetic footprints of Sumerians: a survey of genetic variation in the Arabs of Iraq". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11: 288. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-288. PMC 3215667. PMID 21970613.
  5. ^ Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; Piazza, Alberto (2018-06-05). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv301gjp. ISBN 9780691187266. S2CID 242032876.
  6. ^ "Middle East :: Iraq — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b Iraq – People Groups". Joshua Project. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  8. ^ "Minorities in Iraq - European Research Service" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Iraq prepping to conduct a census in 2020". rudaw.net. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  10. ^ "COVID-19 postpones Iraq's Census for the current year". shafaq.com. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  11. ^ "Iraq Population - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info.
  12. ^ "Middle East :: Iraq — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". cia.gov. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  13. ^ ""World Population prospects – Population division"". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  14. ^ ""Overall total population" ��� World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision" (xslx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  15. ^ "Iraq". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  16. ^ "Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 – unicef statistics" (PDF). Unicef. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  17. ^ "World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision".
  18. ^ a b "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Archived from the original on 2004-09-21.
  19. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2019-03-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ "UNICEF DATA - Child Statistics" (PDF).
  22. ^ "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  23. ^ a b c d "Iraq". The World Factbook. 22 June 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?" (PDF). International Crisis Group. 2008. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  25. ^ "MINORITIES IN IRAQ: European Research Service" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Minorities in Iraq Pushed to the brink of existence" (PDF). European Parliamentary Research Service. 2015. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  27. ^ "CIA Factbook".
  28. ^ "Iraq - the World Factbook".
  29. ^ "MINORITIES IN IRAQ: EU Research Service" (PDF).
  30. ^ a b "Who are the Iraqi Kurds?".
  31. ^ "Religious Neutrality in Iraqi Kurdistan". HuffPost. 18 June 2012.
  32. ^ "Middle East :: IRAQ". CIA The World Factbook. Retrieved 2019-04-08.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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