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Population:
22,675,617
Head of State:
President Saddam Hussein (since July 16, 1979)
Executive Branch:
Vice President Taha Muhyi al-Din Maruf (since April
21, 1974); Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan (since
March 23, 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Saddam
Hussein (since May 29, 1994); Deputy Prime Minister
Tariq Mikhail Aziz (since NA 1979); Deputy Prime Minister
Taha Yasin Ramadan (since NA May 1994); Deputy Prime
Minister Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi (since NA May 1994)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers There is also a Revolutionary
Command Council or RCC (Chairman Saddam Hussein, Vice
Chairman Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri) which controls the ruling
Ba'th Party, and is the most powerful political entity
in the country.
Legislative Branch:
Unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani
(250 seats; 30 appointed by the president to represent
the three northern provinces of Dahuk, Arbil, and As
Sulaymaniyah; 220 elected by popular vote; members serve
four-year terms)
Judicial Branch:
Court of Cassation
Religions:
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Shiitte
60%, Sunni 37%, other 3%
Ethnic
Groups:
Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or
other 5%
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History
The
Gulf War and
the international trade sanctions that followed
it, have had a devastating effect on Iraq.
Iraq became a republic in 1932 but has since been
ruled by a series of strongmen. Territorial disputes
with Iran led to a costly 1980-88 war.
Iraqi
miltary
Military
manpower:
3,176,826
Military
branches:
Army, Republican Guard, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense
Force, Border Guard Force, Fedayeen Saddam
Air Force:
35,000
Navy:
2,000
Army:
375,000
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SOURCE:
KRT, Dallas Morning News Research, National Geographic,
CIA World Fact Book 2000.
Graphic: Karen Dee Davis
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