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| Location | Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait | | | Geographic coordinates | 33 00 N, 44 00 E | | | Zone | Middle East | | | Area | total: 437,072 sq km
land: 432,162 sq km
water: 4,910 sq km | | | Land boundaries | total: 3,650 km
border countries: Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 240 km, Saudi Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 352 km | | | Coastline | 58 km | | | Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified | | | Climate | mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq | | | Terrain | mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey | | | Elevation extremes | lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: unnamed peak; 3,611 m; note - this peak is not Gundah Zhur 3,607 m or Kuh-e Hajji-Ebrahim 3,595 m | | | Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur | | | Irrigated land | 58 km | | | Natural hazards | dust storms, sandstorms, floods | | Environment -
current issues | government water control projects have drained most of the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Marsh Arabs, who inhabited these areas for thousands of years, has been displaced; furthermore, the destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations; inadequate supplies of potable water; development of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers system contingent upon agreements with upstream riparian Turkey; air and water pollution; soil degradation (salination) and erosion; desertification | | Environment -
international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification | | | Geography - note | strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf | |
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