Travel Alert Status
Level 4: Do Not Travel
Time Difference
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Travel 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.
Average temperatures range from higher than 48oC (120oF) in July and August to below freezing in January. Most of the rainfall occurs from December through April and averages between 10 and 18 centimeters (4-7 in.) annually. The mountainous region of northern Iraq receives appreciably more precipitation than the central or southern desert region.
Travel Currency
New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004
Language Spoken
The majority of Iraqis speak Arabic, with variations in dialect according to region. Modern standard Arabic is spoken by educated Iraqis and is the written language. Other languages spoken include Chaldean, Armenian, Syriac, Turkish dialects and Persian. English is the most widely used foreign language and is taught in Iraqi schools.
Languages
Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian
Ethnic Groups
Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%
National Holiday
Independence Day, 3 October (1932); Republic Day, 14 July (1958)
Geographic Coordinates
33 00 N, 44 00 E
Location
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
Airports
72