Iraq
population: 2024 census (21 Nov 2024) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 10 metros tracked
🗺️ Geography10 metros
Iraq metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.
Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.
🏙️ 10 tracked metros
| Metro | State | Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #333 | Baghdad★ Capital▲ Largest | Baghdad | 10.5M | 8.0 | Established Metro |
| #785 | Basra | Basra | 2.5M | 2.4 | Emerging Metro |
| #884 | Kerbala | Karbala | 1.0M | 2.0 | Emerging Metro |
| #960 | Mosul | Ninawa | 2.6M | 1.8 | Emerging Metro |
| #1190 | Sulaymaniyah | As Sulaymaniyah | 1.1M | 1.3 | Emerging Metro |
| #1485 | Erbil | Erbil | 1.8M | 0.8 | Local Metro |
| #1692 | Najaf | Najaf | 1.1M | 0.6 | Local Metro |
| #1881 | Kirkuk | Kirkuk | 1.5M | 0.5 | Local Metro |
| #1889 | Nasiriyah | Dhi Qar | 790K | 0.5 | Local Metro |
| #2523 | Hillah | Babil | 849K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions
19 entries listed under Iraq across 2 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.
Provinces (18)
Counties (1)
📋 At a glance
- Official languages
- Arabic, Kurdish
- Currency
- Iraqi dinar (IQD)
- Government
- Federal republic
- Legislature
- Council of Representatives of Iraq
- Constitution
- 2005, 0 amendment events since
- Demonym
- Iraqi
- Time zone
- UTC+03:00
- Driving side
- Right
- Calling code
- +964
- Internet TLD
- .iq
- ISO 3166
- IQ
- Established
- 1932
- Highest point
- Cheekha Dar (3,611 m (11,847 ft))
- National anthem
- Mawtini
Facts via Wikidata.
📰 In the news1 story
Men in Blazers · 28 Jun 2026
World Cup Matchday 15 recapSenegal's 5-0 rout of Iraq is the biggest win by an African team in World Cup history, while Dembele scored the second-fastest hat-trick ever for France against Norway.
💹 Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.
Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships
Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer
🏛️ Leadership History22 leaders · click to expand
marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.
Post-2003 Republic
Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani✦ Current
2022–PresentPrime Minister
Ali al-Zaidi
2026–2022Prime Minister
Nizar Amedi✦ Current
2026–PresentPresident
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
2022–2026Prime Minister
Abdul Latif Rashid
2022–2026President
Mustafa al-Kadhimi
2020–2022Prime Minister
Adil Abdul-Mahdi
2018–2020Prime Minister
Barham Salih
2018–2022President
Haider al-Abadi
2014–2018Prime Minister
Fuad Masum
2014–2018President
Nouri al-Maliki
2006–2014Prime Minister
Ibrahim al-Jaafari
2005–2006Prime Minister
Show all 14 leaders
Jalal Talabani
2005–2014President
Ayad Allawi
2004–2005Prime Minister
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani✦ Current | Prime Minister | 2022–Present |
| Ali al-Zaidi | Prime Minister | 2026–2022 |
| Nizar Amedi✦ Current | President | 2026–Present |
| Mohammed Shia al-Sudani | Prime Minister | 2022–2026 |
| Abdul Latif Rashid | President | 2022–2026 |
| Mustafa al-Kadhimi | Prime Minister | 2020–2022 |
| Adil Abdul-Mahdi | Prime Minister | 2018–2020 |
| Barham Salih | President | 2018–2022 |
| Haider al-Abadi | Prime Minister | 2014–2018 |
| Fuad Masum | President | 2014–2018 |
| Nouri al-Maliki | Prime Minister | 2006–2014 |
| Ibrahim al-Jaafari | Prime Minister | 2005–2006 |
| Jalal Talabani | President | 2005–2014 |
| Ayad Allawi | Prime Minister | 2004–2005 |
Republic (1958–2003)
⚠️ Saddam Hussein
1979–2003President
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
1968–1979President
Abdul Rahman Arif
1966–1968President
Abdul Salam Arif
1963–1966President
Abd al-Karim Qasim
1958–1963Prime Minister
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠️ Saddam Hussein | President | 1979–2003 |
| Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr | President | 1968–1979 |
| Abdul Rahman Arif | President | 1966–1968 |
| Abdul Salam Arif | President | 1963–1966 |
| Abd al-Karim Qasim | Prime Minister | 1958–1963 |
Kingdom of Iraq (Hashemite)
👑 Faisal II
1939–1958Monarch
👑 Ghazi
1933–1939Monarch
👑 Faisal I
1921–1933Monarch
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 👑 Faisal II | Monarch | 1939–1958 |
| 👑 Ghazi | Monarch | 1933–1939 |
| 👑 Faisal I | Monarch | 1921–1933 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.
⚔️ Conflicts since 194511 interstate wars · click to expand
| Conflict | Years | Against | Combat deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| War in Iraq (2013–2017)● | 2013–2017 | Islamic State | — |
| Syrian civil war● | 2011–2024 | Ba'athist Syria,Hezbollah,Iran,Russia (2015–present) | — |
| Iraqi civil war (2006–2008) | 2006–2008 | Mahdi Army (until 2008),Special Groups | — |
| Iraq War● | 2003–2011 | Ba'athist Iraq,Insurgent groups | — |
| Iraqi Kurdish Civil War | 1994–1997 | Yemen,Islamic Jihad in Yemen | — |
| Iran–Iraq War● | 1980–1988 | Iran | 405,000–1,200,000 |
| 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict | 1974–1975 | Iran | 1,000+ |
| Yom Kippur War● | 1973 | Israel | 10,521–21,300 |
| Six-Day War● | 1967 | Israel | 12,336–19,264 |
| 1948 Arab–Israeli War● | 1948–1949 | Israel | 13,073–26,373 |
| Anglo-Iraqi War | 1941 | United Kingdom,British India,Jordan Transjordan | — |
Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”
👥 Population over time
Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.
👥 To 2100
The UN’s probabilistic projection for Iraq: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.
🏆 National Teams
Iraq on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.
National Teams Champions
Every major championship won by Iraq's national teams, newest first. 1 in total.
| Year | Date | Champion | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2007-07-29 | Iraq | AFC Asian Cup |
