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Home  >  World  > Middle East  > Iraq General Information Area: 438,317 sq km (169,235 sq miles). Population: 22,017,983 (1997). Population Density: 50.2 per sq km. Capital: Baghdad. Population: 4,044,000 (1990). GEOGRAPHY: Iraq shares borders with Turkey, Iran, the Gulf of Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. There is also a neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia administered jointly by the two countries. Iraq’s portion covers 3522 sq km (1360 sq miles). The country’s main topographical features are the two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which flow from the Turkish and Syrian borders in the north to the Gulf in the south. The northeast is mountainous, while in the west the country is arid desert. The land surrounding the two rivers is fertile plain, but the lack of effective irrigation has resulted in flooding and areas of marshland. Government: Republic. Head of State and Government: President Saddam Hussein el-Takriti since 1979. Language: Eighty per cent Arabic, 15 per cent Kurdish. Religion: Forty-five per cent Sunni Muslim, 50 per cent Shia Muslim, with Druze and Christian minorities. Time: GMT + 3 (GMT + 4 from 1 May to 30 September). Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Various two- and three-pin plugs are in use. Communications:   Telephone IDD service is available. Country code: 964. Outgoing international code: 00. Mobile telephone There are no networks available at present. Telegram/Fax There are facilities in Baghdad. Telegrams can be sent from the telegraph office next to the post office in Rashid Street. Services are also available at major hotels. Internet There are no ISPs in Iraq at present. However, there is at least one Internet cafe in Baghdad centre. Post Airmail between Western Europe and Iraq usually takes five to ten days, but can take longer. Visitors should avoid using surface mail. Press Newspapers published in Arabic include Ath-Thawra, Al-Iraq and Al-Baath ar-Riyadhi. Periodicals are also published. The main English-language daily is the Baghdad Observer. BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change. BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice): MHz 15.58 11.76 9.410 1.413 Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov): MHz 15.21 11.82 9.760 1.197 Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd. Terms and Conditions apply.