Location:
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait

Geographic coordinates:
33 00 N, 44 00 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 438,317 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
land: 437,367 sq km
[see also: Area - land country ranks ]
water: 950 sq km
[see also: Area - water country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 59

Area - comparative:
slightly more than three times the size of New York state
Area comparison map:

Land boundaries:
total: 3,809 km
border countries (6): Iran 1,599 km, Jordan 179 km, Kuwait 254 km, Saudi Arabia 811 km, Syria 599 km, Turkey 367 km
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]

Coastline:
58 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

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:
mean elevation:
[see also: Mean Elevation country ranks ]
elevation extremes:
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Cheekha Dar (Kurdish for "Black Tent") 3,611 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur

Land use:
agricultural land: 18.1% arable land 8.4%; permanent crops 0.5%; permanent pasture 9.2%
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
forest: 1.9%
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 80% (2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - other country ranks ]

Irrigated land:
35,250 sq km (2012)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]

Total renewable water resources:
89.86 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 66 cu km/yr (7%/15%/79%)
per capita: 2,616 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:
dust storms; sandstorms; floods

Environment - current issues:
government water control projects 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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Geography - note:
strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf