Education in Iraq

Iraq - Education

The school system is public and includes six years of compulsory primary education and a postgraduate education divided into two levels of three years each.

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In primary school, there is a promotion test after each school year. The course ends with an exam, which gives access to a two-part postgraduate education, where each level ends with a public exam. The teaching is the last two years divided into two lines, a humanities and a science. The final exam here gives access to higher education, which can be completed at ten universities and approximately 25 higher education institutions and is built according to the English model.

The language of instruction is Arabic; however, Kurdish is taught in some schools in northern Iraq. The curriculum in primary school and superstructure is centrally determined and therefore the same throughout the country. A sharp increase in participation in education has caused illiteracy to fall significantly.

OFFICIAL NAME: Jumhuriyya al-'Iraqiyya

CAPITAL CITY: Baghdad

POPULATION: 36,000,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)

AREA: 438,300 km²

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Arabic, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, others

RELIGION: Shia Muslims 60%, Sunni Muslims 35%, Christians and others 5%

COIN: dinar

CURRENCY CODE: IQD

ENGLISH NAME: Iraq

INDEPENDENCE: 1932

POPULATION COMPOSITION: Arabs 75%, Kurds 18%, others (Turks, Assyrians, etc.) 7%

GDP PER residents: $ 7100 (2014)

LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 70 years, women 73 years (2013)

INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.642

INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 120

INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .iq

Iraq, Republic of the Middle East. Much of the country is made up of the flat plain between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, ancient Mesopotamia ('the land between the rivers'), which was the center of some of the most famous ancient cultures of ancient times, Assyria and Babylon.

Iraq became an independent monarchy in 1932 and a republic in 1958. From 1979 to 2003, the country was ruled dictatorially by a Sunni Muslim Arab minority around President Saddam Hussein and his family. In the 1970's, some economic and social growth took place against the background of the country's large oil and natural gas deposits, but it was interrupted by a grueling war against Iran in 1980-88.

The country's situation deteriorated further in 1990, when Iraq, in an attempt to gain resources and control over access to the Persian Gulf, annexed Kuwait. The conquest was met by a massive international response with extensive bombings, destruction and political and economic isolation as a result. After September 11, 2001, Iraq was considered a threat by the United States and accused of producing weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was invaded in 2003 by a US-led coalition; Saddam Hussein's rule fell after a few weeks, but it has since proved difficult to establish orderly conditions, and the country was plagued by daily terrorist attacks and bloody sectarian clashes. However, an Iraqi government was deployed in 2006, and from 2008 many countries in the coalition that invaded the country initiated a withdrawal of their troops. The last U.S. troops left the country in late 2011. However, unrest continued. The Shia-dominated regime became increasingly authoritarian, and the dissatisfaction of the Sunni Muslim majority allowed radical Islamists to take over large parts of the northern part of the country in 2014.

Iraq - economy

After the Ba'ath party took power in 1968, Iraq gained strong central control over all economic activity. The war against Iran 1980-88 meant that the military industry grew at the expense of other sectors, and the government had to, among other things. introduce food rationing and a general import ban on luxury goods in order to maintain the comprehensive public welfare system.

In order to make the supply channels more efficient, a gradual liberalization and privatization of the economy was launched in 1987, and the agricultural sector was given higher priority - both without much success.

UN sanctions against Iraq following the country's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 led to economic isolation, which hit the population hard in the form of persistent shortages of basic goods. The rationing of basic commodities such as flour, rice and electricity was tightened, hyperinflation eroded the value of the dinar, black market trading rose sharply and the state of health deteriorated.

It is estimated that the standard of living, measured by GDP per capita. per capita, in the early 1990's had dropped to a level as in the 1940's. In 1996, the UN launched the so-called "oil for food program", which allowed some oil exports to cover imports of necessary food, medicine, etc.; it expanded in 1999, mitigating the worst of the crisis.

Iraq's oil reserves are considered to be the world's second largest (after Saudi Arabia), and oil has long been completely dominant in exports; the combination of falling oil prices and volumes and rising import needs dramatically reduced the balance of payments during the war against Iran. In 1990, the external debt amounted to approximately ²/₃ of GDP.

Immediately after the fall of the Baath regime in 2003, the Paris Club (of 19 rich credit countries) granted a generous debt restructuring, and the same year a donors' conference in Madrid pledged $ 32 billion. dollars in reconstruction aid, to be coordinated by the UN and the World Bank. The embargo was lifted except for arms sales to Iraq, and in 2004 a new currency was introduced.

However, economic life was severely disrupted by acts of terrorism and sabotage. limits oil production. Unemployment is estimated at 25-30% (CIA, 2005), poverty remains widespread, and food and energy subsidies are a major item in the state budget.

Iraq's main trading partners are the United States, Syria and Turkey. Denmark's exports to Iraq in 2005 amounted to DKK 224 million. DKK, and imports were 3 mill. kr.

Iraq - social conditions

Throughout the 1990's, the population suffered greatly under the sanctions that the UN maintained against the country. It is estimated that the fall in GDP of approximately 10% per annum, which took place in the first part of the 1990's, continued. A general social safety net does not exist, and the responsibility for the weakest lies first and foremost with the family.

Iraq (Health Conditions)

Until the outbreak of the Gulf War, Iraq had had a decline in mortality per capita. 1000 residents from 23 to 8 (1950-91), probably due to an improved standard of living. Birth rates fell during the same period only from 49 to 45 per. 1000 residents; it resulted in an annual population growth of 3.7%. Maternal mortality in 1990 was 310 per. 100,000 births, while infant mortality was 48 per. 1000 newborns. High prevalence of measles, polio and diphtheria indicates inadequate childhood vaccination. The sanctions after the Gulf War in 1991 have undoubtedly had a very negative impact on the health of the population.

Tuberculosis occurred in 4% of the population in 1987. More than 6000 cases of malaria are reported annually, and cases of bilharziasis and leishmaniasis are seen. Until 1995, 34 AIDS cases were reported to the WHO. However, the actual number must be assumed to be significantly higher.

Iraq (Military)

The Armed Forces and the Security Forces are (2006) under reconstruction following the Coalition's invasion in 2003. Until this year, the army has a trained staff of 79,000, the navy 700, the air force 200, the armed police 67,000 and the central security forces 32,900. The forces are predominantly equipped with donated newer Soviet and older Western.

Iraq - mass media

Before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, the Iraqi mass media was largely all state - owned and under absolute state control. They were distributed throughout Iraq. The largest newspaper was the Ba'ath Party's Al-Thawra ('The Revolution'), which was founded in 1968 and had a circulation of approximately 250,000 (1995).

The regime's nationwide Baghdad Radio was established in 1936; from 1970 it was supplemented by iddad Sawt al-Jamahir ('Voice of the Masses'). Television was founded in 1956.

After the fall of the government in 2003, the publication of a large number of new newspapers began, most of which are mouthpieces for political or religious organizations. However, some of these newspapers were short-lived. The largest newspaper in terms of circulation is the government-friendly As-Sabah, which is published in Arabic and English. A satellite-transmitted television channel, Ash-Sharqiya, broadcasts 24 hours a day, news.

Iraq - architecture and art

The pre-Islamic period is treated under Assyria, Babylon and Mesopotamia as well as Akkadians and Sumerians. Islamic architecture flourished under the Abbasid caliphs from 750. Our first capital, Baghdad, we know only through written traditions as a circular city. On the other hand, large parts of an impressive desert palace from the 700's, Ukhaidir, approximately 200 km SW of Baghdad; protected by strong fortress walls, it lies like a regular system of low-rise buildings around larger and smaller courtyards. From the temporary residence city of Samarra, there are remains of several extensive palace facilities. Most famous, however, is the detached spiral-wound minaret of the Great Mosque from 847; the mosque, now partially ruined, is one of the largest in the world. In Baghdad, several significant buildings were erected, including numerous mattresses such as the so-called Abbaside Palace from 1230 and Mustansiriya from 1233; both are two-storey courtyards with arcades and richly decorated with geometric ornaments in brick mosaic. From the time after the Abbasids, the distinguished caravanserai of Khan al-Mirjan in Baghdad (1359) dates back to a vaulted courtyard with refined engineered skylights; here is now a museum of Islamic art.

In periods after World War II, large oil revenues provided the opportunity for large-scale urban renewal and new construction, particularly in Baghdad. The architecture was mainly based on modern western models. Several Danish architects also participated, including Dissing + Weitling with the National Bank of Iraq (1985), where all rooms face an inner courtyard in accordance with Islamic tradition.

Iraq - literature

Baghdad, as the political and cultural capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, was one of the most important centers of classical Arabic literature. With the rise of Arab nation-states in the early 1900-t. new literary genres were taken up. With role models in Egypt and Turkey emerged in the early 1900-t. the first literary experiments in Iraq in the form of translations from European languages.

Mahmud Ahmad al-Sayyid (1901-37), who portrays social inequalities and justifies them with apostasy from Islam, is considered a pioneer in prose. As the first modern Iraqi novel, al-Duktur Ibrahim (1939, Dr. Ibrahim) is mentioned by Dhu al-Nun Ayyub (1908-88). The theme is the young man who, during his years of study in Europe, becomes alienated from his own people.

A new generation of Marxist-inspired writers emerged after World War II: Abd al-Malik al-Nuri (1921-98) and Fuad al-Takarli (1927-2008). Ghaib Farman (1927-90), who lived for many years in exile in Lebanon and the Soviet Union, described with realism "the little man", for example in the short story collection Mawlud akhar (1959, Another Child).

In Abd al-Rahman al-Rubayi (b. 1939), in exile from 1990, it is the psychological aspects and human inadequacy in the turbulent reality that are themes in novels and short stories influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus.

Iraqi poets were at the forefront of the development of a new Arabic poetry, freed from the tradition-bound verse goals and themes. The female lyricists Nazik al Malaika (1923-2007) and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-64) published in 1947 experimental poems with irregular lines and without rhyme, but with rhythm; they were quickly joined by the best lyricists.

Most famous is Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati (1926-99), who like Badr Shakir al-Sayyab was a communist but broke with the party. These poets' strong commitment to the country's social and national development is replaced by the youngest poets by a quieter, resigned tone, or, as in the Danish resident Muniam Alfaker (b. 1953), by the painful experience of exile.

Iraq - music

Iraqi music belongs to the Middle Eastern culture, whose music is modal and uses micro intervals (see also Arabic music). Music in Iraq is spread over three main areas: the densely populated eastern part along the Euphrates and Tigris, the western Bedouin culture and the northern highlands with predominantly Kurdish population.

Baghdad is an ancient center of Eastern Arabic art music, where instrumental groups, alkhalgi al-baghdadi, accompany classical songs with santur (board quotes, also used in Iran), tabla (clay or metal hand drum) and joza (stringed instrument with coconut).

The songs of the Bedouins are often accompanied by tasfiq (hand clap) and halahil (high-sounding vocal trills).

The Kurdish music alternates between free-rhythm pieces of an elegiac character and heroic songs to lively dance rhythms in eg 6/8 and 10/8. Tanbur or saz (long-necked lye) and zurna (oboskalmeje with double reed) are common in Kurdish music.

Ud (bandless lye) is widespread throughout the country. Players Munir Bashir and Naseer Shama are also known outside Iraq with their bid for a reinterpretation of the tradition.