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Spotlight on Iraq Economy In Focus Social Education 66(7), pp. 42-423 © 2002 National Council for the Social Studies An information section prepared by the staff of Social Education Contents Spotlight on Iraq Economy....................................................42 Arabs and Kurds ....................................44 Religion ......................................................45 are barren. In the south, marshes and lakes have been banished from direct involve- Saddam Hussein’s Regime ..................46 dot the map. ment in Iraq, the U.S. imported nearly Saddam Hussein’s Wars ......................47 million barrels of Iraqi oil a day at the start Iraq and the World ................................48 Economy of 2002.* Iraqi Opposition Movements ..........420 Among Arab countries, Iraq has the great- Historically, Iraq has engaged in exten- Timeline ....................................................422 est potential for economic modernization. sive trade in all directions—North Africa, It is the only Arab country to have vast oil Europe, central Asia and (through the Per- THE POPULATION OF IRAQ resources, a fair amount of fertile agricul- sian Gulf) India and other southern and IS estimated at about 24 million people, tural land, and a large and relatively well- eastern Asian countries. making it the most populous state of the educated labor force. In the years between Iraq has fertile agricultural land cover- eastern Arab world. 974 and 979, when oil prices and rev- ing about one fifth of its territory, but careful The typical inhabitant of Iraq lives in a enues were high, Iraqis enjoyed a high water management is needed. The Tigris town, as is the case in other major oil-pro- standard of living. Iraq’s subsequent wars and Euphrates rivers, while being valuable ducing states. In the past 50 years, migrants against Iran and Kuwait, and the resulting sources of fresh water, do not deliver it have flocked to cities from the country- international sanctions, have drastically when or where farmers may need it. More side, drawn by employment opportunities reduced its standard of living and placed than 50% of Iraqi land under cultivation offered by the government—by far Iraq’s its economy in dire straits. must be irrigated. A related problem is the largest employer—and jobs in trade and The core of the Iraqi economy is oil, high saline content of Iraqi soil: without services in towns. Only about 25% of Iraqis first discovered in 927 near the north- careful management, irrigated fields can now live in rural areas. ern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Iraq’s known oil become sterile, salty deserts. Barley and The largest city is the capital, the his- reserves (112 billion barrels of crude oil) dates, which are tolerant of salty soil, are toric city of Baghdad. The population of are exceeded only by those of Saudi Arabia. two of the most widely cultivated crops in greater Baghdad is estimated at about 5 mil- The accompanying map (p. 43) shows the Iraq. lion, divided mainly between large Sunni location of Iraq’s major oil fields, as well In recent years, a new source of trou- and Shia Muslim communities. as the international oil companies work- ble—the international control of water Iraq shares borders with six countries: ing in Iraq. U.S. oil companies currently needed for agriculture, cities, and electric Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, do not work there, because of past anti-U.S. power generation—has arisen. Turkey is and Kuwait. The nation’s borders were policies by Iraq and the U.S. interpreta- diverting the headwaters of the Tigris and drawn to permit a narrow finger of land to tion of sanctions against Iraq as prohibiting Euphrates in twenty-two dams as part of its run along the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab such involvement. The largest oil fields are Anatolia Project. Syria, also upriver from waterway at the Persian Gulf. Iraq has no clustered in the north, adjoining areas cur- Iraq, has a huge dam on the Euphrates. other coastline. rently held by the Kurdish parties, and in Iraq is a land of contrasts, with widely the southern delta regions in which Iraq’s * Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway, “In Iraqi varying topography and climate. In the west Shia population predominates. War Scenario, Oil is Key Issue,” Washington Post (September 5, 2002): A. of the country, extending to the Syrian, Following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in Jordanian and Saudi borders, is a desert. 990 and the embargo on Iraqi oil exports, Beginning in the north and stretching down Iraqi oil production fell to one tenth of its toward the Persian Gulf in the south is a pre-war level, from 3.5 million barrels fertile plain that was once called Mesopo- per day (bbl/d) in July 990 to around tamia (“the land between the two rivers,” 0.3 million bbl/d in July 99. After Iraq the Euphrates and the Tigris). The high- was allowed to produce oil in exchange lands north and east of the Tigris river are for humanitarian goods in 995 under the a beautiful but harsh mountainous region. oil-for–food program administered by the In the northern foothills west of the Tigris, United Nations, its production rose again, cooler summers and adequate rainfall allow and for 200, Iraqi crude oil production for abundant grain harvests in some places, averaged 2.45 million bbl/d, about 70% of although there are few trees, and large areas the pre-war level. Although U.S. companies Social Education 26 Useful Educational Resources Books • Ciment, James. The Kurds: State and Minority in Turkey, Iraq and Iran. New York: Facts on File, 996. • The Europa Yearbook: The Middle East and North Africa. London: Europa, published annually. • Helms, Christine. Iraq. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 99. • Al-Khalil, Samir. Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq. Berkeley: Uni- versity of California Press, 990. • Wiley, Joyce N. The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Shi`as. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 992. Records of Events • Facts on File • Keesings Record of World Events Web Sites • Brown University’s Choices Education Post Washington The of permission by Reproduced Program, Watson Institute, Brown Uni- versity, “Crisis with Iraq” lessons/20020828wednesday.htm? www.choices.edu/iraq/ • The Washington Post (opinion, analysis searchpv=learning_lessons and commentary on Iraq) • PBS’s NewsHour Extra: Debating Iraq www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ • CNN’s “Showdown: Iraq” Educator www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/ world/mideast/gulf/iraq/commentary/ Guide: lessonplans/middle_east/iraq.html fyi.cnn.com/2002/fyi/lesson.plans/09/ • C-SPAN in the Classroom: U.S. Policy • The New York Times Learning Network 27/cnnpce.showdown.iraq.eg/ Towards Iraq (analysis on Iraq) www.c-span.org/classroom/iraq.asp www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/ • Usnews.classroom (Lesson plans on the Middle East and on recent Iraq elec- tions) www.usnewsclassroom.com/resources/ activities/act02028.html • The American Friends Service Com- mittee’s Fostering Friendships: “Study Guide to Iraq for Elementary and Mid- dle School Teachers” www.afsc.org/iraq/guide/foster.shtm • The Department of Energy Energy Infor- mation Administration’s “Iraq Country Analysis and Iraq Energy Chronology” www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraqchron. html November/December 2002 27 Arabs and Kurds The oil-for-food program administered by political parties under the protection of the the United Nations, which purchases and no-fly zone, which is enforced by U.S. and distributes food from the proceeds of Iraqi U.K. aircraft based in Turkey. There are two major national groups in Iraq: oil revenues, has mitigated the situation Substantial Kurdish poverty has result- Arabs and Kurds. Arabs comprise about without providing a basis for long-term ed from limited natural resources, a refu- 77% of the total population and Kurds improvement in the Iraqi economy. gee problem, political instability, and past about 20%. The remainder of the popula- One segment of the Shia population, discrimination against Kurds by the Iraqi tion consists of small ethnic groups, includ- about half a million Marsh Arabs (the central government. The Kurdish region ing Turkmen, Armenians and Assyrians. “Madan”), has suffered greatly from recent also suffered a double economic problem irrigation policies of Saddam Hussein’s following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 990: Arabs government that have diverted the water international sanctions were enforced Iraq’s Arab majority is concentrated in the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and against Kurdistan because it was part of central and southern regions of the coun- deprived many Madan of their livelihood. Iraq, but the Iraqi government cut off rev- try. The regime views the marshlands as a refuge enues for Kurdish administration when The heartland of Iraq’s Sunni Muslim for its Shia opponents. Kurdistan became a no-fly zone. Foreign Arabs is the central region, which is also the Much of the south of Iraq is a “no-fly aid and the U.N. oil for food program have most prosperous part of Iraq. The region is zone” established by the United States and mitigated the situation in recent years. agriculturally fertile as a result of a favorable United Kingdom after the 99 Gulf War The situation of the Kurds has been climate and the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to forbid Iraqi military aircraft from enter- worsened by an “Arabization” policy fol- that run through it. The location of Baghdad ing the region. In contrast to the north of lowed by Hussein’s government in the in this region has also made it a center of gov- the country, where a similar no-fly zone Kirkuk region, that has displaced hundreds ernment expenditures, trade, and services. protects the Kurds, the south of Iraq con- of thousands of Kurds. The oil-rich north- Iraq has been ruled before and since tinues to be ruled by Saddam Hussein’s ern towns of Kirkuk and Mosul, considered independence by governments whose administration.
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