Population of Iraq: Demography and Diversity

Iraq has various demography, population diversity, and several ethnic and religious groups. The majority of the population is Arab, but there is a considerable Kurdish population in the northeastern part of Iraq. The state’s official languages are Arabic and Kurdish, and the official religion is Islam, followed by Christianity. The population of Iraq reached 41 million people at the beginning of 2022, an annual increase of 3.5 since 1977. Since 2003, the percentage of people living in urban slums has expanded significantly. This increase broadens the area of challenges to secure inclusion, transport systems, sustainable cities and communities, waste management, and increasing unemployment rates and slums due to growing population pressure and the continued deterioration of the education and health sectors and other service sectors. The death rate was 5.5 per thousand/year in 2021, which is low compared to previous years. It will continue to rise slowly due to the change in the population’s age structure and the increase in the proportion of the elderly. Iraq’s population is characterized by an unbalanced geographical distribution, as there is no balance between the size of the provinces and their share of the population. It is noted that the growth rate of the young population (0–14 years old) is prolonged for 2012–2025, as this growth feeds the middle category of the population (15–64 years old). Its growth rate rises to 4%. The matter is different for the elderly population (over 64 years old), as this group’s growth continues to rise due to an increase in life span, reaching its highest rate of 6.8% of the elderly in Iraq in 2025. The ethnic composition is multiplied and complicated, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Turkmen, Athorians, and Armenians. According to the religious diversity of the Iraqi population, the Sabeans are the oldest religion in Iraq. Their percentage in Iraq today is estimated at 0.3% of the total population. Judaism is one of the ancient religions in Iraq, and the remaining numbers today are limited. Christians are estimated at 120 thousand people. Islam is the largest religion in Iraq (about 97% of the total number of religions) and is distributed throughout Iraq. The tribal system adopts a consistent structure, as each part depends on and interacts with the effects resulting from it. It becomes clear that the Nineveh province includes 1221 clans, while Diyala province reached 579 clans, followed by Dhi Qar, Kirkuk, and other regions. Despite the positive role played by the Iraqi clans in Iraqi society, new ethnic and tribal groups emerged, practicing an atmosphere of tension and continuous conflicts as a result of individual loyalties within the clan and tribe in light of the weakness of the rule of law within society, especially after 2003, due to the fault of the security services.