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| Iraq (Iraqi Republic) |
State in the southwestern part of Asia. Territory - 438.5 thousand sq. km. Population - 12.2 million (1977 census); 80% are Arabs, 17% are Kurds, 2% are Turkmans, the rest are Armenians, Persians, etc. The capital is Baghdad (about 3.3 million inhabitants with suburbs). Up to 96% of the population is Shiite and Sunni Muslim. The official languages are Arabic and Kurdish. Iraq is one of the oldest states in the world. Since the XVI century. until the end of the First World War, it was part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. After the surrender of Turkey in the First World War, the territory of Iraq, created from 3 vilayets of the collapsed empire (Basr, Baghdad and Mosul), was seized by England, which received in 1920 at a conference in San Remo the mandate to govern the newly formed state. In 1921, Iraq was proclaimed a kingdom led by an English protege, Emir Faisal. British rule in Iraq caused the rise of the national liberation movement. According to the Anglo-Iraqi treaty of 1930, which came into force in 1932, Iraq received formal independence, but British military bases and armed forces still remained on its territory, and England, with the help of the feudal-monarchical elite, actually exercised over the country has military and political control. In February 1955, the Iraqi-Turkish treaty was signed, which became the basis for the aggressive Baghdad Pact. The rise of the national liberation movement, in which the Communist Party and the Party of Arab Socialist Renaissance (PASV) took an active part, ended on July 14, 19E8 with an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal 'revolution, which led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic. Iraq withdrew from the Baghdad Pact, liquidated foreign military bases on its territory and broke most of the unequal agreements with Britain, began to develop relations with the USSR and other socialist countries. The republican government has begun to implement democratic reforms in the country. However, the transformation from 1960 of the regime of the bourgeois-democratic republic into a military dictatorship led to the elimination of many revolutionary gains and the outbreak of hostilities against the Kurdish people (1961). Only with the coming to power of the PASV government in 1968, which revised some of the erroneous attitudes of previous years, progressive socio-economic transformations began to be consistently carried out in the country. Political prisoners (including communists) were released from prisons, new laws on labor, agrarian reform and cooperatives were introduced, a number of other social measures were adopted in the interests of workers, and foreign oil companies were nationalized. On 11 March 1970 the government and the leadership of the Kurdish movement reached an agreement on a peaceful, democratic solution to the Kurdish problem. On 11 March 1974, the law on the autonomy of Kurdistan was adopted, in accordance with which the legislative and executive bodies of the Kurdish Autonomous Region were created. However, the armed conflict between Arabs and Kurds, due to the fault of internal reaction, which enjoyed the support of external imperialist forces, continued until March 1975. In the field of foreign policy, Iraq has proclaimed an anti-imperialist course, is pursuing a line to strengthen the national. independence, peace and international security, the development of cooperation with the USSR and other socialist countries, takes an active part in the movement of non-alignment. The achieved high level of relations between the USSR and Iraq was confirmed by the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, signed in Baghdad on April 9, 1972. Iraq is a member of the Arab League. Renders assistance and support to the Palestinian resistance movement, strongly condemns the capitulation course of the Egyptian President A. Sadat. He initiated the Arab meetings in Baghdad (in November 1978 and March 1979), at which a program was adopted to counteract the Egyptian-Israeli separate deals. The Iraqi government broke off diplomatic relations with Egypt. The Provisional Constitution, which came into force on July 17, 1970, proclaimed Iraq a sovereign People's Democratic Republic. The highest body of state power is the Revolutionary Command Council (SRC), whose chairman is simultaneously the president of the republic and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (since July 1979 - S. Hussein). In accordance with the amendments to the interim constitution of 14.VII 1973, the president is endowed with the powers and chairman of the Council of Ministers. The ruling party, the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (PASV), was created in 1947 (as the Iraqi section of the All-Arab Party in 1954). Secretary General of the regional leadership of PASV Iraq - S. Hussein. The Iraqi Communist Party (IKP) - was created in 1934. The First Secretary of the IKP Central Committee - A. Muhammad. There are 3 Kurdish parties and groupings: the Democratic Party of Kurdistan - created in 1946, unites the petty and middle bourgeoisie, landowners, representatives of the intelligentsia, part of the workers and peasants, the leader is Hashem Hasan (Akraui); Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan; The Independent Kurdish Democrats are a group of Kurdish intellectuals living in Baghdad. General Federation of Workers' Trade Unions of Iraq (part of the WFTU). The most massive public organizations are the General Federation of Peasant Associations, the General Union of Iraqi Women, the General Union of Iraqi Youth, and the National Council for Peace and Solidarity. Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil (5.3 billion g), natural gas (1322 billion cubic meters), sulfur (365 million g), phosphates (330 million tons). Oil production in 1978 was about 125 million tons, export - 112 million tons. Funds from the sale of oil are used for the accelerated development of the economy. The bulk of capital investment is directed to the public sector, which accounts for 90% of the total industrial volume. production. The main industries are oil, textile, food, leather, building materials. Agriculture is poorly developed (over 50% of the working population is employed). Its share in GNP ranges from 10 to 21%, depending on the yield. Cereals (wheat, barley, rice), oilseeds, vegetables are cultivated. An important industry is the cultivation of dates (Iraq provides up to 80% of world exports, harvesting - 300-400 thousand tons per year). Livestock raising is well developed (there are 8.5 million sheep, 2.5 million head of cattle, 2 million goats). In order to eliminate the lag in agriculture, a course has been taken to create large agricultural industries. complexes. In 1977, there were over 2,200 cooperatives of various types. The USSR is providing assistance to Iraq in economic development. He participates in the construction of about 100 economic objects, of which more than half have already been put into operation. Since 1975, Iraq has a cooperation agreement with the CMEA. The main volume of traffic is carried out by road (70%) - Length of rail. roads - 2.7 thousand km, automobile - 18 thousand. km, of which with hard surface - 4.3 thousand km. The total length of the oil pipelines is 3.7 thousand km. The total tonnage of the tanker fleet is 1.2 million tons. Baghdad has an international airport, seaports - Basra, Fao, Um-Qasr. The monetary unit is the dinar. 1 days. = 2.17 rubles. (February 1980). The main export item is oil; dates, cotton, sulfur, and hides are also exported. Equipment, machinery and mechanisms prevail in imports. Main contractors: USSR , France, Japan, USA, Italy, England, Spain, Czechoslovakia. The government is pursuing a policy of stabilizing prices for essential goods, taking measures to develop housing, health care, and the elimination of illiteracy (in 1978 it was 37% among the adult male population and 71% among the female).
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