Passports:

Passport valid for at least six months from date of issue of visa required by all nationals

Visas:

Required by all nationals. Although visas for both tourism and religious tourism purposes are now being issued, all applications must be approved by authorities in Baghdad. Regulations are liable to change so nationals are advised to contact the relevant embassy for further information.

Deep in the Middle East, there lies Iraq, at the northern border of the Persian Gulf. Being a country, Iraq has one tiny coastline of 58 kilometres in the southeast direction. Iraq is bounded by the Iran towards the eastern direction, Kuwait towards the southern direction, Saudi Arabia towards the southwest, Jordan towards the west, Syria towards the northwest, and Turkey towards the northern direction

Sport in Iraq has a wide array of sports, played and followed in Iraq. Football is the most popular sport in Iraq and a considerable uniting factor following years of war and unrest. Basketball, swimming, weightlifting, bodybuilding, boxing, kick boxing, and tennis are also popular sports.

The major religion in Iraq is Islam, followed by about 97% of Iraqis, although more recent poll results seem to contradict these numbers. The other 3% consist of those following Christianity and other religions.Many cities throughout Iraq have been areas of historical prominence for both Shia and Sunni Muslims including Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad and Samarra.

The politics of Iraq takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. It is a multi-party system whereby the executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers as the head of government, as well as the President of Iraq, and legislative power is vested in the Council of Representatives and the Federation Council.

Geological surveys have indicated usable deposits of iron ore, copper, gypsum, bitumen, dolomite, and marble; these resources have remained largely unexploited, because of inadequate transport facilities and lack of coal for processing the ores.

The Iraqi Armed Forces are the military forces of the Government of Iraq. They consist of the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Air Force, and the Iraqi Navy.
The armed forces of Iraq have a long but not particularly successful history. They were initially formed in the early 1920s. Six military Coup d'états were mounted by the Army between 1936 and 1941. The armed forces first saw combat in the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941.

Traditionally, Iraq’s manufacturing activity has been closely connected to the oil industry. The major industries in that category have been petroleum refining and the manufacture of chemicals and fertilizers. Before 2003, diversification was hindered by limitations on privatization and the effects of the international sanctions of the 1990s.

Oil reserves in Iraq will be the largest in the world according to recent geological surveys and seismic data.The Iraqi government has stated that new exploration showed Iraq has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, with more than 350 billion barrels.Officially confirmed reserves rank third largest in the world at approximately 143 billion barrels (22.7×109 m3).As a result of military occupation and civil unrest, the official statistics have not been revised since 2001 and are largely based on 2-D seismic data from three decades ago.

The state of health in Iraq has fluctuated during its turbulent recent history. During its last decade, the regime of Saddam Hussein cut public health funding by 90 percent, contributing to a substantial deterioration in health care.During that period, maternal mortality increased nearly threefold, and the salaries of medical personnel decreased drastically.