The Iraqi people (Syriac: ܥܡܐ ܥܝܪܩܝܐ; Turkish: Iraklılar) are people originating from the country of Iraq. Iraqi Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Iraq, followed by Iraqi Kurds, then Iraqi Turkmen as the third largest ethnic group in the country. Studies indicate that Mesopotamian Arabs, who make up the overwhelming majority of Iraq's population, are genetically distinct from other Arab populations in the Arabs of the Arabian peninsula.<ref name="Nadia Al-Zahery; Maria Pala; Vincenza Battaglia; Viola Grugni; Mohammed A. Hamod; Baharak Hooshiar Kashani; Anna Olivieri; Antonio Torroni; Augusta S. Santachiara-Benerecetti; Ornella Semino 2011 2011 2882"> The population was estimated to be 43,533,592 in 2021 Turkmens (3 million), Assyrians (0.5 million), Yazidis (500,000), Armenians, Marsh Arabs, and Shabaks (250,000). Other minorities include Mandaeans (3,000), Roma (50,000) and Circassians (2,000). The most spoken languages are Mesopotamian Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian Syriac and Iraqi Turkmen dialects. The percentages of different ethno-religious groups residing in Iraq vary from source to source due to the last Iraqi census having taken place over 30 years ago. A new census of Iraq was planned to take place in 2020, but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was rescheduled to November 2022 but was postponed again with an "electronic national population census" planned in the last quarter of 2023. A new comprehensive national census is planned to be held on 20 and 21 November 2024, with a total number of 120,000 field researchers who will execute the census in all governorates on the set date.

Population

39,650,145 (2021 estimate), ( estimate), up from 31,234,000 (April 2009 IMF estimate)

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Fertility ages average in 1997–2006

Life expectancy at birth

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (1 July 2013) (Estimates): Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):

Ethnicity

Iraq's dominant ethnic group is Arabs, who account for more than three-quarters of the population. According to the CIA World Factbook, citing a 1987 Iraqi government estimate, the population of Iraq is formed of 75-80% Arabs (including Marsh Arabs) followed by 15-20% Kurds and other minorities form 5% of the country's population, including the Turkmen, Kaka'i, Bedouins, Roma, Assyrians, Circassians, Mandaeans, and Persians. However, the International Crisis Group points out that figures from the 1987 census, as well as the 1967, 1977, and 1997 censuses, "are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation" because Iraqi citizens were only allowed to indicate belonging to either the Arab or Kurdish ethnic groups; consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Turkmen.

{{legend|#ffaaaa|Shiite Arabs}} {{legend|#eeffaa|Sunni Kurds}} {{legend|#ccaaff|Assyrians}} {{legend|#cdde87|Yazidis}} {{legend|#ff9955|Turkmen|undefined | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Ethnoreligious///Iraq.svg]

Languages

Arabic and Kurdish are the two official languages of Iraq. Arabic is taught across all schools in Iraq, however in the north the Kurdish language is the most spoken. Eastern Aramaic languages, such as Syriac and Mandaic are spoken, as well as the Iraqi Turkmen language, and various other indigenous languages. Kurdish, including several dialects, is the second largest language and has regional language status in the north of the country. Aramaic, in antiquity spoken throughout the whole country, is now only spoken by the Assyrian minority, in distinct dialects that differ from church affiliation and geographic origin. The Iraqi Turkmen dialect is spoken in parts of northern Iraq, numerous languages of the Caucasus are also spoken by minorities, notably the Chechen community.

Religions

The CIA World Factbook estimated in 2015 that between 95-98% of Iraqis followed Islam, with 61-64% being Shia and 29-34% being Sunni. Christianity accounted for 2%, and the rest (1-4%) practiced Yazidism, Mandaeism, and other religions. While there has been voluntary relocation of many Christian families to northern Iraq, recent reporting indicates that the overall Christian population may have dropped by as much as 50 percent since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with many fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon (2010 estimate). The percentage of Christians has fallen from 6% in 1991 or 1.5 million to about one third of this. Estimates say there are 500,000 Christians in Iraq. Nearly all Iraqi Kurds identify as Sunni Muslims. A 2014 survey in Iraq concluded that "98% of Kurds in Iraq identified themselves as Sunnis and only 2% identified as Shias". The religious differences between Sunni Arabs and Sunni Kurds are small. While 98 percent of Shia Arabs believe that visiting the shrines of saints is acceptable, 71 percent of Sunni Arabs did and 59 percent of Sunni Kurds support this practice. About 94 percent of the population in Iraqi Kurdistan is Muslim.

Demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Age structure

(2018 est.)

Ethnic groups

Languages

Median age

Population growth rate

Crude birth rate

Crude death rate

Total fertility rate

Net migration rate

Urbanization

Sex ratio

Maternal mortality rate

Infant mortality rate

Life expectancy at birth

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Health expenditures

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Obesity – adult prevalence rate

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Nationality

Literacy