Introduction
Dangerous? Sure. But Iraq also boasts a rich history and warm, resilient people. Long ago in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the great civilisations of the age were born.
Modern Iraq was ancient Mesopotamia, and it was here that humans first began to cultivate their land, where writing was invented and where the Assyrians, Sumerians and Babylonians all made Iraq the centre of the ancient world.The country remains rich with the resonance of its glorious history, but recent years have been hard. Under Saddam Hussein, widespread political repression and conflicts with Iran, Kuwait and the West earned Iraq worldwide infamy and alarmed international human-rights organisations and Western armies in equal measure. Indeed in recent years, few countries have experienced such external interference as Iraq has, culminating in the 2003 American-led invasion of the country.
Destination Facts
Capital: Baghdad
Interim Prime Minister: Nouri al-Maliki
Interim President: Jalal Talabani
Government: interim government
Time zone: GMT +4
Area: 432162
Population: 24683313
Languages: Arabic, the official language, is spoken by 80% of the population The Kurds speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language. The Turkomans, who live in villages along the Baghdad to Mosul highway, speak a Turkish dialect. Persian is spoken by minorities near the Iranian border, while similar numbers speak Assyrian and Chaldean. English is quite widely spoken in urban centres.Official in Kurdish regions.
The official religion is Islam. Muslims make up 95% of the population, with considerably more Shiites than Sunni. The Shiites tend to live in the south of the country, the Sunni in the central and northern districts. The largest group of non-Muslims are Christians who belong to various sects, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrian and Roman Catholics, Orthodox Armenians and Jacobites. Other religious minorities are the Yezidis, often erroneously called devil worshippers, and the Sabaeans, or Mandeans, who are followers of John the Baptist.
Currency: Iraqi Dinar (ID)
Country Dialing Code: 964
Getting There
If you don't want to wilt, avoid summer in Iraq as it's fiercely hot (May to September); the average summer temperature in Baghdad is 34° C and in Basra 37° C, but daytime temperatures can soar well above that. The north is slightly cooler, while in the south there's debilitatingly high humidity. Winter can be cold and the mountains can become covered with snow. The average winter temperature in Baghdad is 11° C and in Basra 14° C.
Getting there and away
Some commercial flights have now been re-established to Iraq, but there are no formal schedules, and flight details change by the week. Royal Jordanian Airlines (www.rja.com.jo/default.aspx) flies between Amman and Baghdad International Airport, while Austrian Airlines (http://www.aua.com/au/eng) offers a service between Vienna and Kurdistan in the north of the country. Hamburg International Airlines also flies into the Kurdistan region, with services to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports. Expat Airways, a no-frills Iraqi airline operating between Amman and Baghdad, has raised eyebrows since it opened last year for its controversial policy of banning non-Western passengers.Travelling overland to Iraq from Jordan, Syria and Iran is well-nigh impossible (and inadvisable) for foreigners. However, driving from Turkey into Kurdistan is a possibility. There have been no passenger ships operating to or from Iraq since the start of the Gulf War.
Getting around
Iraq has a good road network and there are buses between towns and cities, plus a rail line that connects Baghdad to Mosul and Basra. Shared taxis are used between towns and cities in the north of Iraq. Road travel is dangerous, however, due to the high incidence of bombings, explosions, car-jacking and robbery.
Visa:
At the time of writing, Iraqi embassies overseas were still not issuing visas to visitors. Some adventurous travellers have applied for visas at the Iraqi embassy in Jordan. We are not aware of anyone being granted a visa, other than journalists and aid workers.
Weather
The dry summer days from June to August scorch the air with temperatures between 38° C and 43° C (100° F and 110° F) in the middle of very pleasant autumn and spring months. Winter sees a bit of rain and fairly mild temperatures with average highs around 15° C to 18° C (60° F and 65° F) and tending to stay just above zero.
Warning
It won't come as a surprise to too many people that Iraq isn't the world's most popular holiday destination at the moment. Its turbulent and extreme domestic situation makes Iraq one of the least desirable places in the world to be. Widespread violence and kidnappings continue to occur, and the threat to foreigners remains high.The Kurdistan region in the country's north is considerably less dangerous, but military and terrorist activity at the Turkish border is an ongoing cause for concern.
Dangerous? Sure. But Iraq also boasts a rich history and warm, resilient people. Long ago in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the great civilisations of the age were born.
Modern Iraq was ancient Mesopotamia, and it was here that humans first began to cultivate their land, where writing was invented and where the Assyrians, Sumerians and Babylonians all made Iraq the centre of the ancient world.The country remains rich with the resonance of its glorious history, but recent years have been hard. Under Saddam Hussein, widespread political repression and conflicts with Iran, Kuwait and the West earned Iraq worldwide infamy and alarmed international human-rights organisations and Western armies in equal measure. Indeed in recent years, few countries have experienced such external interference as Iraq has, culminating in the 2003 American-led invasion of the country.
Destination Facts
Capital: Baghdad
Interim Prime Minister: Nouri al-Maliki
Interim President: Jalal Talabani
Government: interim government
Time zone: GMT +4
Area: 432162
Population: 24683313
Languages: Arabic, the official language, is spoken by 80% of the population The Kurds speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language. The Turkomans, who live in villages along the Baghdad to Mosul highway, speak a Turkish dialect. Persian is spoken by minorities near the Iranian border, while similar numbers speak Assyrian and Chaldean. English is quite widely spoken in urban centres.Official in Kurdish regions.
The official religion is Islam. Muslims make up 95% of the population, with considerably more Shiites than Sunni. The Shiites tend to live in the south of the country, the Sunni in the central and northern districts. The largest group of non-Muslims are Christians who belong to various sects, including Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrian and Roman Catholics, Orthodox Armenians and Jacobites. Other religious minorities are the Yezidis, often erroneously called devil worshippers, and the Sabaeans, or Mandeans, who are followers of John the Baptist.
Currency: Iraqi Dinar (ID)
Country Dialing Code: 964
Getting There
If you don't want to wilt, avoid summer in Iraq as it's fiercely hot (May to September); the average summer temperature in Baghdad is 34° C and in Basra 37° C, but daytime temperatures can soar well above that. The north is slightly cooler, while in the south there's debilitatingly high humidity. Winter can be cold and the mountains can become covered with snow. The average winter temperature in Baghdad is 11° C and in Basra 14° C.
Getting there and away
Some commercial flights have now been re-established to Iraq, but there are no formal schedules, and flight details change by the week. Royal Jordanian Airlines (www.rja.com.jo/default.aspx) flies between Amman and Baghdad International Airport, while Austrian Airlines (http://www.aua.com/au/eng) offers a service between Vienna and Kurdistan in the north of the country. Hamburg International Airlines also flies into the Kurdistan region, with services to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports. Expat Airways, a no-frills Iraqi airline operating between Amman and Baghdad, has raised eyebrows since it opened last year for its controversial policy of banning non-Western passengers.Travelling overland to Iraq from Jordan, Syria and Iran is well-nigh impossible (and inadvisable) for foreigners. However, driving from Turkey into Kurdistan is a possibility. There have been no passenger ships operating to or from Iraq since the start of the Gulf War.
Getting around
Iraq has a good road network and there are buses between towns and cities, plus a rail line that connects Baghdad to Mosul and Basra. Shared taxis are used between towns and cities in the north of Iraq. Road travel is dangerous, however, due to the high incidence of bombings, explosions, car-jacking and robbery.
Visa:
At the time of writing, Iraqi embassies overseas were still not issuing visas to visitors. Some adventurous travellers have applied for visas at the Iraqi embassy in Jordan. We are not aware of anyone being granted a visa, other than journalists and aid workers.
Weather
The dry summer days from June to August scorch the air with temperatures between 38° C and 43° C (100° F and 110° F) in the middle of very pleasant autumn and spring months. Winter sees a bit of rain and fairly mild temperatures with average highs around 15° C to 18° C (60° F and 65° F) and tending to stay just above zero.
Warning
It won't come as a surprise to too many people that Iraq isn't the world's most popular holiday destination at the moment. Its turbulent and extreme domestic situation makes Iraq one of the least desirable places in the world to be. Widespread violence and kidnappings continue to occur, and the threat to foreigners remains high.The Kurdistan region in the country's north is considerably less dangerous, but military and terrorist activity at the Turkish border is an ongoing cause for concern.
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