Iraq: Facts & Stats

CULTURE

Traditions:

Iraq has one of the world's oldest cultural histories. Iraq is where the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were, whose legacy went on to influence and shape the European and Asian civilizations. Culturally, Iraq has a very rich heritage. The country is known for its poets and its painters and sculptors are among the best in the Arab world, some of them being world-class.

Iraq is known for producing fine handicrafts, including rugs and carpets. The architecture of Iraq is seen in the sprawling metropolis of Baghdad, where the construction is mostly new, with some islands of exquisite old buildings and compounds, and elsewhere in thousands of ancient and modern sites across Iraq.

Unlike many Arab countries, Iraq embraces and celebrates the achievements of its past in pre-Islamic times. What is now Iraq was once the Cradle of Civilization in ancient Mesopotamia and the culture of Sumer where writing and the wheel were invented. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Islamic Abbasid Caliphs presided over what was then the world's leading civilization, rich in science, art and literature.

Celebrations:

Muslim festivals are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon and the dates given above are approximations. During the lunar month of Ramadan that precedes Eid al-Fitr, Muslims fast during the day and feast at night and normal business patterns may be interrupted.

Many restaurants are closed during the day and there may be restrictions on smoking and drinking. Some disruption may continue into Eid al-Fitr itself. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha may last anything from two to 10 days, depending on the region.

1 Jan New Year's Day.

6 Jan Army Day.

26 Feb Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet Muhammad).

9 Apr Baghdad Liberation Day.

17 Apr FAO Day.

1 May Labor Day.

14 Jul Republic Day.

8 Aug Ceasefire Day (End of Iran-Iraq War).

11 Sep Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).

3 Oct Iraqi Independence Day (National Day).

17 Nov Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).

7 Dec Islamic New Year.

16 Dec Ashura.

Alcohol:

The sale and consumption of alcohol is legal in secular Iraq, even if many Iraqis avoid it for religious reasons.

Sports and Hobbies:

Sport is widespread and popular throughout Iraq. Whilst association football (soccer) is the most popular sport, basketball, volleyball, handball, weight-lifting, wrestling, kick-boxing, martial arts, and track and field athletics are also strong. Sports are not male-centric either, with females participating in a wide range of sports also.

Each sport is governed by a Central Federation at national level, which has representation in each Province as a Branch Federation. Federations are responsible for governing the sport, organizing competition and tournaments at Provincial and National level, and for sending delegations abroad for international competition and training.

moving to Iraqmoving to another countrylocal movelong distance movemoving a car
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2012 2013
Zipcode Finder
-- select state -- AlabamaAlaska ArizonaArkansas CaliforniaColorado ConnecticutDelaware District of ColumbiaFlorida GeorgiaHawaii IdahoIllinois IndianaIowa KansasKentucky LouisianaMaine MarylandMassachusetts MichiganMinnesota MississippiMissouri MontanaNebraska NevadaNew Hampshire New JerseyNew Mexico New YorkNorth Carolina North DakotaOhio OklahomaOregon PennsylvaniaRhode Island South CarolinaSouth Dakota TennesseeTexas UtahVermont VirginiaWashington West VirginiaWisconsin Wyoming IRAQ AFGHANISTAN ALBANIA ALGERIA AMERICAN SAMOA ANDORRA ANGOLA ANGUILLA ANTIGUA AND BARB. ARGENTINA ARMENIA ARUBA AUSTRALIA AUSTRIA AZERBAIJAN BAHAMAS BAHRAIN BANGLADESH BARBADOS BELARUS BELGIUM BELIZE BENIN BERMUDA BHUTAN BOLIVIA BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BOTSWANA BOUVET ISLAND BRAZIL BRITISH IN. OCEAN TER. BRITISH VIRGIN IS. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BULGARIA BURKINA FASO BURMA BURUNDI CAMEROON CANADA CANTON AND ENDER. IS. CAPE VERDE CAYMAN ISLANDS CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. CHAD CHILE CHINA CHRISTMAS ISLAND COCOS (KEELING) IS. COLOMBIA COMOROS CONGO COOK ISLANDS COSTA RICA COTE D'IVOIRE CROATIA CUBA CYPRUS CZECH REPUBLIC DEM. KAMPUCHEA DEM. YEMEN DENMARK DJIBOUTI DOMINICA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DRONNING MAUD ISLAND EAST TIMOR ECUADOR EGYPT EL SALVADOR ENGLAND EQUATORIAL GUINEA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA FAEROE ISLANDS FALKLAND IS.-MALVINAS FIJI FINLAND FRANCE FRENCH GUIANA FRENCH POLYNESIA FRENCH SOUTHERN TER. GABON GAMBIA GEORGIA GERMANY GHANA GIBRALTAR GREECE GREENLAND GRENADA GUADALOUPE GUAM GUATEMALA GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GUYANA HAITI HEARD AND MCDONALD IS. HONDURAS HONG KONG HUNGARY ICELAND INDIA INDONESIA IRAN IRAQ IRELAND ISRAEL ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN JOHNSTON ISLAND JORDAN KAZAKHSTAN KENYA KIRIBATI KUWAIT KYRGYZSTAN LAOS LATVIA LEBANON LESOTHO LIBERIA LIBYA LIECHTENSTEIN LITHUANIA LUXEMBOURG MACAU MACEDONIA MADAGASCAR MALAWI MALAYSIA MALDIVES MALI MALTA MARTINIQUE MAURITANIA MAURITIUS MEXICO MIDWAY ISLANDS MOLDOVA MONACO MONGOLIA MONTSERRAT MOROCCO MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA NAURU NEPAL NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS ANTILLES NEW CALEDONIA NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA NIGER NIGERIA NIUE NORFOLK ISLAND NORTH KOREA NORWAY OMAN PACIFIC IS. TRUST TER. PAKISTAN PANAMA PAPUA NEW GUINEA PARAGUAY PERU PHILIPPINES PITCAIRN ISLANDS POLAND PORTUGAL PUERTO RICO QATAR REUNION ROMANIA RUSSIA RWANDA SAMOA SAN MARINO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE SAUDI ARABIA SCOTLAND SENEGAL SEYCHELLES SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SOLOMON ISLANDS SOMALIA SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SRI LANKA ST. HELENA ST. KITTS-NEVIS-ANG. ST. LUCIA ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON ST. VINCENT AND THE GREN. SUDAN SURINAME SVAL. AND JAN MAYEN IS. SWAZILAND SWEDEN SWITZERLAND SYRIA TAIWAN TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA THAILAND TOGO TOKELAU TONGA TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKEY TURKMENISTAN TURKS AND CAICOS IS. TUVALU U.S. PACIFIC ISLANDS U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED KINGDOM United States of America URUGUAY UZBEKISTAN VANUATU VATICAN CITY STATE VENEZUELA VIETNAM WAKE ISLAND WALES WALLIS AND FUTUNA IS. WESTERN SAHARA YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC YUGOSLAVIA ZAIRE ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

You need help with:
Your move DATE is:
Moving FROM Zip:
Moving TO State:
Moving TO City: