978-1-4222-3442-6

Iraqi women walk through a market in Karbala. With respect to the status of women, Iraq has historically been liberal in comparison with other Arab countries. Iraq’s current constitution guarantees women equal treatment with men under the law.

The People

A rab culture came to dominate Iraq after the Muslim con- quests of the seventh and eighth centuries. Today, almost 8 in 10 of Iraq’s approximately 32.5 million people are of Arab ancestry. Most of these Arabs are Shiite Muslims, who live pre- dominantly in the southern or central parts of the country. Iraq’s second-largest ethnic group is its approximately 5.7 mil- lion Kurds, who make up about 15 to 20 percent of the population. Most of the Kurdish population is located in the northern part of Iraq. The Kurds’ language and culture differs greatly from that of Arab Iraqis. Also, most of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, unlike the Shiite Arab majority. The Kurds have been called the largest ethnic group without their own state. There are estimated to be about 25 million Kurds worldwide; most of them live in an area known as Kurdistan, which includes parts of present-day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Since the early years of the 20th century, many Kurds have campaigned

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