<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Iraq<nl>Government</hdr><body>
<list>
<item><hi format=bold>Names:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional long form:</hi> Republic of Iraq
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional short form:</hi> Iraq
<item>• <hi format=ital>local long form:</hi> Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah
<item>• <hi format=ital>local short form:</hi> Al Iraq
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Digraph:</hi> IZ
<item><hi format=bold>Type:</hi> republic
<item><hi format=bold>Capital:</hi> Baghdad
<item><hi format=bold>Administrative divisions:</hi> 18 provinces (muhafazat, singular—muhafazah); Al Anbar, Al Basrah, Al Muthanna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta'mim, Babil, Baghdad, Dahuk, Dhi Qar, Diyala, Karbala', Maysan, Ninawa, Salah ad Din, Wasit
<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> 3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration)
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> Anniversary of the Revolution, 17 July (1968)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> 22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970 (provisional Constitution); new constitution drafted in 1990 but not adopted
<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> based on Islamic law in special religious courts, civil law system elsewhere; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state:</hi> President SADDAM Husayn (since 16 July 1979); Vice President Taha Muhyi al-Din MARUF (since 21 April 1974); Vice President Taha Yasin RAMADAN (since 23 March 1991)
<item>• <hi format=ital>head of government:</hi> Prime Minister Ahmad Husayn Khudayir al-SAMARRAI (since 5 September 1993); Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Mikhail AZIZ (since NA 1979)
<item><hi format=bold>National Assembly (Majlis al-Watani):</hi> elections last held on 1 April 1989 (next to be held NA); results—Sunni Arabs 53%, Shi'a Arabs 30%, Kurds 15%, Christians 2% est.; seats —(250 total) number of seats by party NA
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<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> in northern Iraq, a "Kurdish Assembly" was elected in May 1992 and calls for Kurdish self-determination within a federated Iraq; the assembly is not recognized by the Baghdad government
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<item><hi format=bold>Judicial branch:</hi> Court of Cassation
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> Ba'th Party
<item><hi format=bold>Other political or pressure groups:</hi> political parties and activity severely restricted; opposition to regime from disaffected members of the Baath Party, Army officers, and Shi'a religious and ethnic Kurdish dissidents; the Green Party (government-controlled)
<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of mission:</hi> (vacant); note—operations have been temporarily suspended; a US Interests Section is located in Poland's embassy in Baghdad
<item>• <hi format=ital>mailing address:</hi> P. O. Box 2447 Alwiyah, Baghdad
<item>• <hi format=ital>telephone:</hi> [964] (1) 719-6138 or 719-6139, 718-1840, 719-3791
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with three green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; the phrase ALLAHU AKBAR (God is Great) in green Arabic script—Allahu to the right of the middle star and Akbar to the left of the middle star—was added in January 1991 during the Persian Gulf crisis; similar to the flag of Syria that has two stars but no script and the flag of Yemen that has a plain white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt that has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band