Iraq

Official name: 
Republic of Iraq
Name in local language: 
جمهورية العـراق, transliterated as Yumhūriyyatu al-‘Irāq
Form of government: 
Republic
Political system: 
Parliamentary
  • Founding date/ Date of independence: 3 October 1932, from the United Kingdom.Declaration of Republic of Iraq: 14 July 1958
  • Date of constitution/reform:  15 October 2005
  • Form of state:  Federal
  • Administrative divisions: 18 governorates or muhafadhat
  • Official language(s): Arabic, Kurd
  • Other spoken languages:  Turkmen, neo-Aramaic, Persian and Armenian.
  • Official religion: Multi-confessional
  • Minorities:  Ethnic include Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans and Persians; Religious include Sunnis, Christians (Chaldean) and Yazidi Muslims
  • Dominant actor(s): USA until the end of the occupation; disperse authority territorially disputed by Shiite, Kurds and the Islamic State (ISIS)
  • Elected institutions of government:Parliament, congresses of governorates and parliament of Kurdistan. The president is elected by two thirds of the parliament. Covenant of 3 members: the Presidency of the State and the Prime Minister's Office are split between Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds, being the president a Kurd, the first vice-president a Shiite and the second a Sunni. The prime minister is a Shiite, the First Deputy Prime Minister a Sunni and the second a Kurd.
  • Non-elected  institutions of government:
  • Party system: Multiparty system. After each election need for a coalition. There are no precise poles. There is currently a national coalition government that encompasses the main political parties issue of months of negotiations after the last elections in 2010.

Current authorities

  • Head of state: Barham Salih, replaced Fouad Massoum in October 2018.
  • Head of government: Mustafa al-Kazemi replaced Abdul-Madhi on 7 May 2020. Adil Abdul-Mahdi, had replaced Haider Abadi in 2018, after the October elections.
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mohamed al-Ghabban
  • Minister of Interior: Qassim Al Araji. 
  • Head(s) of Legislative Branch: Salim al-Yaburi
  • Composition legislative branch: Link to PDF
  • Head of the Judiciary: Medhat al-Mahmoud (president of the Supreme Court)
  • Schematic representation of the political system: Link to PDF

Links