 Map of theIraqi diaspora, including people of full or partial Iraqi origin and their descendants | |
| Total population | |
| 45+ million (2024) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Iraq | 45,504,560[1] |
 United Kingdom | 400,000–850,000[2] |
 Iran | 500,000[3] |
 Israel | 450,000[4][5] |
 United States | 155,055[6] |
 Germany | 321,000[7] |
 United Arab Emirates | 250,000[8] |
 Sweden | 145,586[9] |
 Jordan | 131,000[10] |
 Turkey | 115,000[11] |
 Australia | 104,170[12] |
 Netherlands | 85,000 |
 Canada | 84,130[13] |
 Lebanon | 50,000[14] |
 Finland | 26,653[15] |
 Austria | 13,000+[16] |
| Languages | |
| Majority: Mesopotamian Arabic Minority: Kurdish,Turkmen Turkic,Neo-Aramaic,Assyrian,Armenian,Mandaic,Shabaki,Domari, etc. (See:Languages of Iraq)[17] | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Islam (~95%)[a] Minority: Christianity (1%),[b] Yazidism,Mandaeism,Zoroastrianism,Yarsanism,Judaism, etc. (See:Religion in Iraq)[18][19][20] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherMiddle Eastern ethnic groups | |
Iraqis (Arabic:العراقيون al-ʿIrāqiyyūn;Kurdish:عراقیان Êrāqīyan) are thecitizens and nationals of theRepublic of Iraq. The majority of Iraqis areArabs,[21] withKurds accounting for the largest ethnic minority, followed byTurkmen.[22][23] Other ethnic groups from the country includeYazidis,Assyrians,Mandaeans,Armenians, andPersians.[24][25][26] Approximately 95% of Iraqis adhere toIslam, with nearly 64% of this figure consisting ofShia Muslims and the remainder consisting ofSunni Muslims. The largest minority religion isChristianity at 1%, while other religions collectively represent as much as 4% of the Iraqi populace.
The territory of modern-day Iraq largely overlaps with what was historically known asMesopotamia, which washome to many noteworthy civilizations, such asSumer,Akkad,Assyria, andBabylonia. The fall of these native Mesopotamian civilizations, particularlyBabylon in the 6th century BC, marked the beginning of centuries-long foreign conquests and rule.[27] Recent studies indicate that the various Iraqi ethnic groups have significantgenetic similarities, likely due to the long history of intermingling and assimilation between foreign and indigenous populations in the region.[28]
Arabic andKurdish are Iraq's two official languages;Mesopotamian Arabic is the IraqiArabic variety, having emerged in the aftermath of theArab conquest of Mesopotamia in the 7th century. The process ofArabization andIslamization that began during the medieval era resulted in the decline of variousEastern Aramaic languages and local religions, most notably during theAbbasid Caliphate, when the city ofBaghdad became the capital of theMuslim world and the centre of theIslamic Golden Age. Mesopotamian Arabic is considered to be the most Aramaic-influenced dialect of Arabic, owing to the fact that Aramaic originated in Mesopotamia and spread throughout theFertile Crescent during theNeo-Assyrian period, eventually becoming thelingua franca of the entire region prior to theearly Muslim conquests.[29][30][31][32] Other languages spoken within the Iraqi community includeTurkmen Turkic,Neo-Aramaic, andMandaic.[33]
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In ancient and medieval timesMesopotamia was the political and cultural centre of many great empires and civilizations, such as theAkkadian Empire,Assyria,Assyrian Empire andBabylon Empire.[34][35] The ancient Mesopotamian civilization ofSumer is the oldest knowncivilization in the world,[36] and thus Iraq is widely known as theCradle Of Civilization.[34] Iraq remained an important centre of civilization for millennia, up until the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia and subsequentlyAbbasid Caliphate (of whichBaghdad was thecapital), which was the most advanced empire of themedieval world (seeIslamic Golden Age). Hence,Mesopotamia has witnessed several emigration and immigration in the past.
Further information on Iraq's civilization and cultural history can be found in the following chronology of Iraqi history:
One study found thatHaplogroup J-M172 originated in northern Iraq.[37] In spite of the importance of this region, genetic studies on the Iraqi people are limited and generally restricted to analysis of classical markers due to Iraq's modern political instability,[37] although there have been several published studies displaying a genealogical connection between all Iraqi peoples and the neighboring countries, across religious, ethnic and linguistic barriers. Studies indicate that the different ethno-religious groups of Iraq (Mesopotamia) share significant similarities in genetics and that Mesopotamian Arabs, who make up the majority of Iraqis, are more genetically similar to Iraqi Kurds than other Arab populations in theMiddle East andArabia.[38]
No significant differences in Y-DNA variation were observed among Iraqi Mesopotamian Arabs, Assyrians, or Kurds.[37] Modern genetic studies indicate that Iraqi Arabs and Iraqi Kurds are distantly related, though Iraqi Mesopotamian Arabs are more related toIraqi-Assyrians than they are toIraqi Kurds.[39][40]
For both mtDNA and Y-DNA variation, the large majority of thehaplogroups observed in the Iraqi population (H,J,T, andU for the mtDNA,J-M172 andJ-M267 for the Y-DNA) are those considered to have originated inWestern Asia and to have later spread mainly in West Asia.[37] The Eurasian haplogroupsR1b andR1a represent the second most frequent component of the Iraqi Y-chromosome gene pool, the latter suggests that the population movements fromCentral Asia into modern Iran also influenced Iraq.[37]
Many historians and anthropologists provide strong circumstantial evidence to posit that Iraq'sMarsh Arabs share very strong links to the ancient Sumerians[36][41]—the oldest human civilization in the world and most ancient inhabitants of central-southern Iraq.
The Iraqi-Assyrian population was found to be significantly related to other Iraqis, especially Mesopotamian Arabs,[40][36] likely due to the assimilation of indigenous Assyrians with other people groups who occupied and settled Mesopotamia after the fall of theNeo-Babylonian Empire.[42]
Studies have reported that mostIrish andBritons have ancestry toNeolithic farmers who left ancient Mesopotamia over 10,000 years ago. Genetic researchers say they have found compelling evidence that, on average, four out of five (80%) Europeans can trace theirY chromosome to the ancientNear East. In another study, scientists analyzedDNA from the 8,000-year-old remains of early farmers found at an ancient graveyard inGermany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today'sTurkey andIraq.[43]
According to Dogan et al. (2017), the most prevalent lineages among north Iraqis are J1 (17.98%), R1b (12.81%), R1a (12.40%) and J2a1b (12.19%) but distributions vary according to ethnicity. 14 different haplogroups were observed in Iraqi Arabs, with the three most common being J1 (38.61%), R1a (12.87%) and T (8.91%). The high prevalence of J1 is indicative of the indigeneity of Iraqi Arabs, which is similarly observed in Marsh Arabs. Prevalence of R and J macrohaplogroups is also attributed to pre-Last Glacial Maximum events in the Near East. Meanwhile, 15 different haplogroups were observed in Kurds, with the three most common being J2a1b (20.20%), J1 / R1a (17.17%) and E1b1b (13.13%). 10 different haplogroups were observed in Syriacs, with the three most common being R1b (30.23%), T (17.44%) and J2a1b (15.12%). 16 different haplogroups were observed in Turkmens, with the three most common being E1b1b (17.53%), J1 / J2a1b / R1a (12.37%) and G2a (10.31%). 11 different haplogroups were observed in Yazidis, with the three most common being R1b (20.79%), L (11.88%) and G2a / J2a1x J2a1b/h (10.89%).[27]
Iraq's national languages areArabic andKurdish. The two main regional dialects of Arabic spoken by the Iraqi people areMesopotamian Arabic (spoken in the Babylonian alluvial plain and Middle Euphrates valley) andSouth Mesopotamian Arabic andNorth Mesopotamian Arabic (spoken in the Assyrian highlands).[44] The two main dialects of Kurdish spoken byKurdish people areCentral Kurdish (spoken in theErbil andSulaymaniyah Governorates)[45] andNorthern Kurdish (spoken inDohuk Governorate).[45] In addition to Arabic, most Assyrians andMandaeans speakNeo-Aramaic languages. Mesopotamian Arabic has anAramaicsubstratum.[29]
Iraq's population was estimated to be 39,650,145 in 2021 (residing in Iraq).[46] Arabs are the majority ethnic group in Iraq, at around 80%.[47] TheKurds are the largest ethnic minority.Turkmens are the third largest ethnic group in the country. This is followed byAssyrians andArmenians (500,000),Yazidis (500,000),Marsh Arabs, andShabaks,Persians (500,000) (250,000). Other minorities includeMandaeans (6,000),Roma (50,000) andCircassians (2,000). The most spoken language isMesopotamian Arabic, followed byKurdish,Iraqi Turkmen dialects andSyriac. The percentages of different ethno-religious groups residing in Iraq vary from source to source due to the last Iraqi census having taken place over 30 years ago. A new census of Iraq was planned to take place in 2020.[48][24][25][26][49]
Iraqis are diverse in their faiths. Over 95% of Iraqis are Muslim, divided between 55% Shias and 40% Sunnis.[50] In 1968 the Iraqi constitution establishedIslam as the official religion of the state.
In addition,Christianity in Iraq consists of various denominations. The majority of Iraqi Christians areChaldean Catholic Assyrians, whilst non-Syriac Christians are mostly Iraqi Arabs and Armenians.Iraqi-Assyrians largely belong to theSyriac Orthodox Church, theAssyrian Church of the East,Chaldean Catholic Church,Ancient Church of the East, and theSyriac Catholic Church. Iraqi Arab Christians belong to theGreek Orthodox Church of Antioch and theMelkite Greek Catholic Church of Antioch, andIraqi-Armenians belong to theArmenian Orthodox Church andArmenian Catholic Church. Their numbers inside Iraq have dwindled to around 500,000+ since 2003.[52]
Other religious groups includeMandaeans,Shabaks,Yazidis and followers of otherminority religions. Furthermore,Jews had also been present in Iraq in significant numbers historically, andIraq had the largest Jewish population in the Middle East, but their population dwindled, after virtually all of them migrated toIsrael between 1949 and 1952. From 1949 to 1951, 104,000 Jews were evacuated from Iraq in Operations Ezra and Nechemia (named after the Jewish leaders who took their people back to Jerusalem from exile in Babylonia beginning in 597 B.C.E.); another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran.[53][54][55]
TheIraqi diaspora is not a sudden exodus but one that has grown rapidly through the 20th century as each generation faced some form of radical transition or political conflict. From 1950 to 1952, Iraq saw a great exodus of roughly 120,000–130,000 of its Jewish population under the Israel-led "Operation Ezra and Nehemiah". There were at least two large waves of expatriation of both Christians and Muslims alike. A great number of Iraqis left the country during the regime ofSaddam Hussein and large numbers have left during theIraq war and its aftermath.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under aCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International LicenseArchived 2017-10-16 at theWayback Machine.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)[verification needed]{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)[verification needed]Iraqis have always been proud of their heritage and of their unique position as guardians of the Cradle of Civilization.
The Iraqi heritage is a proud one. Iraqi ancestors made such contributions to our modern world as a written language, agriculture and the growing of food crops, the building of cities and the urban environment, basic systems of government, and a religious structure centered on gods and goddesses guiding human affairs.
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