Demographics
| Population in Iraq | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Million | ||
| 1971 | 9.7 | ||
| 1980 | 13.2 | ||
| 1990 | 18.1 | ||
| 2000 | 22.7 | ||
| 2009 | 31.2 | ||
| 2012 | 32.7 | ||
An April 2009 estimate of the total Iraqi population is 31,234,000. Iraq's population was estimated at only 2 million in 1878.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Arabs form 75%–80% of the Iraqi population, followed by 15%–20% Kurds, and Turkoman, Assyrian, or other make up 5% of the population.
Around 20,000 Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq. The Iraqi population includes a community of around 30,000 Circassians, 20,000 Armenians, and a community of 2500 Chechens. In southern Iraq there is a community of Iraqis of African descent, a legacy of the slavery practiced in the Islamic Caliphate beginning before the Zanj Rebellion of the 9th century, and Basra's role as a key port.
Arabic and Kurdish are official languages. Aramaic and South Azeri are regional languages. Armenian and Persian are also spoken but to a lesser extent. English is the most commonly spoken European language. Most of Iraqis predominantly speak Arabic, while most of the Kurdish Iraqis are bilingual in Kurdish and Arabic. Iraqi Turkmen speak South Azeri, Iraqi Assyrians speak various Neo-Aramaic varieties, and the Feyli Kurds speak Feyli, a dialect of Kurdish.
Read more about this topic: Iraq