Iraqi Rapport Course - Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC)

Much of Iraq southwest of the Euphrates River consists of lush river valleys.

False

Saddam Hussein's administration drained the southern marshlands, turning them into dry salt flats.

True

Although Baghdad is the nation's capital, it is only the second-largest city in Iraq.

False

Iraq's cold winds and snowstorms are strong enough to disable the engines of machinery and aircraft and reduce visibility to almost zero.

False

In 1980, Hussein launched a costly eight-year war with Iran.

True

Of Iraq's estimated 29 million people, nearly 97% identify as Muslim.

True

Iraq is home to some of the most important sites in Islamic history.

True

Sunni Islam has a highly centralized leadership and it has played only a limited role in the development of the region's legal, political, and economic systems.

False

Baathism is a syncretic religion found predominantly among the Kurds of northern Iraq.

False

Both Sunnis and Shiites agree on Islam's fundamental principles and share the same holy book (Quran).

True

Iraqis have suffered through economic sanctions and years of war, so they remain cautious and guarded around visitors.

False

Iraqis typically greet others in public places, even if they do not know one another.

True

Iraqis do not date, and couples do not appear together in public unless legally engaged or married.

True

So long as Iraqi men don't talk to women, they may ask other men direct questions about the females in their families.

False

Invitation to an Iraqi home is a rarity.

False

The draft 2005 Iraqi constitution was approved in October 2005 by a wide margin of Iraqi voters

The media in Iraq face challenges in terms of both operations and security

After oil, agriculture is the second-largest economic sector in Iraq and the second-largest source of jobs.

All U.S. troops had withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2009

The country has a single-party system with executive power held exclusively by the prime minister.

The Iraqi government is less involved in religious affairs than the governments of other nearby countries

Islam is a monotheistic religion and its followers believe in a single deity. The Muslim community, or umma, calls this deity Allah.

Sufism is practiced by several Shiite groups that emphasize the different dimensions and rituals of their religion.

Members of some religious minority communities hold senior government positions, and employment discrimination is almost unknown.

Purdah dictates that women stay "veiled" from non-related males in their home by using separate spaces, and by keeping their heads and bodies covered.

Iraqi women wear contemporary European clothing in public.

Iraqis often celebrate a wide variety of events and occasions by firing rifles into the air.

It is not unusual for males to be served first, with females eating afterwards in a separate room.

Guests should always clean their plates as an indication they have eaten well.

Iraqis readily use gestures to communicate

ATMs are found throughout the country and ATMs are quite dependable, so there is no real need to use banks when exchanging money.

Iraq has a wide variety of shops and stores, ranging from large 24-hour shopping malls loaded with Western goods and brands, to smaller traditional Iraq-style shops with smaller selections.

Driving a private car in Iraq is not the preferred means of travel, and few people own a car.

Iraqi cities are full of security forces and are now quite safe for Westerners to visit.

Iraq's transportation system is limited to cars in urban areas, and buses in rural areas.

Updates to rural schools and infrastructure, as well as high rates of attendance have made Iraq's educational system one of the best in the Middle East.

Following Iraq's December 2005 elections, an alliance of Shiite parties held the highest percentage of seats in the new Iraqi assembly because they won a clear majority.

In 2015, most checkpoints in Iraq were located in the capital city of Baghdad.

Iraq has a severe problem with landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and abandoned ordnance (AXO) from conflicts that date back to World War II

Iraq's tribal bonds were weakened after the British imperial authorities united three Ottoman provinces, Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra, into the loosely organized state of Iraq.