Communications (Iraq)
=====================


     Railroads:
         2,457 km 1.435-meter standard gauge
     Highways:
         34,700 km total; 17,500 km paved, 5,500 km improved earth, 11,700 km
         unimproved earth
     Inland waterways:
         1,015 km; Shatt-al-Arab usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130
         km, but closed since September 1980 because of Iran-Iraq war; Tigris and
         Euphrates Rivers have navigable sections for shallow-draft watercraft;
         Shatt-al-Basrah canal was navigable by shallow-draft craft before closing in
         1991 because of the Persian Gulf war
     Pipelines:
         crude oil 4,350 km; petroleum products 725 km; natural gas 1,360 km
     Ports:
         Umm Qasr, Khawr az Zubayr, Al Basrah (closed since 1980)
     Merchant marine:
         42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 936,665 GRT/1,683,212 DWT; includes 1
         passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 16 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3
         roll-on/roll-off cargo, 19 petroleum tanker, 1 chemical tanker; note - since
         the 2 August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces, Iraq has sought to
         register at least part of its merchant fleet under convenience flags; none
         of the Iraqi flag merchant fleet was trading internationally as of 1 January
         1992
     Civil air:
         34 major transport aircraft (including 7 grounded in Iran; excluding 12
         IL-76s and 7 Kuwait Airlines)
     Airports:
         113 total, 98 usable; 73 with permanent-surface runways; 8 with runways over
         3,659 m; 52 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
     Telecommunications:
         reconstitution of damaged telecommunication infrastructure began after
         Desert Storm; the network consists of coaxial cables and microwave links;
         632,000 telephones; the network is operational; broadcast stations - 16 AM,
         1 FM, 13 TV; satellite earth stations - 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian
         Ocean INTELSAT, 1 GORIZONT Atlantic Ocean in the Intersputnik system and 1
         ARABSAT; coaxial cable and microwave to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey