Points of Prayer

  • Pray for freedom and peace among the various ethnic groups within Iraq. That understanding would grow amongst Turkic, Kurdish, and Arabic peoples.

  • Pray against the enemy’s plans for the country and that remnants of ISIL and extreme islam would vanish.

  • Pray for godly leadership to rise up and lead a country that has endured war and instability.

  • Pray for the underground church, that it would continue to grow despite oppression.

  • Pray for leadership and discipleship for the believers, along with strength and wisdom

  • Pray for the Iraqi diaspora in Europe, the US, and Canada. That they would encounter Jesus abroad and be compelled to go back to Iraq and help others find their place in the Kingdom of God.

Romans 1:16 in Northern Iraqi Kurdish

رۆما 1:16

ئەز مزگینیێ ب شەرم نابینم، ژ بەر كو ئەو هێزا خودێیە بۆ قورتالبوونێ ژ بۆ هەر كەسێ باوەریێ پێ دئینیت، ل بەراهیێ ژ بۆ یێ جوهی و پاشی ژ بۆ یێ نەجوهی

Iraq

 

Country Facts

Population

40,462,701 (2022 est.)

Ethnic Groups

Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, other 5% (includes Turkmen, Yezidi, Shabak, Kaka'i, Bedouin, Romani, Assyrian, Circassian, Sabaean-Mandaean, Persian)

Languages

Arabic (official), Kurdish (official), Turkmen (a Turkish dialect), Syriac (Neo-Aramaic), and Armenian are official in areas where native speakers of these languages constitute a majority of the population

Religions

Muslim (official) 95-98% (Shia 61-64%, Sunni 29-34%), Christian 1% (includes Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Assyrian Church of the East), other 1-4% (2015 est.)

The last census in Iraq was in 1997; while many Believers fled to northern Iraq, the overall Christian population has decreased at least 50% and perhaps as high as 90% since the fall of the SADDAM Husayn regime in 2003, according to US Embassy estimates, with many fleeing to Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Location

Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait.

Refugees & Displaced Peoples

refugees (country of origin): 2.6 million undocumented Afghans, 780,000 Afghan refugee card holders, 20,000 Iraqi refugee card holders (2020)
stateless persons: 34 (mid-year 2021)

The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021.
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/