Background
Iraq, whose federal politics and oil economy are in the news this week, carries six properties on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Five are cultural: Hatra, inscribed in 1985; Ashur or Qal'at Sherqat, 2003; Samarra Archaeological City, 2007; Erbil Citadel, 2014; and Babylon, 2019. The sixth, The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities, was inscribed in 2016 and is a mixed property, recognised for both cultural and natural value. Iraq accepted the World Heritage Convention on 5 March 1974. Erbil Citadel sits in the Kurdistan Region, the federal region whose laws have just been before the Federal Supreme Court.
Total properties:
6
Cultural:
5
Mixed:
1
Earliest inscription:
Hatra, 1985
Convention accepted:
5 March 1974
Why it matters for exams: The count of a country's World Heritage properties and their inscription years is a direct factual question in both state and civil services papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Mixed property Mixed World Heritage property — A site listed for both cultural and natural value under the World Heritage Convention.
Background
The marshes at the heart of Iraq's water crisis are themselves a World Heritage property. The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities is a serial property of seven components inscribed in 2016 under criteria (iii), (v), (ix) and (x). Four are wetland marshes: Huwaizah, the Central Marshes, East Hammar and West Hammar, together described as one of the world's largest inland delta systems. Three are archaeological cities: Uruk, Ur and Tell Eridu, remains of Sumerian cities that grew on the marshy delta of the Tigris and the Euphrates in the fourth and third millennia BCE. The property covers about 211,544 hectares with a buffer zone of about 209,321 hectares.
Components:
7
Marshes:
Huwaizah, Central Marshes, East Hammar, West Hammar
Archaeological cities:
Uruk, Ur, Tell Eridu
Area:
About 211,544 ha
Criteria:
(iii), (v), (ix), (x)
Why it matters for exams: Ur and Uruk, the Tigris-Euphrates delta and a mixed World Heritage listing all meet in one answer, which is exactly why this is asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Ahwar Ahwar — The Arabic word for the marshes of southern Iraq.
Serial property Serial World Heritage property — A single World Heritage listing made up of several separate component sites.
Background
The United Nations and its agencies run through Iraq's current affairs, from the country team in Baghdad to the customs system credited with lifting its revenue. The UN's own official list of Member States gives Iraq's date of admission as 21 December 1945, placing it among the Organization's original Members. Iraq's membership of the International Monetary Fund dates from 27 December 1945, six days later. The UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Iraq covers 2025 to 2029, and the UN country team there is made up of 26 agencies, funds and specialised programmes, 21 of them resident and five non-resident, led by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.
UN date of admission:
21-12-1945
IMF membership date:
December 27, 1945
UN country team:
26 agencies, funds and programmes
Cooperation Framework:
2025 to 2029
Why it matters for exams: Dates of admission to the United Nations are asked verbatim, and Iraq's 1945 date separates original Members from later entrants.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UNSDCF United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework — The agreed plan between the UN system and a host government for its development support.
Original Member Original Member of the United Nations — A state that signed and ratified the UN Charter at the Organization's founding in 1945.
Background
Iraq's oil economy, now under strain, reaches India directly. The Embassy of India in Baghdad records that Iraq is India's second-largest crude oil supplier, having been the largest from 2017 to 2022. Bilateral trade in 2025-26 stood at US$27.51 billion, made up of Indian imports of US$24.55 billion and exports of US$2.958 billion, a decline of 14.46 per cent from US$33.36 billion in 2024-25. The two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship in 1952 and marked 70 years of diplomatic ties in 2022. An estimated 25,000 Indians live in Iraq, mainly in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Region, Basra, Najaf and Karbala; before the 1991 Gulf War the community numbered more than 80,000.
Bilateral trade 2025-26:
US$27.51 billion
Bilateral trade 2024-25:
US$33.36 billion
Decline:
14.46 per cent
Iraq's rank as crude supplier to India:
Second-largest
Indian community:
About 25,000
Why it matters for exams: India-Iraq trade figures, Iraq's rank as a crude supplier and the size of the Indian community are standard bilateral-brief questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Treaty of Friendship India-Iraq Treaty of Friendship, 1952 — An early agreement between independent India and Iraq, marking the start of their formal ties.
Background
The dependence behind Iraq's devaluation and its budget trouble is set out by the World Bank. On its estimates, oil accounts for about 53 per cent of Iraq's real GDP in 2025, 88 per cent of government revenues and 91 per cent of merchandise exports. GDP fell 2.4 per cent year-on-year over the first nine months of 2025, with oil GDP contracting 5.7 per cent as OPEC+ production limits constrained output, while non-oil GDP growth slowed to 1.5 per cent, held back by water and electricity shortages and a liquidity crunch caused by falling oil revenues. Unemployment stands at 13.5 per cent and labour force participation at 38 per cent, and youth aged 15 to 29 make up nearly 29 per cent of the population. The Bank lists Iraq as vulnerable to rising temperatures, water scarcity and extreme weather.
Oil share of real GDP:
About 53 per cent
Oil share of government revenue:
88 per cent
Oil share of merchandise exports:
91 per cent
Unemployment:
13.5 per cent
Labour force participation:
38 per cent
Why it matters for exams: The 88 per cent revenue share is the single figure that explains Iraq's budget and currency decisions, and is quoted directly in questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Non-oil GDP Non-oil gross domestic product — The part of national output that comes from sectors other than oil extraction.
Liquidity squeeze Liquidity squeeze — A shortage of ready cash in an economy, which slows lending and payments.
Background
Three of Iraq's six World Heritage properties carry a second listing as well. Ashur, also written Qal'at Sherqat, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003 under criteria (iii) and (iv), and was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in the same year, 2003, the first Iraqi property to go on that list. Samarra Archaeological City followed in 2007 and Hatra in 2015. Ashur remains on the Danger List. It stands on the Tigris and was the first capital of the Assyrian empire, which makes it one of the fixed names in any Mesopotamian question alongside Nineveh, Babylon and Ur.
Inscribed:
2003
On Danger List since:
2003
Criteria:
(iii), (iv)
Other name:
Qal'at Sherqat
Why it matters for exams: The List of World Heritage in Danger is a separate list, and Ashur is the standard Iraqi example of a property on both at once.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
List of World Heritage in Danger List of World Heritage in Danger — A separate UNESCO list of World Heritage properties facing serious and specific threats.
Background
Babylon, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2019, was the seat of the ruler whose law code is the best known document of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi of Babylon reigned from 1792 to 1750 BCE, and the code dates to his reign in the eighteenth century BCE. It is cut in cuneiform on a stela of black basalt more than two metres high, setting out legal cases and their penalties. The top of the stela shows Hammurabi facing Shamash, the god of justice. An Elamite king carried the stela off to Susa in the twelfth century BCE, where Jacques de Morgan found it during his excavations. It is now kept at the Louvre.
Hammurabi's reign:
1792 to 1750 BCE
Material:
Black basalt
Height:
More than 2 metres
Found at:
Susa, by Jacques de Morgan
Now kept at:
The Louvre
Why it matters for exams: Hammurabi's dates, the material of the stela and the museum that holds it are all asked as crisp one-mark facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Cuneiform Cuneiform — The wedge-shaped writing of ancient Mesopotamia, pressed into clay or carved in stone.
Stela Stela — An upright stone slab bearing an inscription or relief.