General description of governorate Basic geography Basic geography

Baghdad governorate is situated in the Tigris plain in the centre of Iraq and is the smallest of all governorates in terms of surface area (4 555 square kilometres). It is the location of Baghdad City, the capital of Iraq and the country’s largest city. Baghdad City is a major economic hub⁶⁵⁶ and includes the heavily protected Green Zone which hosts Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies,⁶⁵⁷ including the US embassy.⁶⁵⁸

The governorate is divided into a total of 14 districts. Baghdad City is made up of Adhamiya, Karkh, Karrada, Khadhimiyah, Mansour, Sadr City (Thawra 1 and 2⁶⁵⁹), Al-Rashid, Rusafa and 9 Nissan (‘new Baghdad’) districts, while the rest of Baghdad governorate comprises the

655 UNJAU, Iraq District Map, 29 January 2014, url

656 NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, pp. 1-2

657 Reuters, Rockets hit Baghdad Green Zone, no casualties - security sources, 29 July 2021, url

658 Reuters, Rocket attack targets U.S. embassy inside Baghdad's Green Zone -Iraqi security sources, 8 July 2021, url

659 IAU, Baghdad Governorate Profile, November 2010, url, p. 1

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districts of Al-Mada’in, Taji, Tarmiya, Mahmudiya, and Abu Ghraib. The governorate’s capital is Baghdad City.⁶⁶⁰

The residential, industrial and agricultural areas encircling Baghdad City in a radius of about 30 to 50 km and connecting it to other parts of Iraq are referred to as the ‘Baghdad Belts’, which include parts of neighbouring governorates⁶⁶¹ and can be divided into four quadrants:

‘Taji and Tarmiyah to the north; Nahrawan and Jisr Diyala to the east; Mada’in and Yusifiya to the south; and Abu Ghraib to the west’.⁶⁶² In these areas, Baghdad governorate shares borders with Salah Al-Din, Diyala, Babil and Anbar governorates.⁶⁶³ In addition to these four governorates, Baghdad has a border with Wassit governorate.⁶⁶⁴ According to one

description, the Baghdad Belts comprise ‘heavily irrigated farmlands that contain the ranches of former government officials and the town houses of tribal sheikhs and serve as a logistics hub for trucking companies and vegetable markets.’⁶⁶⁵

Population estimates

For 2021, the Iraqi CSO estimated⁶⁶⁶ Baghdad governorate’s population at 8 780 422, making it by far the country’s most populous governorate⁶⁶⁷, and the one with the highest population density (1 928 inhabitants per square kilometre)⁶⁶⁸. The overwhelming majority of the

governorate’s inhabitants (7 682 136, or 87.5 %) were identified as urban residents.⁶⁶⁹ The population of Baghdad City was estimated to be around 7 323 000 as of 2021.⁶⁷⁰

Ethno-religious composition

The population of Baghdad City is predominantly Shiite.⁶⁷¹ Baghdad has traditionally been a city for all the country's ethnic and religious population groups. The majority population has naturally consisted of Sunni and Shia Muslim Arabs, but Kurds, Assyrians, Shabaks,

Mandaeans and Yazidis have also had a presence in the city.⁶⁷² Additionally, Baghdad contained Chaldeans, Armenians and smaller minority groups⁶⁷³ including Palestinian

660 NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, pp. 1-2

661 ISW, Baghdad Belts, n.d., url

662 Knights, M., Predicting the Shape of Iraq's Next Sunni Insurgencies, August 2017, p. 20; see also ISW, Baghdad Belts, n.d., url

663 IBC, Another year of relentless violence in Iraq, 2016, url

664 NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, p. 1

665 Knights, M. and Almeida, A., Remaining and Expanding: The Recovery of Islamic State Operations in Iraq in 2019-2020, May 2020, url, p. 19, footnote aj

666 It should be noted that the last comprehensive Population and Housing Census for Iraq was conducted in 1987.

The last official census covering current Baghdad-administered Iraq dates from 1997; UNFPA, Newsletter 2020 Census, December 2019, url, p. 1; Rudaw, Iraq’s population now over 40 million: planning ministry, 12 January 2021, url; Kurdistan24, Kurdistan PM: Demographic change must be considered in upcoming Iraqi census, 21 June 2021, url

667 Iraq, CSO, 2021 ةنسل سنجلاو ةئيبلاو ةظفاحملا بسح قارعلا ناكس تاريدق [Demographic and population indicators, Estimates for the population of Iraq by province, environment and gender for the year 2021] [Table], n.d., url

668 Based on data on Baghdad governorate’s surface area and population provided in NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, p. 1 and Iraq, CSO, 2021 ةنسل سنجلاو ةئيبلاو ةظفاحملا بسح قارعلا ناكس تاريدق

[Demographic and population indicators, Estimates for the population of Iraq by province, environment and gender for the year 2021] [Table], n.d., url, respectively

669 Iraq, CSO, 2021 ةنسل سنجلاو ةئيبلاو ةظفاحملا بسح قارعلا ناكس تاريدق [Demographic and population indicators, Estimates for the population of Iraq by province, environment and gender for the year 2021] [Table], n.d., url

670 US, CIA, World Factbook, Iraq, last updated 16 November 2021, url

671 International Crisis Group, Iraq’s Tishreen Uprising: From Barricades to Ballot Box, 26 July 2021, url, p. i

672 Norway, Landinfo, Irak: Bagdad - sikkerhetssituasjon per februar 2015 [Baghdad – Security situation] [Informal Translation] [Informal Translation], 13 February 2015, url, p. 12

673 Skelton, M. and Saleem, Z. A., Living Among the Hashd, IRIS, July 2021, url, p. 10

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refugees.⁶⁷⁴ Since 2003, large numbers of minorities and Sunni Muslim Arabs have fled the city.⁶⁷⁵ While a majority of Baghdad's districts previously had a mixed Sunni and Shia Muslim population, the expulsions have led to the city now appearing much more segregated and Shia-dominated.⁶⁷⁶ Sunnis reside in ‘a few small areas of the city’⁶⁷⁷ such as Mansour and Adhamiya,⁶⁷⁸ although mixed neighbourhoods also exist.⁶⁷⁹ The structure of the Sunni Arab community itself is reportedly ‘heavily skewed towards the middle and upper classes’.⁶⁸⁰ Economy

Most of the country’s manufacturing, commercial and financial activities are concentrated in Baghdad City and its surrounding areas. At least half of Iraq’s large-scale manufacturing and a significant portion of its smaller manufacturing facilities are located in the governorate,⁶⁸¹ producing leather, cement and tobacco, amongst others.⁶⁸²

An extensive oil field is situated underneath densely populated suburbs directly to the east and south-east of Baghdad City and extends further north-west into parts of Salah Al-Din governorate.⁶⁸³ According to a 2019 report, this ‘East Baghdad oilfield’ contains about 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves.⁶⁸⁴ The potential daily output was estimated by Iraqi officials at 120 000 barrels, as reported in late 2017.⁶⁸⁵ Although discovered in the 1970s, this oil field remained ‘very underdeveloped, primarily due to the political, practical and health and safety issues involved with exploiting an oil field in an urban area.’⁶⁸⁶ However, in May 2018, the Iraqi government sealed a contract with China’s Zenhua Oil company to develop the southern part of the East Baghdad oilfield, envisaging to increase oil production to 40 000 barrels per day over a period of five years⁶⁸⁷ However, more recent information regarding the exploitation of the East Baghdad oilfield could not be found within the time constraints of this report.

As regards infrastructure, Baghdad is home to the Baghdad International Airport and is also well-connected to other parts of Iraq through railways and roads.⁶⁸⁸

674 UNHCR, Relevant COI on the Situation of Palestinian Refugees in Baghdad, 30 March 2017, url, pp. 1-2

675 Norway, Landinfo, Irak: Bagdad - sikkerhetssituasjon per februar 2015 [Baghdad – Security situation] [Informal Translation], 13 February 2015, url, p. 12; Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance, Iraq SSR Country Background Note, 25 February 2020, url; see also Knights, M. et al., Iranian Influence in Iraq: Between Balancing and Hezbollahzation?, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1 June 2015, url

676 Norway, Landinfo, Irak: Bagdad - sikkerhetssituasjon per februar 2015 [Baghdad – Security situation] [Informal Translation] 13 February 2015, url, p. 12; NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, p. 3; see also Skelton, M. and Saleem, Z. A., Living Among the Hashd, IRIS, July 2021, url, p. 10

677 Izady, M.M.R., Urban Unplanning: How Violence, Walls, and Segregation Destroyed the Urban Fabric of Baghdad, 2020, url, p. 56

678 Skelton, M. and Saleem, Z. A., Living Among the Hashd, IRIS, July 2021, url, p. 10

679 EPIC, ISHM Reference Guide, May 2020, url

680 Skelton, M. and Saleem, Z. A., Living Among the Hashd, IRIS, July 2021, url, pp. 10, 14

681 Encyclopædia Britannica, Baghdad, Economy, last updated 25 May 2021, url

682 NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, p. 2

683 Al-Rawi, M., East Baghdad Super-Giant Field Under a Populated Area, Geo ExPro, 2016, url

684 IEA, Iraq’s Energy Sector; A Roadmap to a Brighter Future, April 2019, url, p. 24

685 Reuters, Iraq reaches initial deal with China's Zhenhua to develop East Baghdad oilfield, 24 December 2017, url

686 Al-Rawi, M., East Baghdad Super-Giant Field Under a Populated Area, Geo ExPro, 2016, url

687 Iraq, Government of Iraq, Iraq signs contract to develop East Baghdad oilfield, 24 May 2018, url

688 NCCI, Baghdad Governorate Profile, updated December 2015, url, p. 2

98 Road security

During the reference period, there were several reports of roadside bomb attacks carried out in Baghdad governorate against logistical supply convoys of the US-led International Coalition against ISIL⁶⁸⁹ and, in one instance, a diplomatic convoy.⁶⁹⁰ Diplomatic missions and

international corporations regularly hire private security companies (PSCs) employing armoured vehicles and security personnel when travelling within Baghdad, including inside the Green Zone. According to a US government source, these procedures contribute to reducing the threats posed by IED and gun attacks, as well as the potential of being targeted by criminal groups. At the same time, private security companies themselves have become targets of ‘considerable militia threats’ across Iraq, with armed militias viewing all such companies as ‘American’.⁶⁹¹

A map published by iMMAP covering the month of February 2021 in Baghdad governorate⁶⁹² shows that road sections in Baghdad governorate assessed to be at ‘primary risk’ of

explosive hazards were located in Abu Ghraib district along main roads running westwards from Baghdad City towards Fallujah, in the southern portion of Baghdad City and parts of Mahmudiyah district on the main road running south from Baghdad City towards Babil governorate, in Mada’in district on the main road between Baghdad City and Wassit governorate, and in Khadhimiyah and Tarmiyah districts on the main road stretching north from Baghdad City towards Salah Al-Din governorate. Furthermore, the same map shows a number of road sections assessed to be at ‘secondary risk’ of explosive hazards. These are located along ancillary roads in Abu Ghraib, Mahmudiyah, Mada’in, Khadhimiyah and

Tarmiyah districts as well as in Baghdad City’s Karkh district. These ‘secondary risk’ areas are often clustered around sections of main roads that have been assessed to be at ‘primary risk’.⁶⁹³

2.3.2 Conflict background