Transportation was one of the Iraqi economy's most active sectors in
the late 1980s; it was allocated a large share of the domestic development
budget because it was important to the government for several reasons.
Logistics became a crucial factor in Iraq's conduct of the Iran-Iraq War.
The government also recognized that transportation bottlenecks limited
industrial development more than any other factor. Finally, the government
believed that an expanded transportation system played an important
political role by promoting regional integration and by heightening the
central government's presence in the more remote provinces. For these
reasons, the government embarked on an ambitious plan to upgrade and to
extend road, rail, air, and river transport simultaneously. Iraq's main
transportation axis ran roughly northwest to southeast from Mosul via
Kirkuk to Baghdad, and then south to Basra and the Gulf. In the 1980s,
efforts were underway to link Baghdad more closely with the Euphrates
River basin to the west.
The total length of Iraq's network of paved roads almost doubled
between 1979 and 1985, to 22,397 kilometers, augmented by an additional
7,800 kilometers of unpaved secondary and feeder roads. In 1987 Iraq's
major road project was a 1,000 kilometer long segment of a six-lane
international express highway that would eventually link the Persian Gulf
states with the Mediterranean. In Iraq, the road would stretch from the
Jordanian border through Ar Rutbah to Tulayah near An Najaf, then to the
southern Iraqi town of Ash Shaykh ash Shuyukh, and finally to the Kuwaiti
border at Safwan. Construction was underway in the late 1980s. Plans were
also being made for another highway, which would link Baghdad with the
Turkish border via Kirkuk and Mosul. There was progress as well on a
program to build 10,000 kilometers of rural roads.
Railroads
Iraq
possessed two separate railroads at independence, one standard gauge and
one meter gauge. The standard gauge line ran north from Baghdad through
Mosul to the Syrian border and to an eventual connection with the
Turkish railroad system, and the meter gauge line ran south from Baghdad
to Basra. Because the two systems were incompatible, until the 1960s
cargo had to be translated at Baghdad to be transported between the two
halves of the country. The Soviet Union helped extend the standard gauge
system to Basra, and by 1977 fully 1,129 kilometers of Iraq's 1,589
kilometers of railroad were standard gauge. By 1985 the total length of
railroad lines had been extended to 2,029 kilometers, of which 1,496
kilometers were standard gauge. In 1985 the railroads were being
traveled by 440 standard-gauge locomotives that moved 1.25 billion tons
of freight per kilometer. A 252-kilometer line linking Kirkuk and Al
Hadithah was completed by contractors from the Republic of Korea (South
Korea) in 1987 after five years of work. Built at a cost of US$855
million, the line was designed to carry more than 1 million passengers
and more than 3 million tons of freight annually. The system included
maintenance and control centers and more than thirty bridges crossing
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. By the end of the century, Iraq planned
to triple the line's passenger capacity and to double its freight
capacity. A 550-kilometer line, built by a Brazilian company and
extending from Baghdad to Qusaybah on the Syrian border, was also opened
in the same year. In 1987 Indian contractors were finishing work on a
line between Al Musayyib and Samarra. Iraqi plans also called for
replacing the entire stretch of railroad between Mosul and Basra with
modern, high-speed track, feeding all lines entering Baghdad into a
112-kilometer loop around the city, and improving bridges, freight
terminals, and passenger stations. In addition, Iraq has conducted
intermittent negotiations over the years with Turkey, Kuwait, and Saudi
Arabia concerning the establishment of rail links to complete a
continuous Europe-Persian Gulf railroad route.
Ports
At independence, Iraq had little port capacity, a fact that reflected
the low level of foreign trade and the country's traditional overland
orientation toward Syria and Turkey rather than toward the Gulf. Since
then, the Gulf port of Basra has been expanded many times, and a newer
port was built at Umm Qasr to relieve pressure on Basra. Oil terminals
were located at Khawr al Amayah, and Mina al Bakr, Al Faw, and a port was
built in tandem with an industrial center at Khawr az Zubayr. Because
Iraq's access to the Gulf was an Iranian target in the Iran-Iraq War, port
activities were curtailed severely in the 1980s. Before shipping can be
resumed after the war, the Shatt al Arab will have to be cleared of
explosives and wreckage, which will take years.
Despite long-standing government interest in developing the Tigris and
the Euphrates rivers into major arteries for inland transport, little had
been accomplished by the late 1980s, primarily because of the massive
scale of such a project. Dredging and the establishment of navigation
channels had been completed on several stretches of the Tigris south of
Baghdad, and in 1987 a river freight route using barges was opened between
Baghdad and Al Amarah. Iraq investigated the possibility of opening the
entire Tigris River between Mosul and Baghdad, as well as the feasibility
of opening a stretch of the Euphrates between Al Hadithah and Al Qurnah,
but lack of funds precluded further action.
Airports
In 1988 Iraq had two international airports, one at Baghdad and one at
Basra. In 1979 a French consortium was awarded a US$900 million contract
to build a new international airport at Baghdad. By 1987 the facility was
partially completed and in use. The Basra airport was also being upgraded
with an extended 4,000- meter runway and other facilities at a cost in
excess of US$400 million. A third international airport was planned for
Mosul.
The State Enterprise for Iraqi Airways was the sole domestic airline in
operation in 1988. The company was established in 1945 by Iraqi State
Railways. In 1987, the airline's fleet included thirty-five Soviet-built
Antonov and Ilyushin cargo planes and fourteen Boeing passenger jets, as
well as smaller commuter aircraft and VIP jets. The airline provided
service throughout the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Europe, as well
as to Brazil and to the Far East. In 1987 Saddam Husayn announced a decree
to privatize Iraqi Airways. Two new ventures were to be established
instead the Iraqi Aviation Company to operate commercially as the national
airline, and the National Company for Aviation Services to provide
aircraft and airport services. Stock would be sold to the public, and the
government would retain a minority share.
more details Iraqi
Airways
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
In 1988 Iraq had a good telecommunications network of radio
communication stations, radio relay links, and coaxial cables. Iraqi radio
and television stations came under the government's Iraqi Broadcasting and
Television Establishment, which was responsible to the Ministry of Culture
and Information. The domestic service had one FM and nine AM stations with
two program networks. The domestic service broadcast mainly in Arabic, but
also in Kurdish, Turkoman, and Assyrian from Kirkuk. The short wave
foreign service broadcast in Arabic, Azeri Turkish, English, French,
German, Hebrew, Kurdish, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu. Television
stations were located in the major cities, and they carried two program
networks. In 1988 Iraq had approximately 972,000 television sets; the
system was connected to both the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean systems
of the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT)
as well as to one Soviet Intersputnik satellite station. It also had
coaxial cable and radio relays linking it to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and
Turkey. Iraq had an estimated 632,000 telephones in 1988.
Roads:
Paved road network almost doubled between 1979
and 1985, to 22,397 kilometers. Also 7,800 kilometers of unpaved secondary
and feeder roads. In 1987 1,000 kilometer-long segment of international
express highway from Mediterranean to Persian Gulf under construction.
Railroads:
By 1985 2,029 kilometers of railroads, of
which 1,496 were standard gauge, rest meter gauge.
Ports:
Basra was main port, together with newer port
at Umm Qasr. Oil terminals at Mina al Bakr, Khawr al Amayah, and Al Faw,
latter recaptured from Iran in 1988, and industrial port at Khawr az
Zubayr. War with Iraq damaged port facilities and prevented use of most
ports.
Pipelines:
Local lines to Persian Gulf and new spur
line from Basra area to Saudi Arabia's Petrolane (running from Eastern
Province of Saudi Arabia to Red Sea port of Yanbu), with 500,000 bpd
capacity, completed in 1985 because Syria cut off use of pipelines through
Syria following outbreak of Iran-Iraq War. Further parallel pipeline to
Saudi Arabia with 400,000 bpd capacity under construction in 1988.
Pipeline from Baiji to Baghdad and from Baghdad to Khanaqin; pipeline also
between Baiji and Turkish Mediterranean port of Dortyol opened in 1977
with 800,000 to 900,000 bpd capacity, expanded by 500,000 bpd capacity in
1987. Small pipelines distributed refined products to major consuming
areas.
Airports:
International airports at Baghdad and Basra,
with new airport under construction at Baghdad. Also ninety-five
airfields, sixty-one with permanent-surface runways.
Railways:
total: 2,339 km
standard gauge: 2,339 km 1.435-m gauge (2001)
Highways:
total: 45,550 km
paved: 38,400 km
unpaved: 7,150 km (1996 est.)
