Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جُمْهُورِيَّة ٱلْعِرَاق Jumhūriīyet al-ʿIrāq; Kurdish: کۆماری عێراق, romanized: Komarî Êraq), is a nation in Western Asia. It is bounded to the north by Turkey, to the east by Iran, to the southeast by the Persian Gulf and Kuwait, to the south by Saudi Arabia, to the southwest by Jordan, and to the west by Syria. Baghdad is the capital and biggest city. Iraq has a varied ethnic population, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Sabian-Mandaeans, Persians, and Shabakis, as well as a diversified environment and animals. The majority of the country's 40 million residents are Muslims, with Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism, and Zoroastrianism all being recognized faiths. Iraq's official languages are Arabic and Kurdish, with English, Neo-Aramaic, Turkish, and Armenian as recognized regional languages.
Mesopotamia ("Land Between the Rivers") was an area whose enormous alluvial plains gave home to some of the world's first civilizations and empires from the 6th millennium BC, including those of Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer, the earliest known civilization. The region covering current Iraq is known as the "Cradle of Civilisation," because it was the origin of many key innovations and discoveries, including the writing system, arithmetic, time, calendar, astrology, and the legal code. It was at Uruk that humanity first learned to read, write, form laws, and live in cities governed by an organized government. Baghdad became the capital and largest city of the Abbasid Caliphate following the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, and during the Islamic Golden Age, the city evolved into a significant cultural and intellectual center, earning it a worldwide reputation for its academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom. The city was substantially devastated by the Mongol Empire during the Siege of Baghdad in 1258, resulting in a downfall that would last for centuries owing to recurrent plagues and many successor dynasties.
Modern Iraq dates from 1920, when the British Mandate for Mesopotamia was established under the authority of the League of Nations, combining three Ottoman vilayets. Faisal I of Iraq founded the British-backed Kingdom in 1921. In 1932, the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq declared independence from the United Kingdom. The monarchy was deposed in 1958, and the Iraqi Republic was established. From 1968 until 2003, Iraq was ruled by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Iraq attacked Iran in 1980, igniting a lengthy conflict that would endure almost eight years and conclude in a stalemate with horrific casualties for both nations. Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party was deposed after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, and multi-party parliamentary elections were conducted in 2005. The US engagement in Iraq came to an end in 2011.
Iraq is a parliamentary federal republic. The president is the head of state, while the prime minister is the head of government. The constitution also establishes two deliberative bodies, the Council of Representatives and the Council of Union. The judiciary is independent of the executive and legislative branches.
Iraq is seen as a growing middle power with a strategic position, and it is a founding member of the United Nations, OPEC, the Arab League, the OIC, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the IMF. Iraq's political history has been marked by times of tremendous economic and military expansion, as well as periods of political and economic turmoil, since its independence.
After one year of service, employees are entitled to at least 21 days of vacation per year. After the first five years, the leave increases by two days, then another two days after the next five years, and three days after the next five years. The annual leave is 30 days in the case of dangerous work. Days of annual leave are calculated pro-rata to the employee's hours and wage for part-time work.
Employees can also take time off for a wedding, the wedding of a child, a death in the family, or to perform official or public duties. Female employees who are widowed or divorced are also given time off. Employees are allowed to take unpaid leave for serious personal reasons or for a one-time religious pilgrimage.
New Year’s Day
Iraqi Army Day
Festival of Spring (Nowruz)
Sovereignty Day
Labor Day
Eid AI-Fitr
Republic Day
Eid AI-Adha
Islamic New Year
Ashura
Mawlid Al-Nabi
In Kurdistan, they recognize:
Uprising Day
Liberation of Erbil City
Mustafa Barzani’s Birthday
Kurdish New Year
Baghdad Liberation Day
Christmas Day
To be covered by the Pension and Social Security Fund, an employee must be sick for more than eight days and have a doctor's note. Each year of employment entitles the employee to 30 days of sick leave, up to a total of 180 days. If an insured employee uses up all of their paid sick leave and remains sick for more than 30 days, the Pension and Social Security Fund will reimburse the employer for wages paid after the 30-day period, as long as the diagnosis is documented by a medical certificate.
Employees who are female are entitled to 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. Due to complications or multiple births, leave can be extended for up to nine months. A medical note from a competent authority is required for this. Employees who have a child under the age of one year can take up to 12 months of unpaid leave to care for them. The employment contract is considered suspended in such cases.
Although paternity leave is not available, any of the partners can take up to three days of unpaid leave to care for a sick child under the age of six.
Other than the already mentioned terms regarding maternity and paternity leaves in Iraq, there are no other provisions in the law regarding parental leave.
A contract may be terminated by either the employer or the employee. However, in Iraq, there are two types of terminations: automatic and manual. An employment contract will automatically terminate in certain circumstances, including the death of an employee or employer, the liquidation of the firm, or the expiration of a fixed-term contract.
Employment contracts can be manually terminated in a variety of circumstances, including when both parties agree in writing to terminate the contract, the employee becomes ill and is unable to work for more than six months, the employee reaches retirement age, or the employee violates contractual obligations.
Employers must provide employees at least 30 days' notice in writing and pay an end-of-service gratuity that ranges from two to twenty weeks' worth of service, depending on the length of employment.
Discrimination, medical leave, submitting a complaint, or membership to a trade union are all grounds for dismissal. Employees are free to resign at any moment as long as they provide the employer at least 30 days' notice. If an employee leaves without notice or before the end of the notice term stipulated in the contract, they must pay the employer a monetary equivalent of the notice period's fraction.
Employers have the right under the Labor Law to hire employees on a probationary basis for up to three months.
In general, any employee whose service is terminated is entitled to an end of service gratuity equal to two weeks' pay for each year of service, except in the following circumstances: the employee is sentenced to more than one year in prison by a final court judgment; the employee assumes a false identity or submits forged documents; the employee violates his or her contractual obligations; or the employee commits a serious error that results in material damage to the work, workers, or production.
The typical workday is eight hours long and 48 hours long per week. Each employee is entitled to 24 consecutive hours of rest, which are typically scheduled on Fridays.
Employers with more than one female employee are required to maintain a copy of the provisions governing female worker protection on the job, in addition to establishing a nursery at their expense or in collaboration with other employers.
Overtime is generally limited to four hours per day, eight hours per week, forty hours every ninety days, and 120 hours per year. The wage must be increased by 50% during the workday and 100% during the evenings and holidays.
The country's minimum wage is currently 350,000 Iraqi dinars (IQD) per month.
You and your employees are both required to contribute to a social security system that includes health insurance and sick leave. Employees who use their sick leave for more than 30 days are covered by their insurance provider.
Any additional employment benefits, such as housing, car allowances, and meals, are typically determined by your company. Because the government does not regulate these benefits, you are free to offer whatever benefits and bonuses you see fit in order to attract top talent to your company.
Companies in Iraq are imposed a corporate tax rate of 15 percent.
Individuals in Iraq are imposed a personal income tax rate that ranges from 3 percent to 15 percent. The actual percentage depends on the income bracket the individual belongs to.
The value-added tax (VAT) or goods and sales tax (GST) imposed in Iraq is anywhere between 0 and 300 percent.
Most nations' nationals, according to Iraqi legislation, need a visa to visit Iraq. Visitors from some nations, however, are granted a visa on arrival at specific airports, while others are barred from entering Iraq.
The Iraqi government eliminated pre-arrival visa restrictions for nationals of 37 countries on March 15, 2021, enabling people of those countries to apply for on-arrival visas at recognized land, sea, and air border crossings.
The Iraqi government has opened an e-visa website; however, it is unclear if all residents throughout the globe may apply; for the time being, only nationals of Germany, Turkey, and Egypt can apply.
Employment contracts must be drafted in Arabic — or Kurdish if done into in Kurdistan. Contracts must be in written and contain detailed details about salary and the nature of the employment. Salaries must be written in Iraqi dinars and paid in Iraqi dinars (IQD). Depending on your agreement, employment contracts may relate to either fixed or open employment terms.
There is no set length for assignments. This is usually indicated in the employment contract for fixed-term employments.
Iraqi Dinar (IQD)
United States Dollar (USD)
Completing the subsidiary creation procedure requires a complicated balancing act of location, finance, skill, and time. Consider the optimal location for your expanding firm before establishing your subsidiary – rules and taxes may change if you are based in the Kurdish area.
Throughout the business registration procedure, as a noncitizen, you must strictly comply to the Iraqi Companies Law. It is critical that your company follows every stage of the legal process, since failure to do so might result in expensive fines and penalties.
If you want to form a nonresident-owned limited liability corporation (LLC), you must first:
1. Prepare your legal documentation, which should include articles of formation, bank references, a business seal, and a name reservation.
2. Register your limited liability company.
3. Make a deposit for your first financial investment.
4. Inform the tax authorities about your company.
5. Ensure that all workers are registered for social security.
6. This procedure usually takes at least 2,600,000 Iraqi dinars (IQD). The time frame establishing an LLC might vary from weeks to months for a joint-stock business.
The subsidiary laws of the country offer a framework for foreign corporations wanting to establish a presence in the country. Depending on the extent of government engagement in your firm, you may function as a public, private, or mixed corporation. The majority of multinational enterprises prefer to form an LLC.
Companies establishing branch offices in-country are obliged to fulfill a minimum six-month contract with the federal government of Iraq, according to relatively new legislation. Businesses who are new to the nation and do not have this contract are increasingly opting to incorporate in order to set up a subsidiary.
