A country with major recent troubles, Iraq also has a history of land laws that goes back thousands of years, starting from the Babylonian period in 1810 BC. The country profile examines land issues in Iraq in the context of its long history, post-war development goals, land conflicts, legal system, population change, and more.   

We are celebrating the Land Portal's 80th country profile -- Iraq -- and the 79 that stand behind it. This rich collection represents seven years of work and underpins the Land Portal's commitment to making land information open and accessible. We publish profiles in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and recently added Arabic to meet users' needs in the Arab region.   The 80 countries in our compendium amount to a story about the land that is home for 73% of the global population. Country profiles on the Land Portal are some of the best gateways to understanding land governance in a given country. Rigorously researched, written, and peer-reviewed, these comprehensive guides touch on history, politics, and culture, and are aimed at experts and casual readers alike.  As the Land Portal develops the State of Land Information Index (SOLIndex), these profiles will provide important context to understanding country scoring. They clarify what roles land plays in the economy, politics, culture, and the environment.    "If you want to understand the situation of land governance in a country, the Land Portal has the best resources anywhere. We dare you to not learn something new as you browse the collection!" -- Romy Sato, head of the Country Profiles initiative.

The Land Portal just released the completely updated Land and Conflicts portfolio, a comprehensive guide exploring the complex, multifaceted relationships between land use, rights, and conflicts across various contexts.  

War and drought is emptying Somalia’s countryside, creating a surge in urbanisation and cementing a permanent demographic shift that will have far-reaching implications for the country’s future recovery, say aid and development experts.  

Minorities, women, and persons internally displaced face severe land tenure issues in post-conflict Iraq.

Al Jazeera reports on how Eritrean refugees are caught between crisis at home and conflict in the Sudan where there are 126,000 refugees, 11% of the estimated 1.1 million refugees in the country. For more information on Eritrea see also the Land Portal country profile. Conflict and displacement have major implications for land rights and governance.  

Ian Scoones reviews land reform related resettlement schemes which formed part of the post-Independence land reform efforts from 1980 to 2000. These initiatives had phases,reflecting the wider political economy, especially via the legal framework for land appropriation and redistribution by the state.

With USAID support through the Land for Prosperity Activity, the Colombian government has begun delivering land titles as part of a far-reaching project to transform the territory and meet the Peace Accord commitments

Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan complete border delimitation process

The Sudan country profile is now also available in Arabic.

The land governance context in Georgia in detail

Displaced people are often wrongly seen as better off than refugees. This heightens their vulnerability and prolongs their displacement. A more nuanced understanding may benefit aid and development practitioners in their efforts to help displaced people.