Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani announced on Monday that the country's population has exceeded 45 million.
From Nov 20, Iraq launched a nationwide population and housing census for the first time in 27 years.
In a press conference, al-Sudani said Iraq's population has reached 45,407,895, including foreigners and refugees residing in the country, citing the preliminary results of the country's recent general population and housing census.
About 50.1 percent of the total population are males and about 49.8 percent are females, while 70.3 percent of the population lives in urban areas and 29.7 percent in rural areas.
The results also showed that the working-age group between 15 and 64 constituted the highest percentage, reaching 60.2 percent of the total population, followed by the youth group under 15 years at 36.1 percent and the elderly group over 65 years at 3.7 percent, al-Sudani said.
Iraq traditionally held a population census every 10 years, but the last was conducted in 1997 without the participation of the Kurdistan region. No census had been conducted since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
Iraq's population exceeds 45 mln: PM
Following a cold wave sweeping across China, some of the country's most iconic landscapes have been turned into winter wonderlands.
The Yellow Mountain, or Mount Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, witnessed its first snow of this winter on Monday night.
By early Tuesday morning, the area was bathed in the gentle light of dawn, with mountain peaks, pine trees, and rocks all glistening beneath a layer of fresh snow. The sunlight cast a golden glow over the snow-covered landscape, creating a breathtaking scene.
The Saihanba National Forest Park in Chengde City of Hebei in north China was transformed into a fairy-tale scene by the latest snow on Sunday. The cold temperatures brought the perfect conditions for the formation of frost, and the trees were soon adorned with delicate ice crystals.
The entire forest appeared to be covered in silver, making the landscape look like a scene from a winter wonderland.
Yunnan Province in southwest China has also experienced unusual snowy weather since Sunday, particularly in areas like Kunming and Zhaotong cities.
The Jiaozi Snow Mountain in Kunming saw snow that accumulated up to two centimeters by Monday afternoon. The snow turned the mountains into a beautiful picture, with white snowflakes covering the trees and rocks.
In Zhaotong, the Dashanbao Black-necked Crane Nature Reserve also witnessed the first snow of this season on Monday morning. Some 1,300 cranes, which had already arrived for wintering, were seen strolling through the snow, adding a magical touch to the scene.
Snow-turned wonderlands in Anhui, Hebei, Yunnan
