CountryDuel

Land

Size, shape and altitude

Total area

How big is it, really?

The Netherlands fits inside Iraq 10 times

Iraq: 435,050 km² (2024) · Netherlands: 41,540 km² (2024)

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Coastline

How much coast is there?

The Netherlands’ coastline is 7.8 times as long as Iraq’s

Iraq: 58 km (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 451 km (2026 edition)

Highest point

How high can you climb?

Iraq’s highest peak towers 2,749 m above the Netherlands’

Iraq: 3,611 m (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 862 m (2026 edition)

Farmland

How much of the land is farmed?

Farmland covers 53% of the Netherlands, versus 22% of Iraq

Iraq: 21.6% (2024) · Netherlands: 53.4% (2024)

How far apart are they?

People

Who lives there, and how closely

Population

How many people live there?

Iraq has 2.6 times as many people as the Netherlands

Iraq: 47 million (2025) · Netherlands: 18.1 million (2025)

Population density

How crowded is it?

The Netherlands is 5 times as densely populated as Iraq

Iraq: 108 per km² (2025) · Netherlands: 537 per km² (2025)

Height of men

How tall are the men?

Men in the Netherlands are 10.0 cm taller than in Iraq

Iraq: 173.8 cm (2019) · Netherlands: 183.8 cm (2019)

Height of women

How tall are the women?

Women in the Netherlands are 11.6 cm taller than in Iraq

Iraq: 158.8 cm (2019) · Netherlands: 170.4 cm (2019)

Median age

How old is the typical person?

The typical person in the Netherlands is 21 years older than in Iraq

Iraq: 20.3 years (2023) · Netherlands: 41.4 years (2023)

Fertility rate

How many children per woman?

Women in Iraq have 1.8 more children on average than in the Netherlands

Iraq: 3.22 children per woman (2024) · Netherlands: 1.43 children per woman (2024)

Aged 65 and over

How many people are 65 or older?

21% of people in the Netherlands are 65 or older, versus 3.4% in Iraq

Iraq: 3.4% (2025) · Netherlands: 20.9% (2025)

Refugees hosted per 1,000 residents

How many refugees does it host?

The Netherlands hosts 2.3 times as many refugees per resident as Iraq

Iraq: 6.9 per 1,000 (2025) · Netherlands: 15.7 per 1,000 (2025)

Nobel laureates per 10 million people

How many Nobel laureates were born there?

The Netherlands has produced 11.1 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Iraq 0.2

Iraq: 0.2 (2026) · Netherlands: 11.1 (2026)

Official languages

How many official languages?

Iraq has 3 official languages, the Netherlands 1

Iraq: 3 (2026) · Netherlands: 1 (2026)

What shape is the population?

Money

What an economy looks like per person

Economy size (GDP)

How big is the economy?

The Netherlands’ economy is 5.2 times the size of Iraq’s

Iraq: $254 billion (2025) · Netherlands: $1.33 trillion (2025)

GDP per person (PPP)

How much is produced per person?

The Netherlands produces 6.1 times as much per person as Iraq

Iraq: Int$14,267 (2025) · Netherlands: Int$87,320 (2025)

Income inequality (Gini)

How evenly is income shared?

Income is more unequally shared in Iraq than in the Netherlands (Gini 4.1 points higher)

Iraq: 29.8 (2023) · Netherlands: 25.7 (2021)

Extreme poverty ($3.00 a day)

How many live on less than $3 a day?

Iraq and the Netherlands are practically level

Iraq: 0.5% (2023) · Netherlands: 0.1% (2021)

Unemployment

How many people are looking for work?

Unemployment is 15% in Iraq, versus 3.9% in the Netherlands

Iraq: 15.5% (2025) · Netherlands: 3.9% (2025)

Military spending

How much goes to the military?

Iraq and the Netherlands are practically level

Iraq: 2.4% (2025) · Netherlands: 2.2% (2025)

Tax revenue (central government)

How much does the central government collect in tax?

The Netherlands’ central government collects 25% of GDP in tax, Iraq’s 1.3%

Iraq: 1.3% (2019) · Netherlands: 25.3% (2024)

Price level (US = 100)

How expensive is it?

The Netherlands’ price level (US = 100) is 2.2× Iraq’s

Iraq: 38% (2025) · Netherlands: 84% (2025)

Health

Long lives, small beginnings

Health spending per person

How much is spent on health?

The Netherlands spends 21 times as much on health per person as Iraq

Iraq: $333 (2023) · Netherlands: $6,845 (2024)

Life expectancy

How long do people live?

People in the Netherlands live 9.5 years longer than in Iraq

Iraq: 72.4 years (2024) · Netherlands: 82 years (2024)

Infant mortality

How many babies don’t reach their first birthday?

A baby in Iraq is 5.9 times as likely to die before turning one as in the Netherlands

Iraq: 20.1 per 1,000 (2024) · Netherlands: 3.4 per 1,000 (2024)

Doctors

How many doctors are there?

The Netherlands has 3.8 times as many doctors per person as Iraq

Iraq: 1 per 1,000 (2022) · Netherlands: 3.9 per 1,000 (2022)

Hospital beds

How many hospital beds are there?

The Netherlands has 2.3 times as many hospital beds per person as Iraq

Iraq: 1.1 per 1,000 (2018) · Netherlands: 2.4 per 1,000 (2022)

Suicide rate

How common is suicide?

The suicide rate in the Netherlands is 88% higher than in Iraq

Iraq: 5.1 per 100k (2023) · Netherlands: 9.6 per 100k (2023)

Adult obesity

How common is obesity?

37% of adults in Iraq are obese, versus 17% in the Netherlands

Iraq: 36.8% (2024) · Netherlands: 16.9% (2024)

Smoking

How many adults smoke?

The Netherlands and Iraq are practically level

Iraq: 20.1% (2024) · Netherlands: 20.5% (2024)

Everyday life

Plates, glasses and happiness

Life satisfaction

How do people rate their lives?

People in the Netherlands rate their lives 2.01 points higher than in Iraq

Iraq: 5.21 (2025) · Netherlands: 7.22 (2025)

Alcohol consumption

How much do people drink?

Adults in the Netherlands drink 14 times as much alcohol as in Iraq

Iraq: 0.6 litres (2023) · Netherlands: 8.6 litres (2023)

Meat supply

How much meat is on the menu?

The Netherlands has 3.4 times as much meat per person as Iraq

Iraq: 21.1 kg (2023) · Netherlands: 71.6 kg (2023)

Daily calories

How much food is there per day?

The Netherlands has 1,096 kcal more food per person per day than Iraq

Iraq: 2,371 kcal (2023) · Netherlands: 3,467 kcal (2023)

Working hours

How long do people work?

Workers in Iraq put in 144 more hours a year than in the Netherlands

Iraq: 1,583 hours (2023) · Netherlands: 1,439 hours (2023)

Years of schooling

How long do people go to school?

Adults in the Netherlands went to school 5.9 years longer than in Iraq

Iraq: 6.8 years (2023) · Netherlands: 12.7 years (2023)

Tourists per resident

How many tourists visit?

Iraq: no data · Netherlands: 0.91 (2022)

World Heritage sites

How many World Heritage sites?

The Netherlands has 7 more World Heritage sites than Iraq (13 against 6)

Iraq: 6 (2026) · Netherlands: 13 (2026)

Olympic medals (all time)

How many Olympic medals has it won?

The Netherlands has won 524 Olympic medals, Iraq 1

Iraq: 1 (2026 edition) · Netherlands: 524 (2026 edition)

Connected

Online, electrified, urban

Internet users

How many people are online?

97% of people in the Netherlands are online, versus 81% in Iraq

Iraq: 81% (2024) · Netherlands: 97% (2024)

Fixed broadband download speed

How fast is home internet?

Home internet in the Netherlands is 5.2 times as fast as in Iraq

Iraq: 62 Mbps (2026) · Netherlands: 324 Mbps (2026)

Access to electricity

Who has electricity at home?

Iraq and the Netherlands are practically level

Iraq: 100% (2024) · Netherlands: 100% (2024)

Urban population

How many live in cities?

96% of people in the Netherlands live in cities, versus 70% in Iraq

Iraq: 70% (2025) · Netherlands: 96% (2025)

Mobile subscriptions

How many phones per person?

The Netherlands has 129 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Iraq 100

Iraq: 100 (2024) · Netherlands: 129 (2024)

Railway network

How much railway is there?

The Netherlands’ railway network is 28% longer than Iraq’s

Iraq: 2,370 km (2014) · Netherlands: 3,041 km (2021)

Air passengers per resident

How much do they fly?

Airlines from the Netherlands fly 29 times as many passengers per resident as those from Iraq

Iraq: 0.08 (2023) · Netherlands: 2.29 (2023)

Planet

Air, forests and energy

Forest cover

How much of the land is forest?

Forest covers 11% of the Netherlands, but only 1.6% of Iraq

Iraq: 1.6% (2024) · Netherlands: 11% (2024)

CO₂ per person

How much CO₂ does each person emit?

The average person in the Netherlands emits 24% more CO₂ than someone in Iraq

Iraq: 5.1 t (2024) · Netherlands: 6.3 t (2024)

Renewable electricity

How green is the power grid?

51% of the Netherlands’ electricity is renewable, versus 1.6% in Iraq

Iraq: 1.6% (2024) · Netherlands: 51.2% (2025)

Air pollution (PM2.5)

How clean is the air?

The air in Iraq carries 5.1 times as much fine dust as in the Netherlands

Iraq: 48.8 µg/m³ (2024) · Netherlands: 9.6 µg/m³ (2024)

Where does the power come from?

Safety

Measured risk, not vibes

Homicide rate

How common is murder?

Iraq: no data · Netherlands: 0.7 per 100k (2023)

Road deaths

How dangerous are the roads?

Roads in Iraq are 6.2 times as deadly as in the Netherlands

Iraq: 31.5 per 100k (2023) · Netherlands: 5.1 per 100k (2023)

Climate

What the year feels like

Average temperature

How warm is it?

Iraq is on average 12.7 °C warmer than the Netherlands

Iraq: 23.9°C (2016–2025 avg) · Netherlands: 11.2°C (2016–2025 avg)

Rainfall

How much rain falls?

The Netherlands gets 4.2 times as much rain as Iraq

Iraq: 214 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Netherlands: 887 mm (2016–2025 avg)

What does the year feel like?

Between them

People, goods and passports that cross from one to the other

Who has moved between them?
Can they visit without a visa?
What do they sell each other?
Have they met on the pitch?
Time machine

Quick answers

Is Iraq bigger than the Netherlands?

Iraq is larger. The Netherlands fits inside Iraq 10 times.

Which has more people, Iraq or the Netherlands?

Iraq has 2.6 times as many people as the Netherlands (2025 estimates).

Where do people live longer, Iraq or the Netherlands?

People in the Netherlands live 9.5 years longer than in Iraq. Life expectancy at birth is 72.4 years in Iraq and 82.0 in the Netherlands.

Are people taller in Iraq or the Netherlands?

Men in the Netherlands are 10.0 cm taller than in Iraq (NCD-RisC, cohort born 2019).

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