Spatial Relationships (Internal Hinterland and External Counterpart of Iraqi Ports)

Abstract

The study revealed that the Iraqi market is a single-sided consumer market in terms of exports, relying primarily on oil exports to fund the country's budget. Additionally, it has a high consumption system with a scarcity of industrial exports and agricultural exports, which are limited to meeting part of local consumption, especially after 2003.

The instability in import quantities due to the security and political circumstances that the country experienced, from periods of economic recovery and the intermittent periods of increased crude oil exports and higher imports, has influenced the proportions and quantities of unstable exports and imports in foreign trade. Therefore, the interactive aspect of Iraqi ports with the geographical hinterland and maritime counterpart responds to the interactive element with the ports at the same level of increase or decrease.