Shia Delegation Briefing Packet  

The Iraqi Shi’a population is heavily concentrated in southern Iraq although Baghdad also has a substantial Shi’a population. While ethnically related to the Sunni Arab population in central Iraq, the Shi’a Arabs differ from the Sunni Arabs in their interpretation of Islam. This difference has led to a great deal of tension between the Shi’as and Sunnis in Iraq and throughout the Muslim world. Although the Shi’a constitute an actual majority of the Iraqi population—by some estimates as high as 65 percent—they have historically exercised limited political power and played a subordinate role to the Sunni Arab population of central Iraq. Accordingly, the Shi’a view the formation of a new government as an opportunity for them to gain more political and economic power, especially over the ownership and distribution of oil resources in the country.

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