The report, released by the UN Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit, found that illiteracy among women in Iraq (24 percent) is more than double that of men (11 percent) while inhabitants of rural areas are much more likely to be illiterate (25 percent) than those in urban areas (14 percent).

The areas worst affected by illiteracy are the Kurdish provinces of Dahuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya in Iraq's north, and the predominantly Shiite provinces of Wassit, Qadissiya and Muthanna in the south.

"In general, Iraq is one of the better countries in the region in terms of literacy," Nour Dajani, an education program specialist in Iraq for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), told The Media Line. "In the 1980's Iraq was recognized by UNESCO as achieving zero illiteracy. It was one of the few countries in the world to do so."

Dajani said that the UN financial sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 have had a disastrous effect on Iraq's educational system. "Under the embargo they were not allowed to buy anything, including books and pencils," she said.

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the prolonged state of war that ensued compounded the country's education crisis.

"Security affected literacy," Dajani added. "Parents were scared to send their girls to schools and many schools were destroyed during the war. The Iraqi government now says that 4,000 new schools are needed."

Dajani cited significant school dropout levels and pupils' internal displacement as a result of the war as the principal reasons for illiteracy in Iraq. According to Iraq's National Bureau of Statistics, 55 percent of Iraqis aged 6 to 24 do not attend schools.

"Many drop out after fifth grade, when classes become more difficult," Dajani said. "They also drop out for economic reasons."

The UN report found that illiteracy impacts civilian attitudes regarding participation in social and political life. Illiterate youth in Iraq felt their voices were less heard in the country's institutions.

UNESCO hopes to reduce illiteracy in Iraq by 50 percent before the year 2015. Several programs run by UNESCO in Iraq aim to reintegrate school dropouts in formal educational systems, as well as create parallel informal educational frameworks where literacy classes take place alongside vocational training.

A large-scale media campaign initiated by Iraq's Ministry of Education is also planned to counter school dropout and inform Iraqis of the need for education.

Ali Al-Saffar, an expert on Iraq at the Economist Intelligence Unit said that the Iraqi illiteracy map clearly reflected political decisions made during the Saddam era. "The areas more loyal to Saddam such as Diyala, Salah Al-Din and Anbar have much better literacy rates," he told The Media Line. "The investment in education was simply higher in areas loyal to him."

Al-Saffar added that the high illiteracy rate reflected ongoing underinvestment in education in Iraq. "This is a legacy that has lasted for years."

The United Nations defines literacy as the ability to read and write a simple statement related to daily life, as well as basic numeric skills.