The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is a constitutionally recognized semiautonomous region in northern Iraq. Its government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), based in Erbil, has the right, under the Iraqi constitution of 2005, to exercise legislative, executive, and judicial powers according to the constitution, except in what is listed therein as exclusive powers of the federal authorities. The Iraqi constitution defines the Kurdistan Region as a federal entity of Iraq. KRG has a parliamentary democracy with a regional assembly that consists of 111 seats.

Urban sanitation remains a significant challenge for most low- and middle-income countries. While sanitation coverage has been increasing across both the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) and developing regions as a whole, progress has been relatively slow. In many cities, even where improved on-site facilities are used to contain excreta, the level of quality and access to services for the emptying, conveyance, treatment, and disposal of the resulting fecal sludge is usually limited. These services are collectively called fecal sludge management (FSM) services.

This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration. The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014.

This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration. The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014.

Faced with the challenge of providing adequate transport services with limited resources, cities have, for several decades, been investing in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). ITS utilize Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to make more efficient use of existing transport infrastructure with the aim of improving transport services and reducing congestion, accidents, and air pollution.

This report provides a review of the Armenian mining sector, and assesses its potential to contribute to sustainable economic growth and development. Based on the findings, it provides recommendations for initiatives and actions for the future development of the sector. The report was produced in the period October 2015 to April 2016.

Ethiopia has many advantages as a destination for mining investment. These include promising geology, a well-designed fiscal regime, stable government and a growing domestic market. Additionally, it has a well-managed and successful artisanal and small scale mining sector. Under the second phase of Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan, Ethiopia has the ambitious target for the mining sector to contribute 10% of GDP by 2025. Ethiopia must overcome significant challenges to achieve this target.

This note contains a summary, for practitioners, of the World Bank Law, Justice, and Development Series Book Regulatory Frameworks for Water Resources Management: a comparative study (2006). It examines how the regulatory frameworks in 16 jurisdictions worldwide have addressed the various basic issues related to water resources management, provides a comparative analysis of those issues, and highlights the essential elements of the regulatory frameworks that are emerging in response.

Ulaanbaatar's (UB) population has swollen from half a million in 2001 to approximately 1.2 million in 2011, accounting for over 40 percent of the country's population. This trend is likely to continue as economic growth is increasingly concentrated in UB. With its growing population and concerns in rising inequality, the city is facing increasing pressure to maintain and expand service provision (especially infrastructure). The local tax on wages is expected to continue to provide substantial revenues to the UB government, which will assist the growing demand for services.

Land policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable growth, good governance, and the well-being of, and the economic opportunities open to, both rural and urban dwellers - particularly the poor. To this end, research on land policy, and analysis of interventions related to the subject, have long been of interest to the Bank's Research Department, and other academic, and civil society institutions.

Cities emerge from the spatial concentration of people and economic activities. But spatial concentration is not enough; the economic viability of cities depends on people, ideas, and goods to move rapidly across the urban area. This constant movement within dense cities creates wealth but also various degrees of unpleasantness and misery that economists call negative externalities, such as congestion, pollution, and environmental degradation.

Urban areas tend to have much more productive labor and higher salaries than rural areas, and there are vast differences across urban areas. Areas with high salaries and high productivity tend to have employers that invest in much more research and development than areas with low salaries and low productivity. This paper addresses two questions. First, it discusses the causes of these vast geographical differences in wages, human capital, and innovation. The second part of the paper discusses regional economic development policies.