(This is part of a special report on the exodus from Iraq)

Jan 31 (Reuters) - The United Nations says the flight of Iraqis abroad or within their country constitutes the Middle East's largest long-term population movement since the displacement of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.

Syria and Jordan are the main host countries for the Iraqis and, along with Lebanon, for the Palestinian refugees.

Last year's Israeli-Hezbollah war and a subsequent political crisis have also prompted many Lebanese to leave their homeland.

Here are some facts about migration in the Middle East:

* IRAQ:

-- Of Iraq's population of 26 million, 1.7 million are internally displaced and up to 2 million have fled abroad, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates.

-- In 2006 alone, nearly 500,000 Iraqis fled to other parts of the country due to ethnic and sectarian violence. The UNHCR tries to resettle registered Iraqi refugees, but found host countries for only 404 worldwide in the first nine months of 2006.

* JORDAN:

-- Half a million to a million Iraqis live in Jordan, which also hosts more than 1.8 million Palestinian refugees registered with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, who fled in 1948 or 1967. About 16 percent of the Palestinians live in refugee camps. Not counting the Iraqis, Jordan has about 5.5 million people, more than half of Palestinian origin.

* SYRIA:

-- Half a million to a million Iraqis have taken refuge in Syria, which also hosts 432,000 Palestinian refugees, 27 percent of whom live in camps. Syria has a population of 18.6 million, not counting the refugees.

LEBANON:

-- Up to 40,000 Iraqis have come to Lebanon, which hosts 404,000 Palestinian refugees, 53 percent of whom live in camps. Lebanon has about 4 million people, but nearly 25 percent of them are believed to live abroad. Thanks to a long tradition of migration, Lebanese communities exist worldwide, especially in Brazil, Canada, the United States, Australia and France.

OTHERS:

-- Some 20,000 to 80,000 Iraqis have fled to Egypt, 54,000 to Iran and others to Turkey and Arab Gulf states.

Main sources: UNHCR/UNRWA:

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