June 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which marks World Refugee Day on June 20, says the global refugee population rose 14 percent last year, mainly due to a rapid exodus from Iraq. Here are some facts provided by the UNHCR about refugees, internally displaced people, asylum-seekers and stateless people around the world in 2006 (latest figures in brackets for Iraq): REFUGEES Total - 9.9 million (not including 4.3 million Palestinian refugees cared for by another U.N. agency, UNRWA). This was a 14 percent rise on 2005, due mainly to 1.2 million Iraqi refugees and a revised estimate of the refugee population in the United States. The Iraqi refugee total has since risen to 2.2 million. TOP COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN Afghanistan - 2.1 million Iraq - 1.5 million (now 2.2 million) Sudan - 686,000 Somalia - 460,000 Democratic Republic of the Congo - about 400,000 Burundi - about 400,000 MAIN COUNTRIES OF ASYLUM Pakistan - 1 million Iran - 968,000 United States - 844,000 Syria - 702,000 (now 1.4 million) Germany - 605,00 PEOPLE INTERNALLY DISPLACED BY CONFLICT Total - 24.5 million (estimated by Norwegian Refugee Council), of which 12.9 million are protected or assisted by the UNHCR. MAIN COUNTRIES WITH INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE: Colombia - 3 million Iraq - 1.8 million (now more than 2 million) Uganda - 1.6 million Sudan - 5 million (of whom UNHCR assists 1.3 million) DRC - 1.1 million ASYLUM SEEKERS Total - 740,000, an 11 percent drop compared to 2005 Europe - 299,000 Africa - 159,000 Americas - 78,000 Asia - 53,500 Oceania - 7,100 STATELESSNESS Total - 5.8 million (accurate statistics are lacking; UNHCR estimates that the real total could be as high as 15 million)
