ReliefWeb

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)