2.2 million Iraqis displaced by Islamic State, report says

FILE - In this Sunday, April 19, 2015, file photo, a woman displaced from Ramadi settles in a mosque with children, in the al-Shurta neighborhood in west Baghdad, Iraq. A Norwegian humanitarian group report says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone fleeing in 2014 after the Islamic State group seized their areas. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) (The Associated Press)

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FILE - In this Thursday, April 30, 2015, file photo, displaced Iraqis wait in line to receive humanitarian aid at a camp set up for people from Ramadi and around the area in the al-Shurta neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq. A Norwegian humanitarian group report says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone fleeing in 2014 after the Islamic State group seized their areas. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Saturday, April 18, 2015, file photo, Iraq security troops distribute bottles of water to displaced families from Ramadi on Bzebiz bridge 65 km west of Baghdad, Iraq. A Norwegian humanitarian group report says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone fleeing in 2014 after the Islamic State group seized their areas. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim, File) (The Associated Press)

BEIRUT – A Norwegian humanitarian group says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone forced to flee from their homes in 2014 after the Islamic State group overrun their areas.

The study by the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Center was released Wednesday.

It says 11 million were newly displaced last year — mostly because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounting for 60 percent of the new displacement.

The group says at least 1.1 million Syrians also fled their homes last year.

Syria has the highest number of internally displaced, with 7.6 million dislodged because of the conflict, now in its fifth year. That's at least 35 percent of the population.