Background and study aims  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal cancer and the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy affecting about one million individuals each year. The etiology for most cases of CRC appears to be related to environmental factors. This study to describe the main characteristics of this malignancy regarding age, gender, and anatomical sub site distribution, as well as the main presenting symptoms in Iraqi patients. Patients and methods  Patients with newly-diagnosed CRC by colonoscopy findings and confirmed by histopathological examination of endoscopic colonic biopsies were studied. Results  Sixty three cases with a newly-diagnosed CRC were included in this study. There were 31 (49.2%) males and 32 (50.8%) females. CRC peaked in the 60–69 years old age group (p < 0.05), more than 60% were between 40 and 69 years old. Fresh bleeding per rectum was the most common symptom occurred in 48 (76.2%) patients; while the least common was weight loss (19%). The mean duration of symptoms before referral was 7.3 ± 12.6 months. The tumor sites of the CRC were the rectum and sigmoid region seen in 77.8% (p < 0.05), the rectum alone reported in 37 patients (58.7%); followed by sigmoid colon in 12 (19%) patients, cecum in 7 (11.1%) patients and the ascending colon seen in 2 (3.2%) patients. Conclusions  In this study CRC occurs in relatively younger age groups in comparison to studies in the developed countries with rectal cancer predominates of all colorectal cancers.