Sulaymaniya

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SULAYMANIYA

Town in northeastern Iraq, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

A market town in Kurdistan, Iraq, 60 miles (96.5 km) east of Kirkuk, Sulaymaniya is bounded on the east and south by Iran. Its name was linked to Süleyman Paşa, wali of Baghdad when the town was founded in 1781. Surrounded by mountains, the town has cold winters and mild summers. It has archaeological sites (some in caves) that date to about fifty thousand years ago.

Most of the population are Kurds. Dokan Dam, 37 miles (60 km) northwest of the town, has a hydroelectric station.


Bibliography

Harris, George L. Iraq: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press, 1958.

Hassani, Abdul Razzak, Al-. The History of Modern Iraq. Baghdad, 1980.

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