Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the
Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...
of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, not far from the
Iran–Iraq border
The Iran–Iraq border runs for 1,599 km (994 mi) from the tripoint with Turkey in the north down to the Shatt al-Arab (known as Arvand Rud in Iran) waterway and out to the Persian Gulf in the south. Although the boundary was first deter ...
. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Goizha and Qaiwan Mountains in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cold wet winters.
From its foundation Sulaymaniyah was always a center of great poets, writers, historians, politicians, scholars and singers, such as
Nalî
Nalî ( ku, نالی), also known as Mallah Xidir Ehmed Şawaysî Mîkayalî ( ku, مەلا خدر (خضر) کوڕی ئەحمەدی شاوەیسی ئاڵی بەگی میکایلی)Keith Hitchins, "NALÎ" in Encyclaopedia Iranica (1800 Shahrizor ...
,
Mahwi
Mahwi ( ku, مەحوی ''Mehwî''; full name: مەلا موحەمەد کوڕی عوسمان بەڵخی ''Mala Mohammed Osman Ballkhi'') (1830-1906) was one of the most prominent classical Kurdish poets and sufis from Kurdistan of Iraq. He studie ...
, and
Piramerd
Tawfeq Mahmoud Hamza or Piramerd ( ku, پیرەمێرد) (1867 – 19 June 1950) was a Kurdish poet, writer, novelist and journalist. He was born in the ''Goija'' neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region. In 1926, he became the editor of t ...
.
The modern city of Sulaymaniyah was founded in 1784
by the Ottoman-Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban, who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha. Sulaymaniyah was the capital of the historic principality of
Baban
Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were ...
from 1784 to 1850.
History
The region of Sulaymaniyah was known as ''
Zamwa'' prior to the foundation of the modern city in 1784. The capital of the
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
Baban
Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were ...
principality (1649–1850), before Sulaymaniyah, was a territory named "Qelaçiwalan". At the time of the Babani's rule there were major conflicts between the
Safavid dynasty and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Qelaçiwalan became a battleground for the two rivals.
Being of strategic importance and lying deep inside
Safavid territory, there was concern that Qelaçiwalan would be attacked and captured if the
Baban
Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were ...
i did not give the Safavids military support, as both Sultan
Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
and
Nader Shah were trying to gain the support of the dispersed
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
Emirates.
This obliged Mahmud Pasha of Baban in 1781 to think about moving the center of the emirate to a safer place. He chose Melkendî, then a village but now a district in central Sulaymaniyah, to construct a number of ' for his political and armed units.
In 1783,
Ibrahim Pasha Baban
Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam.
For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam.
Ibrahim may also refer to:
* Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people ...
became ruler of the emirate and began the reconstruction of a city which once constructed by Ottoman Sultan Sulaiman (the name of Sulaimaniyah came from his name) new city which would become its capital. In 1784 he finished erecting a number of palaces for trade called ''Qeyserîs'' and bazaars, which were also used as baths, and began inviting people from the surrounding villages and emirates to move to the newly established city. Soon Melkendî, which was originally intended to be the city itself, instead became one of its quarters.
The new city of Sulaymaniyah was named after
Sulaiman Baba, who was the first
Baban
Baban () was a Kurdish principality existing from the 16th century to 1850, centered around Sulaymaniyah. The Baban principality played an active role in the Ottoman-Safavid conflict and gave significant military support to the Ottomans. They were ...
prince to gain control of the province of
Şarezûr. Sulaiman Baba invaded the neighboring Kurdish vassaldom of
Ardalan
Ardalan ( ku, میرنشینی ئەردەڵان) was a hereditary Kurdish vassaldom in western Iran from around the 14th century until 1865 or 1868 with Sanandaj as capital. The territory corresponded roughly to present-day Kurdistan Province ...
, defeating their forces in 1694. Ottoman Sultan
Mustafa II assigned him the district of Baban.
In the early 1800s refugees from Ardalan moved to Sulaymaniyah, including
Mastura Ardalan, the widow of Xosraw Xanî Erdalan, the ruler of the kingdom. Erdalan wrote an account of Kurdish history in Persian and was buried in Sulaymaniyah when he died in 1848.
From 1922 to 1924, Sulaymaniyah was the capital of the
Kingdom of Kurdistan
The Kingdom of Kurdistan was a short-lived Kurdish state proclaimed in the city of Sulaymaniyah following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Officially, the territory involved was under the jurisdiction of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia.
S ...
, a short-lived
unrecognized state
A number of polities have declared independence and sought diplomatic recognition from the international community as sovereign states, but have not been universally recognised as such. These entities often have ''de facto'' control of their ...
declared by
Iraqi Kurds
Iraqi Kurds ( ar, العراقيين الكرد, ku, کوردەکانی عێراق) are people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising between 15% and 20% of the count ...
following the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
Demographics
In 1820, only 36 years after the creation of the city, a British man named Rech visited the city and estimated that its population was more than ten thousand, containing 2,144 families of which 2,000 were
Muslim, 130
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and 14
Christian.
[ :ckb:سلێمانی]
Ottoman documents from 1907 suggest that there were 8,702 Muslim and 360 non-Muslim residents living in the city at that time.
The ''Peshkawtin'' newspaper which was distributed in Sulaymaniyah in 1920 estimated its population to be around ten thousand.
According to Iraqi government documents, by 1947 the number of residents had increased to 23,475; by 1998 to 548,747, and in 2015 to an estimated 656,100.
The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani
American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) ( ku, زانکۆی ئەمریکی لە عێراق، سلێمانی; Arabic: الجامعة الأمريكية في العراق، السليمانية) is a not-for-profit, private institution for ...
estimated the number of inhabitants in 2016 at 800,000
Geography and climate
The city is located in northern Iraq and Southern Kurdistan. Of the
main population centers in the country, it is characterized by its cooler summer temperatures and its rainier winters. Average temperatures range from . In the winters, there can be a significant amount of snow. Snow falls every year or two.
The
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
(Csa).
Education
The
University of Sulaymaniyah
The University of Sulaimani is a public university located in the city of Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan Region - Iraq. It is one of the important scientific and cultural centers in Kurdistan region. It was founded by Professor Dr.Mohammed Salih Beg i ...
was opened in 1968 with instruction in Kurdish, Arabic, and English. It has faculties in engineering, agriculture, the arts, science, and medicine. It is the largest university in the Kurdistan Region. A second university,
Sulaimani Polytechnic University was established in 2012, also teaching in Kurdish, English and Arabic.
In 2007
The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani, (AUI-S) was a new addition to the American universities in the Middle East, graduating its fifth class in 2016. Instruction at this private, not-for-profit liberal arts university is in English only, featuring a US-accredited program in English as a Second Language (ESL). There are a number of other private universities.
Culture
![Adnan Karim](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Adnan_Karim.jpg)
Two independent newspapers ''
Hawlati
''Hawlati'' (Kurdish for "citizen") is an independent Kurdish newspaper, published in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan and London. Tariq Fatih is the owner of the paper.
''Hawlati'' is a biweekly newspaper issued by Ranj Publishing House, publishe ...
'' and ''
Awena'' and two independent political magazines ''Lvin'' and ''Shock'', are published and distributed in Sulaymaniyah city. Since 2016, there exists an International Film Festival in the city which is organized by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Sulaymanya.
Sulaymaniyah is the only city in South Kurdistan that regularly celebrates World Music Day or
Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known in English as Music Day, Make Music Day or World Music Day, is an annual music celebration that takes place on 21 June. On Music Day, citizens and residents are urged to play music outside in their neighborho ...
. In one trip to the city, a journalist working for the BBC wrote about Sulaymaniyah's distinct culture:"Culture is hugely important to the Kurdish people, especially in Sulaymaniyah, but there is a strong pull to the west—modernisation and consumerism—driven perhaps by the satellite televisions they have had access to since they started running their own affairs...And at the university, students mill around the campus, chattering with each other and doing some last-minute cramming for their exams. The war only stopped lectures for a few weeks. There are probably more women than men and they are happy to air their views to anyone who asks."
Economy
![Sarchnar Park, Slemani](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Sarchnar_Park%2C_Slemani.jpg)
Since 2003, Sulaymaniyah has experienced a growing local economy. Its economy today relies on tourism, agriculture and a number of small factories, most of which are involved in the building trade.
In 2004 the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis in Iraq released an in-depth survey of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in which they surveyed each city. In this survey, one can see the economic boom of 2003 mentioned earlier.
Tourism
![Sulaymaniyah at Night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Sulaymaniyah_at_Night.jpg)
The city was visited by more than 60,000 tourists in 2009.
Sulaymaniyah attracted more than 15,000 Iranian tourists in the first quarter of 2010, many drawn by the fact it is not subject to strict laws faced at home.
Newroz
Newroz or Nawroz ( ku, نەورۆز, Newroz) is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 21 is the main symbol of Newroz among t ...
2010 drew an exodus of Iranian tourists choosing to celebrate the event in the region.
Museum
*
Sulaimani Museum: It is the second biggest museum after the
national museum in Baghdad. It is home to many Mesopotamian, Kurdish and ancient Persian artifacts dating back to 1792–1750 BC.
*
Amna Suraka museum
*Museum of Modern Art (''Mozehanai Hunari Howchah'')
*Sulaimani Archeological Museum
Notable People from Slemani (Sulaimanyah)
![Sheikh_Mahmoud_-_Kurdistan%27s_King_(1918-1922)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Sheikh_Mahmoud_-_Kurdistan%27s_King_%281918-1922%29.jpg)
*
Barham Salih
Barham Salih ( ku, بەرھەم ساڵح, Berhem Salih; ar, برهم صالح; born 12 September 1960) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the eighth president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022.
He is the former prime minister of the Kurdist ...
, 8th president of Iraq
*
Khâlid-i Baghdâdî (1779–1827), sufist and Islamic thinker
*
Salim
Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to:
People
*Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin
* Salim (poet) (1800–1866)
* Saleem (playwright) (fl. 1996)
*Selim I, Selim II and Selim III, Ottoman Sultans
* Selim people, an e ...
(1800–1866), poet
*
Nalî
Nalî ( ku, نالی), also known as Mallah Xidir Ehmed Şawaysî Mîkayalî ( ku, مەلا خدر (خضر) کوڕی ئەحمەدی شاوەیسی ئاڵی بەگی میکایلی)Keith Hitchins, "NALÎ" in Encyclaopedia Iranica (1800 Shahrizor ...
(1800–1873), poet
*
Mahwi
Mahwi ( ku, مەحوی ''Mehwî''; full name: مەلا موحەمەد کوڕی عوسمان بەڵخی ''Mala Mohammed Osman Ballkhi'') (1830-1906) was one of the most prominent classical Kurdish poets and sufis from Kurdistan of Iraq. He studie ...
(1830–1906), poet
*
Said Pasha Kurd, (1834–1907), Ottoman statesman
*
Şerif Pasha, (1865–1951), Ottoman diplomat, ambassador and statesman
*
Mustafa Yamulki (1866–1936), Minister of Education in the Kingdom of Kurdistan
*
Haji Mala Saeed Kirkukli Zada (1866–1937), Minister of Justice in the Kingdom of Kurdistan
*
Piramerd
Tawfeq Mahmoud Hamza or Piramerd ( ku, پیرەمێرد) (1867 – 19 June 1950) was a Kurdish poet, writer, novelist and journalist. He was born in the ''Goija'' neighborhood of Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region. In 1926, he became the editor of t ...
Tawfeq Mahmoud Hamza, (1867–1950), poet and journalist
*
Mevlanzade Rifat Bey, (1869 - 1930), journalist and politician
*
Muhamed Amin Zaki
Muhammed Amin Zaki Bey, (1880 Sulaymaniyah –1948 Sulaymaniyah), was a Kurdish writer, historian and politician. He was born in Sulaimaniya, son of Hagi Abdul Rahman. After studying in Sulaimaniya Military School and Baghdad Military High School, ...
(1880–1948), historian, statesman and politician
*
Taufiq Wahby
Taufiq Wahby (1891–1984) was a prominent Kurdish writer, linguist and politician. He first served in the Ottoman army as a colonel, but after the creation of Iraq by the British in 1920, he became an influential officer in the new Iraqi a ...
(1891–1984), linguist, politician and poet
*
Sheikh Nuri Sheikh Salih Sheikh Ghani Barzinji (1896–1958), journalist and poet
*
Ahmad Mukhtar Baban (1900–1976), prime Minister of Iraq 1958
*
Abdulla Goran (1904–1962), founder of modern Kurdish poetry
*
Ibrahim Ahmad
Ibrahim Ahmad (6 March 1914 – 8 April 2000) (alternatively spelt Ibrahim Ahmed or Ibrahîm Ehmed) ( kmr, Ibrahîm Ehmed, ckb, ئیبراهیم ئهحمهد) was a Kurdish writer, novelist, judge and translator who founded the Patriot ...
(1914–2000), novelist, poet and translator
*
Jamal Nebez (1933-2018),
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, mathematician, politician, author, translator and writer.
*
Nawshirwan Mustafa
Nawshirwan Mustafa (22 December 1944 – 19 May 2017) ( ku, نەوشیروان مستەفا) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the General Coordinator of the Movement for Change and the leader of the opposition in the Kurdistan Regio ...
(1944–2017), politician, historian and media proprietor
*
Ahmad Hardi Ahmad Hardi ( ku, Ehmed Herdî; 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a prominent Kurdish poet.
He was born into an intellectual family in Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan. He possessed a deep knowledge of classical Kurdish, Arabic and Persian poetry and has ...
(1922–2006), poet
*
Sherko Bekas (1940–2013), contemporary poet
*
Bachtyar Ali (born 1960), novelist
*
Muhamad Salih Dilan (1927–1990), musician and poet
*
Shahab Sheikh Nuri (1932–1976), politician
*
Dilshad Meriwani, (1947–1989), actor, poet, writer and journalist
*
Rizgar Mohammed Amin (born 1958), judge
*
Mahmoud Othman (born 1938), politician
*
Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani ( ku, مام جەلال تاڵەبانی, translit=Celal Talebanî; ar, جلال طالباني ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, as well as ...
(1933-2017), 6th president of Iraq
*
Mahir Hassan (born 1963), actor and playwright
*
Shwan Kamal (born 1967), artist
*
Sara Omar (1986-), the first internationally recognized female novelist from Sulaymaniyah
Sites
* Tomb of king
Cyaxares
Cyaxares (Median: ; Old Persian: ; Akkadian: ; Old Phrygian: ; grc, Κυαξαρης, Kuaxarēs; Latin: ; reigned 625–585 BCE) was the third king of the Medes.
Cyaxares collaborated with the Babylonians to destroy the Assyrian Empire, a ...
of
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, Qyzqapan
Politics
In recent years, many people in Sulaymaniyah have distanced themselves from
Kurdish nationalism
Kurdish nationalism (, ) is a nationalist political movement which asserts that Kurds are a nation and espouses the creation of an independent Kurdistan from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Early Kurdish nationalism had its roots in the Ottoman ...
as the
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...
is experiencing a surge.
Twin towns – sister cities
*
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
.
*
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
اعلام خواهرخواندگی سلیمانیه عراق و ناپل ایتالیا
, Kurdpress ''(Persian)'', 30 April 2013.
See also
* List of largest cities of Iraq
* 2011 Kurdish protests in Iraq
The 2011 Kurdish protests in Iraq were a series of demonstrations and riots against the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan. The autonomous region experienced protests that were concurrent with the 2011 Iraqi protests and the wider Ara ...
* Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Kirkuk-Sulaimaniya The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Kirkuk ( ar, ابرشية كركوك الكلدانية) is an archeparchy of the Chaldean Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. The archeparchy was created in the early years of the nineteenth cen ...
(former Eastern Catholic diocese)
* Duhok
* Dohuk Governorate
ar, محافظة دهوك
, image_skyline = Collage_of_Dohuk_Governorate.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, image_seal = ...
* Erbil
* Erbil Governorate
ku, پارێزگای ھەولێر
, other_name =
, image_skyline = Collage_of_Hawler_-_Erbil_Governorate.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Clockwise, from top: ...
* Kurdistan
Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...
* Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
* Ranya
Ranya ( ckb, ڕانیە, Ranye, ar, رانية) is a town in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and is part of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate.
Geography and climate
Ranya City is located in the north east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Ranya is l ...
* Saray Azadi
Saray Azadi (Freedom Square) (Kurdish: سەرای ئازادی) is a square in the old town centre in the Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq ...
* Sulaymaniyah Governorate
References
External links
{{Authority control
Cities in Iraqi Kurdistan
District capitals of Iraq
Populated places in Sulaymaniyah Province
Populated places established in 1784
Kurdish settlements in Iraq