Az Zubayr ( ar, الزبير) is a city in and the capital of Al-Zubair District, part of the

Basra Governorate Basra Governorate ( ar, محافظة البصرة ), also called Basra Province, is a governorate in southern Iraq, bordering Kuwait to the south and Iran to the east. The capital is the city of Basra, located in the Basrah district. Other distr ...

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 Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. The city is just south of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

. The name can also refer to the old Emirate of Zubair. The name is also sometimes written Al Zubayr, Al Zubair, Az Zubair, Zubair, Zoubair, El Zubair, or Zobier.

History of Zubair

Early history

The city was named al-Zubair because one of the

Sahaba The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...

(companions) of the Prophet Muhammad, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, was buried there.

Recent history

During the Ottoman times, the city was a self-ruling

Sheikhdom A sheikhdom or sheikdom ( ar, مشيخة 'Mashyakhah'' is a geographical area or a society ruled by a tribal leader called sheikh (Arabic: ). Sheikhdoms exist exclusively within Arab countries, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula ( Arab Sta ...

ruled by a Sheikh from

Najd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the ...

i families, such as Al Zuhair, Al Meshry, Al Rashed, and Al ibrahim families. Like other Sheikdoms under 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) ...

, the Sheikdom of Zubair used to pay dues and receive protection from the Ottomans. In the 19th century, the city of Zubair witnessed relatively large migrations from

. Up until the 1970s and 1980s, the town was predominantly populated by people who moved from Najed. Now only a few families remain of the old inhabitants. Most of them moved back to Najd and other regions of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. In the period of

i is inhabitance the city it was dominated by the Sunni denomination of Islam, unlike the

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the ...

nearby.

21st century

By 2008, the city of Zubair had a population of around 240,000 people and had grown to merge into the

metropolitan area with nearly 3 million inhabitants in total. As in Basra, the municipality of Zubair currently has a Shia majority and is barely distinguishable from Basra itself. But, contrary to Basra, Zubair is still home to a large Sunni minority. However, they have faced violence from Shia militants during the Iraqi Civil War, and many have fled to Gulf countries and Sunni areas of Iraq.

Climate

Az Zubayr has a

hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''BWh''). In winter there is more rainfall than in summer. The average annual temperature in Az Zubayr is . About of precipitation falls annually.

References

External links

Iraq Image - Az Zubayr Satellite Observation
{{Districts of Iraq District capitals of Iraq Former emirates Zubayr