Kirkuk Kirkuk Kirkuk's location in Iraq Coordinates: 35280N 44190E / 35.466667N 44.316667E / 35.466667; 44.316667Coordinates: 35280N 44190E / 35.466667N 44.316667E / 35.466667; 44.316667 Country Iraq Governorate Kirkuk Settled Population (2009 Est.)1  - Total 850 787 Time zone GMT +3  - Summer (DST) GMT +4 (UTC)

Kirkuk (also spelled Karkuk or Kerkuk Kurdish: Kerkk/ Aramaic: Turkish: Kerkk) is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.

It is located at 35.47N 44.41E in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk 236 kilometres (146 miles) north of the capital Baghdad. Kirkuk city lies 83 km south of Arbil 149 km southeast of Mosul 97 km west of Sulaymaniyah and 116 km northeast Tikrit 2

It stands on the site of the ancient Assyrian capital of Arrapha3 which sits near the Khasa River on the ruins of a 5000-year-old settlement (Kirkuk Citadel). Arrapha reached great importance under the Assyrians in the 10th and 11th centuries BC. Because of the strategic geographical location of the city Kirkuk was the battle ground for three empiresthe Neo Assyrian Empire Babylonia and Mediawhich controlled the city at various times.4

Historically the city has always been considered by Kurds5 and Turkmens67 as a cultural capital. It was named the "capital of Iraqi culture" by the ministry of culture in 2010.8

The city currently consists of Arabs Armenians Assyrians Iraqi Turkmens and Kurds. Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 After the Islamic conquest 2.2 Arab immigration 2.3 Kurdish Presence 2.4 Turkmen immigration 2.5 British Occupation 2.6 Entry Into the Kingdom of Iraq 2.7 Discovery of oil 2.8 1970 Autonomy Agreement 2.9 Kirkuk after 2003 3 Future of Kirkuk 4 Main sights 5 Climate 6 Notable people from Kirkuk 7 Sister cities 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Etymology

The ancient name of Kirkuk was the Assyrian Arraphka. During the Parthian era a Korkura is mentioned by Ptolemy which is believed to refer either to Kirkuk or to the site of Baba Gurgur three miles (5 km) from the city.9 Under Greek reign it was known as Karkha D-Bet Slokh which means 'Citadel of the House of Seleucid'10 in Mesopotamian Aramaic the lingua franca of the Fertile Crescent in that era.11

The region around Kirkuk was known during the Parthian and Sassanid periods as Garmakan which in Kurdish means the 'Land of Warmth' or the 'Hot Land'. In the modern Kurdish language "Garm" means warmth;12 the name is still used by the Kurds in the form Garmian with the same meaning.

And from the 7th century when Muslim Arabs conquered the area up to the medieval era Arab writers simply used the name Kirkheni (citadel) to refer to the city.13 Some Arabs used the names Bajermi or Jermakan12 (both Semitic variations of Aryan 'Garmakan').

A cuneiform script found in 1927 at the foot of Kirkuk Citadel stated that the city of Erekha of Babylonia was on the site of Kirkuk. Other sources consider Erekha to have been simply one part of the larger Arrapha metropolis. History Kirkuk Citadel. Originally the city was founded by Hurrian-related Zagros-Taurus dwellers who were known as Gutian people by lowland-dwellers of Southern Mesopotamia. Under its ancient name Arraphkha Kirkuk was capital of Kingdom of Gutium which is mentioned in cuneiform records about 2400 BC.14 The small Hurrian kingdom of Arraphka of which modern Kirkuk was the capital15 was situated along the southeastern edge of the area under Aryan Mittanian domination.16 From 1500 to 1360 BC all kings of Assyria were vassals of kingdom of Mittani.16 Assyria's revolt against the Hurrian kingdom of Mittani probably led to fall of the kingdom in the 14th BC century and ultimately contributed to Mittani empiress collapse.17 The city reached great prominence in the 10th and 11th centuries BC under Assyrian rule. However in 6th BC Assyria was conquered by a union of Medes remaining Hurrian-related tribes and Babylonians.17 After Achaemenids had the region under their dominion; in the Parthian and Sassanid eras Kirkuk was capital of a local kingdom called Garmakan (Kurdish: Garmian). After the Islamic conquest Arab Muslims invaded the Sassanid empire in the 7th century AD. Up to the end of the 14th century AD Kirkuk often administratively and economically belonged to Daquq and they were both at the same time in contact with Arbil the modern capital of Iraqi Kurdistan and Sharazor and their extensions. In the medieval era the city was part - and since the 16th century the capital - of the ancient wilayet of Sharazor which is still important to Kurdistan's economy. Arab immigration The principal Arab extended families in the city of Kirkuk were: the Tikriti and the Hadidi (Arabic: ). The Tikriti family was the main Arab family in Kirkuk coming from Tikrit in 17th century. Other Arab tribes who settled in Kirkuk during the Ottoman Period are the Al-Ubaid (Arabic: ) and the Al-Jiburi (Arabic: ). The Al-Ubaid came from just northwest of Mosul when they were forced out of the area by other Arab tribes of that region. They settled in the Hawija district in Kirkuk in 1935 during the government of Yasin al-Hashimi.18 Kurdish Presence Kurds have a long history in Kirkuk before the Baban family. The Baban family was a Kurdish family that in the 18th and 19th centuries dominated the political life of the province of Sharazor in present-day Iraqi Kurdistan. The first member of the clan to gain control of the province and its capital Kirkuk was Sulayman Beg. Enjoying almost full autonomy the Baban family established Kirkuk as their capital. This persisted even after the Babans moved their administration to the new town of Sulaymaniya named after the dynastys founder in the late 18th century.19 Turkmen immigration Turkmens migrated to Iraq during the Umayyads and Abbasid eras as military recruits. Considerable Turkmen settlement began during the Seljuq era when Toghrul entered Iraq in 1055 with his army composed mostly of Oghuz Turks. Kirkuk remained under the control of the Seljuq Empire for 63 years. The Turkmen settlement in Kirkuk was further expanded later during the Ottoman Era when people were brought to the city from Turkey. Tuzhurmati has been one of the historical Turkmen settlement in Iraq. British Occupation At the end of WWI the British occupied Kirkuk on May 7 1918. Abandoning the city after about two weeks the British returned to Kirkuk a few months later after the Armistice of Mudros. Luckily Kirkuk managed to avoid the troubles caused by the British-backed Shaykh Mahmud who quickly attempted to defy the British and establish his own fiefdom in Sulaymaniyah. The townspeople and tribesmen of Kirkuk notably the Talabani shaykhs demanded to be excluded from Shaykh Mahmud's area of authority before he was put in place. Entry Into the Kingdom of Iraq As both Turkey and Great Britain desperately wanted control of the wilayet of Mosul (of which Kirkuk was a part) the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 failed to solve the issue. For this reason the question of Mosul was sent to the League of Nations. A committee traveled to the area before coming to a final decision: the territory south of the "Brussels line" belonged to Iraq. Kirkuk then became a part of the Kingdom of Iraq. Discovery of oil Main article: Kirkuk Field In 1927 a huge oil gusher was discovered at Baba Gurgur ("St. Blaze" or father blaze in Turkmen and Kurdish) near Kirkuk. The Kirkuk oil field was brought into use by the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) in 1934. The field has remained the basis of northern Iraqi oil production with over ten billion barrels (1.6 km) of proven remaining oil reserves as of 1998. After about seven decades of operation Kirkuk still produces up to one million barrels a day almost half of all Iraqi oil exports.citation needed According to the 1957 census Kirkuk was 40% Iraqi Turkmen 35% Kurdish with Arabs less than 25% of its population.20 Some analysts believe that poor reservoir-management practices during the Saddam Hussein years may have seriously and even permanently damaged Kirkuk's oil field. One example showed an estimated 1500000000 barrels (240000000 m3) of excess fuel oil being reinjected. Other problems include refinery residue and gas-stripped oil. Fuel oil reinjection has increased oil viscosity at Kirkuk making it more difficult and expensive to get the oil out of the ground.21 Overall between April 2003 and late December 2004 there were an estimated 123 attacks on Iraqi energy infrastructures including the country's 7000 km-long pipeline system. In response to these attacks which cost Iraq billions of US dollars in lost oil-export revenues and repair costs the US military set up the Task Force Shield to guard Iraq's energy infrastructure and the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline in particular. In spite of the fact that little damage was done to Iraq's oil fields during the war itself looting and sabotage after the war ended was highly destructive and accounted for perhaps eighty percent of the total damage.22 The discovery of vast quantities of oil in the region after World War I provided the impetus for the annexation of the former Ottoman Wilayah of Mosul (of which the Kirkuk region was a part) to the Iraqi Kingdom established in 1921. Since then and particularly from 1963 onwards there have been continuous attempts to transform the ethnic make-up of the region. Pipelines from Kirkuk run through Turkey to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea and were one of the two main routes for the export of Iraqi oil under the Oil-for-Food Programme following the Gulf War of 1991. This was in accordance with a United Nations mandate that at least 50% of the oil exports pass through Turkey. There were two parallel lines built in 1977 and 1987. 1970 Autonomy Agreement On paper the Autonomy Agreement of March 11 1970 recognized the legitimacy of Kurdish participation in government and Kurdish language teaching in schools. However it reserved judgment on the territorial extent of Kurdistan pending a new census. Such a census according to Kurds would surely have shown a solid Kurdish majority in the city of Kirkuk and the surrounding oilfields as well as in the secondary oil-bearing Kurdish area of Khanaqin south of the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah (Kurdish: Sleman). A census was not scheduled until 1977 by which time the autonomy deal was dead. In June 1973 with Ba'ath-Kurdish relations already souring the guerrilla leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani laid formal claim to the Kirkuk oilfields. Baghdad interpreted this as a virtual declaration of war and in March 1974 unilaterally decreed an autonomy statute. The new statute was a far cry from the 1970 Manifesto and its definition of the Kurdish autonomous area explicitly excluded the oil-rich areas of Kirkuk Khanaqin and Shingal/Sinjar. In tandem with the 19701974 autonomy process the Iraqi regime carried out a comprehensive administrative reform in which the country's sixteen provinces or governorates were renamed and in some cases had their boundaries altered. The old province of Kirkuk was split in half. The area around the city itself was named At-Ta'mim(Arabic: ) ("nationalization") and its boundaries were redrawn to give an Arab majority.23 According to Human Rights Watch from the 1991 Gulf War until 2003 the former Iraqi government systematically expelled an estimated 500.000 Kurds and some Assyrians from Kirkuk and other towns and villages in this oil-rich region. Most have settled in the Kurdish-controlled northern provinces. Meanwhile the Iraqi government resettled Arab families in their place in an attempt to reduce the political power and presence of ethnic minorities a process known as Arabization.24 The "Arabization" of Kirkuk and other oil-rich regions is not a recent phenomenon. Successive governments have sought at various times to reduce the ethnic minority populations residing there since the discovery of significant oil deposits in the 1920s. By the mid-1970s the Ba'ath Party government that seized power in 1968 embarked on a concerted campaign to alter the demographic makeup of multi-ethnic Kirkuk. The campaign involved the massive relocation of tens of thousands of ethnic minority families from Kirkuk Sinjar Khanaqin and other areas transferring them to purpose-built resettlement camps. This policy was intensified after the failed Kurdish uprising in March 1991.252627282930 Those expelled included individuals who had refused to sign so-called "nationality correction" forms introduced by the authorities prior to the 1997 population census requiring members of ethnic groups residing in these districts to relinquish their Kurdish or Assyrians identities and to register officially as Arabs. The Iraqi authorities also seized their property and assets; those who were expelled to areas controlled by Kurdish forces were stripped of all possessions and their ration cards were withdrawn.31 Kirkuk after 2003 American and British military forces led an invasion of Iraq in March 2003 driving Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party from power. A caretaker government was created until the establishment of a democratically-elected government. Since April 2003 thousands of internally displaced Kurds have returned to Kirkuk and other Arabized regions to reclaim their homes and lands which have since been occupied by Arabs from central and southern Iraq. Under the supervision of chief executive of Coalition Provisional Authority L. Paul Bremer a convention was held on May 24 2003 to select the first City Council in the history of this oil-rich ethnically divided city. Each of the city's four major ethnic groups was invited to send a 39-member delegation from which they would be allowed to select six to sit on the City Council. Another six council members were selected from among 144 delegates to represent independents social groups such as teachers lawyers religious leaders and artists. Kirkuk's 30 members council is made up of five blocs of six members each. Four of those blocs are formed along ethnic lines- Kurds Arabs Assyrian and Turkmen- and the fifth is made up of independents. Turkmen and Arabs complained however that Kurds hold five of the seats in the independent block. They are also frustrated that their only representative at the council's helm was an assistant mayor whom they considered pro-Kurdish. Abdul Rahman Mustafa (Arabic: ) a Baghdad-educated lawyer was elected mayor by 20 votes to 10. The appointment of an Arab Ismail Ahmed Rajab Al Hadidi (Arabic: ) as deputy mayor went some way towards addressing Arab concerns. On June 30 2005 through a secret direct voting process with the participation of the widest communities in the province and despite all the political legal security complexities of this process in the country generally and in Kirkuk in particular Kirkuk witnessed the birth of its first elected Provincial Council. The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq IECI approved and announced the outcomes of this process which filled the 41 seats of Kirkuk Provincial Council as follows: 26 seats 367 List Kirkuk Brotherhood List KBL 8 seats 175 List Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF 5 seats 299 List Iraqi Republic Gathering 1 seats 178 List Turkmen Islamic Coalition 1 seats 289 List Iraqi National Gathering The new Kirkuk Provincial Council started its second turn on March 6 2005. Its inaugural session was dedicated to the introduction of its new members followed by an oath ceremony supervised by Judge Thahir Hamza Salman the Head of Kirkuk Appellate Court. Future of Kirkuk Main article: Kirkuk status referendum We don't call these disputed areas we call these areas that were sliced off. Talib Mohamed Hassan Kurdish politician in Khanaqin The Washington Post32 Barham Salih Prime Minister for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Regional Government said that Kirkuk was originally a Kurdish city; it belonged to Kurds rather than to the Iraqi government and only its oil made it a source of tension and that's why "We have a claim to Kirkuk rooted in history geography and demographics. This is a recipe for civil war if you don't address its governance right".33 According to the Kurds the conquerors of Kurdistan have tried to destroy the numerous Kurdish emirates one after the other. Apart from their historical claim for Kirkuk the Kurds invoke Article 58 of the Administration for the state of Iraq for the transitional period also known as Administrative Law of March 8 2004 which is considered the interim constitution of Iraq by the now-dissolved Iraqi Governing Council. Article 58 states in part: The Iraqi Transitional Government shall act expeditious measures to remedy the injustice caused by the previous regime's practice in the demographic character of certain regions including Kirkuk by deporting and expelling them from their place of residence and forcing migration in and out of the region.34 A referendum on whether Kirkuk province should become part of Iraqi Kurdistan was due to be held in November 2007 but has been delayed repeatedly and currently has no firm date. In December 2007 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unscheduled visit to Kirkuk before proceeding to Baghdad where she called on Iraqi leaders to urgently implement a national reconciliation roadmap.35 Main sights Ancient architectural monuments of Kirkuk include: the citadel the qishla the Prophet Daniel's Tomb the market Bazari Pirehmerd. The archaeological sites of Qal'at Jarmo and Yorgan Tepe are found at the outskirts of the modern city. In 1997 there were reports that the government of Saddam Hussein "demolished Kirkuk's historic citadel with its mosques and ancient church".3637 The architectural heritage of Kirkuk sustained serious damage during World War I (when some pre-Muslim Assyrian Christian monuments were destroyed) and more recently during the Iraq War. Simon Jenkins reported in June 2007 that "eighteen ancient shrines have been lost ten in Kirkuk and the south in the past month alone".38 Climate Kirkuk experiences a hot semi-arid climate (Kppen climate classification BSh) with extremely hot and dry summers and cool rainy winters. Climate data for Kirkuk Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Average high C (F) 13.8 (56.8) 15.7 (60.3) 20.1 (68.2) 26.3 (79.3) 33.7 (92.7) 39.8 (103.6) 43.2 (109.8) 42.8 (109) 38.7 (101.7) 31.4 (88.5) 22.6 (72.7) 15.8 (60.4) 28.66 (83.59) Average low C (F) 4.5 (40.1) 5.7 (42.3) 9.0 (48.2) 13.8 (56.8) 19.6 (67.3) 24.5 (76.1) 27.5 (81.5) 27.1 (80.8) 23.2 (73.8) 18.1 (64.6) 11.2 (52.2) 6.3 (43.3) 15.87 (60.58) Precipitation mm (inches) 68.3 (2.689) 66.7 (2.626) 57.3 (2.256) 44.1 (1.736) 13.4 (0.528) 0.1 (0.004) 0.2 (0.008) 0.0 (0) 0.7 (0.028) 12.4 (0.488) 39.1 (1.539) 59.0 (2.323) 361.3 (14.224) Avg. precipitation days 11 11 11 9 5 0 0 0 0 5 7 10 69 Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN) 39 Notable people from Kirkuk Hijri Dede (Kurdish poet) Rafiq Hilmi (a Kurdish poet writer and academic) Adnan Karim (Kurdish musician) Younis Mahmoud (Captain of the Iraqi soccer team) Ali Mardan (Kurdish musician) Mama Risha (prominent member of the Peshmerga) Bakr Sidqi (Kurdish Iraqi general) Sheikh Rezza Talabani (Kurdish poet) Mehmet Trkmehmet (Turkish soccer player) Hussen Ali (Kurdish musician) Seyyid Abdullah Pasha Ottoman Grand Vizier (1747-1750) Ibtisam Abdallah novelist and short story writer Sister cities Arbil Mosul See also Kirkuk (Chaldean Archdiocese) Tomb of Daniel References "World Gazetteer". World Gazetteer. 2009-01-26. http://erbil.ostgotarentvatt.se. Retrieved 2009-01-26.  http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm The Cambridge Ancient History - Page 17 by John Boardman Talabany Nouri (1999). "Iraqs Policy of Ethnic Cleansing: Onslaught to change national/demographic characteristics of the Kirkuk Region". http://www.fortunecity.com/business/laur/791/nourikirkuk.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-05.  Claims in conflict: reversing ethnic cleansing in northern Iraq Human Rights Watch (Organization) Aug. 2004 Vol.16 54. 1 "The Identity of Kirkuk". http://m-i-m.org/theidentityofkerkuk.pdf. "Conclusion"  Cocks Tim (July 21 2009). "U.N. wants Iraq Kurds to drop Kirkuk vote-diplomat". ofReuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLL491827.  http://pukmedia.com/english/index.phpoptioncomcontent&taskview&id15498&Itemid52 Edward Balfour Encyclopaedia Asiatica p. 214 Cosmo Publications 1976 The Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle By Amir Harrak. p. 27. The World's Greatest Story: The Epic of the Jewish People in Biblical Times By Joan Comay. p. 384. a b Iraqs Policy of Ethnic Cleansing: Onslaught to change national/demographic characteristics of the Kirkuk Region by Nouri Talabany Kirkuk and its dependencies: Historically part of Kurdistan - II by Mufid Abdulla William Gordon East Oskar Hermann Khristian Spate The Changing Map of Asia: A Political Geography 1961 - 436 pages p: 105 Soldiers Help Preserve Archeological Sites By Sergeant Sean Kimmons a b Before the Greeks By M. Chahin. p. 77. a b The Cambridge Ancient History By I. E. S. Edwards John Boardman John B. Bury S. A. Cook. p. 178-179. Arabization of the Kirkuk Region (in Arabic) Kurdistan Studies Press Uppsala 2001 p.131. Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire Baban Family Entry. 2 Understanding radical Islam: medieval ideology in the twenty-first centuryBrian R. Farmer page 154 2007 "Kirkuk". GlobalSecurity.org. 2005-07-09. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/kirkuk.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-05.  "Iraq". Country Analysis Briefs. Energy Information Administration. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html. Retrieved 2006-06-05.  "Ba'athis and Kurds". Genocide in Iraq. Human Rights Watch. July 1993. http://hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFAL1.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-05.  3 http://www.hrw.org/reports/1994/iraq/TEXT.htm http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/iraq0303/Kirkuk0303.htm http://www.hrw.org/wr2k/Mena-05.htm http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/mideast4.html http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/WR96/MIDEAST-04.htm http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iraq1217bg.html http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/iraq.html Kurds Arabs Maneuver Ahead of U.N. Report on N. Iraq by Ernesto Londoo Washington Post April 17 2009 Jeffrey Fleishman "Iraqi Melting Pot Nears Boiling Point; In oil-rich Kirkuk Kurds Arabs and Turkmens compete for a place in the new order" Los Angeles Times January 26 2004 Part A Page 1. Article 58 of the Administration for the state of Iraq in Arabic PDF format "Rice pushes "roadmap" as Turkish troops enter Iraq". Reuters. 2007-12-18. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0864778620071219pageNumber1&virtualBrandChannel0.  http://www.meforum.org/article/1075#ftn11 http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2000/photo3.htm Jenkins Simon (June 7 2007). "In Iraq's four-year looting frenzy the allies have become the vandals". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0209827200.html.  "World Weather Information Service Kirkuk". United Nations. http://worldweather.wmo.int/154/c01466.htm. Retrieved 01 January 2011.  External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kirkuk Iraq Image - Kirkuk Satellite Observation Human Rights Watch Report: Kurdish Autonomy and Arabization 1993 Human Rights Developments in Government-controlled Iraq 2001 IRAQ: PEOPLE COME FIRST 2003 International Humanitarian Law Issues In A Potential War In Iraq 2003 Amnesty International Report: Decades of human rights abuse in Iraq 2003 Reversing Arabization of Kirkuk 2004 Iraq: In Kurdistan Land Disputes Fuel Unrest 2004 German-kurdish homepage for politics and culture Insurgents stir up strife in Kirkuk Kurds flee Iraqi town March 15 2003; named Kurds' preferred capital Key Targets in Iraq Anthony H. Cordesman CSIS February 1998; information about the oil resources and facilities Brief Summary of Kirkuk History Kirkuk in Old Ages Numerous research about Kirkuk v d eDistricts of Iraq and capitals Al Anbar Governorate Al-Qa'im District (Al-Ka'im) Ar Rutba District (Al-Rutba) Anah District (Anah) Falluja District (Falluja) Haditha District (Haditha) Ht District (Ht) Ramadi District (Ramadi) Al Muthanna Governorate Al-Khidhir District (Al-Khidhir) Al-Rumaitha District (Al-Rumaitha) Al-Salman District (Al-Salman) Al-Samawa District (Samawa) Al-Qdisiyyah Governorate Afaq District (Afaq) Al-Shamiya District (Al-Shamiya) Diwaniya District (Diwaniya) Hamza District (Hamza) Babil Governorate Al-Mahawil District (Al-Mahawil) Al-Musayab District (Al-Musayab) Hashimiya District (Hashimiya) Hilla District (Hilla) Baghdad Governorate Abu Ghraib District Al Istiqlal District Al-Mada'in District Mahmudiya District (Mahmudiya) Taji District Al Tarmia District Baghdad:Adhamiyah Karkh Karadah Kadhimyah Mansour Sadr City Al Rashid Rusafa 9 Nissan Basra Governorate Abu Al-Khaseeb District (Abu Al-Khaseeb) Al-Midaina District (Al-Midaina) Al-Qurna District (Al-Qurna) Al-Zubair District (Al-Zubair) Basrah District (Basrah) al-Faw District (al-Faw) Shatt Al-Arab District (Shatt Al-Arab) Dhi Qar Governorate Al-Chibayish District (Al-Chibayish) Al-Rifa'i District (Al-Rifa'i) Al-Shatra District (Al-Shatra) Nassriya District (Nassriya) Suq Al-Shoyokh District (Suq Al-Shoyokh) Diyala Governorate Al-Khalis District (Al-Khalis) Al-Muqdadiya District (Al-Muqdadiya) Baladrooz District (Baladrooz) Ba'quba District (Ba'quba) Khanaqin District (Khanaqin) Kifri District (Kifri) Duhok Governorate Amedi District (Amedi) Dahuk District (Dahuk) Sumel District (Sumel) Zakho District (Zakho) Erbil Governorate Makhmour Erbil Koisanjaq District (Koisanja) Shaqlawa District (Shaqlawa) Soran District Mergasur District Choman District Karbala Governorate Ain Al-Tamur District (Ain Al-Tamur) Al-Hindiya District (Al-Hindiya) Kerbala District (Kerbala) Kirkuk Governorate Al-Hawiga District (Al-Hawiga) Daquq District (Daquq) Kirkuk District (Kirkuk) Makhmur District (Makhmur) Maysan Governorate Ali Al-Gharbi District (Ali Al-Gharbi) Al-Kahla District (Al-Kahla) Al-Maimouna District (Al-Maimouna) Al-Mejar Al-Kabi District (Al-Mejar Al-Kabi) Amara District (Amarah) Qal'at Saleh District (Qal'at Saleh) Najaf Governorate Al-Manathera District (Al-Manathera) Kufa District (Kufa) Najaf District (Najaf) Ninawa Governorate Akre District (Akre) Al-Ba'aj District (Al-Ba'aj) Al-Hamdaniya District (Bakhdida) Hatra District (Hatra) Mosul District (Mosul) Shekhan District (Ain Sifni) Sinjar District (Sinjar) Tel Afar District (Tel Afar) Tel Keppe District (Tel Keppe) Salah ad Din Governorate Al-Daur District (Al-Daur) Al-Shirqat District (Al-Shirqat) Baiji District (Baiji) Balad District (Balad) Samarra District (Samarra) Tikrit District (Tikrit) Tooz District (Tooz) Sulaymaniyah Governorate Chamchamal District (Chamchamal) Darbandokeh District (Darbandokeh) Dokan District (Dokan) Halabja District (Halabja) Kalar District (Kalar) Penjwin District (Penjwin) Pshdar District (Pshdar) Rania District (Rania) Sharbazher District (Sharbazher) Sulaymaniya District (Sulaymaniya) Wasit Governorate Al-Hai District (Al-Hai) Al-Na'maniya District (Al-Na'maniya) Al-Suwaira District (Al-Suwaira) Badra District (Badra) Kut District (Kut)