However in the mid 1990s, fighting broke out between the two main Kurdish factions; the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Biglari, F and S. Shidrang (2019) Rescuing the Paleolithic Heritage of Hawraman, Kurdistan, Iranian Zagros, Near Eastern Archaeology 82 (4): 226-235. [6] It has about 879,000 inhabitants,[1] and Erbil Governorate has a permanent population of 2,009,367 as of 2015[update]. A new bus terminal was opened in 2014.[43]. During the Middle Ages, Erbil became a major trading center on the route between Baghdad and Mosul, a role which it still plays today with important road links to the outside world. In Friday’s meetings, the delegation discussed with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu how to develop Ankara’s relationship with Iraq, particularly in the Kurdistan region, Rudaw said. There is no appreciable middle class, and many remain poor. The capital city of the principality was first in Sharazor, but was moved to Sinne later on. The mountains and plains surrounding the city allow for grapes, pomegranates, pears, figs, apples and walnuts to be grown. During the reign of Shah Ismail I, the founder of Safavid dynasty, Sunni Kurds (among them the Ardalans) were supported by Ottoman against the Shi'ite government of the Safavids. During the coalition forces occupation of Iraq, sporadic attacks hit Erbil. “There are just some technical issues that need completing, which I hope will be soon.”. Erridupizir, king of the language isolate speaking kingdom of Gutium, captured the city in 2150 BC.

Other art forms like traditional singing in small circles is very famous in Erbil, Singers like Karwan Khabati, Awat Bokani, Farman Belana and Khdr Begalasi who are prominent names and perform 3-5 times a week at private and public events, these folk singers make up to 10,000$ a session in Erbil while in other cities they could make $1,000, therefore, they try their best to make a name for themselves in Erbil. Cave Kereftoo, close to Divandarreh, is a unique natural and at the same time archeological site. It is one of the most ancient cities in the world, dating back at least to 2300 bce. The parliament of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region was established in Erbil in 1970 after negotiations between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Mustafa Barzani, but was effectively controlled by Saddam Hussein until the Kurdish uprising at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, many Kurds hoped for the establishment of an independent state in Kurdistan.

Erbil (Hewlêr, in Kurdish) or Arbela (as it was known in ancient history) is the capital, largest and most populated city, with a population of 879,000 inhabitants (as of 2015), in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdish Parliament in Erbil reconvened after a peace agreement was signed between the Kurdish parties in 1997, but had no real power.

Cambridge University Press. Iraq, 75, 1-42. doi:10.1017/S0021088900000401. After Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 Erbil came under Soran emirate In 18th century Baban Emirate took the city but it was retaken by Soran ruler Mir Muhammed Kor in 1822 The Soran emirate continued ruling over Erbil until it was taken by the Ottomans in 1851. As many of the Assyrians who had converted to Christianity adopted Biblical (including Jewish) names, most of the early bishops had Eastern Aramaic or Jewish/Biblical names, which does not suggest that many of the early Christians in this city were converts from Judaism. The city has been part of the Kingdom of Assyria, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. Erbil is also home to a large population of refugees due to ongoing conflicts in Syria and in the rest of Iraq. The capital of Kurdistan Province is the city of Sanandaj. Today the Assyrian people, a Syriac-speaking community who claim descent from Akkadian speakers, endure as a minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, south east Turkey and north west Iran, their population is estimated to be 3.3 million. Some, such as Hajar Khatoon Mosque in Sanandaj or Ghal'eh Kohneh in Bijar, date back to the Sassanid era. The city of Erbil is administered as a district, headed by a qāʾim-maqām (mayor). Erbil’s Kurdish Sunni Muslim majority speaks the Sōrānī Kurdish dialect. The University of Kurdistan (Hewler), which offers instruction in English, opened in 2006. After the Mongols captured the citadel in 1258, Erbil's importance began to decline. Merchants, using the road network, trade these items to surrounding cities and regions (Erbil Chamber, 2018). Kurdistan, broadly defined geographic region traditionally inhabited mainly by Kurds. Pottery fragments dating from the Neolithic period have also been found. Herzfeld, E. (1968). (2005). Retrieved from Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kurdistan_Region#cite_note-16, Erbil Citadel. Iraqi Kurdistan fought against the Islamic State (ISIS) with its peshmarga military force and has been home to around one million displaced people, “allowing it to maintain its former strong position”, he said. However, they refused and the Mongols returned to Arbela and were able to capture the city after a six-month long siege. There are both public and private schools. Archeological excavations and research has found older architecture buried under present houses.

[23] During the Parthian era to early Sassanid era, Erbil became the capital of the Ashkenazi-Riphathean[21][22] state of Adiabene. The name Erbil was mentioned in Sumerian holy writings of third millennium BC as Urbilum, Urbelum or Urbillum,[10] which appears to originate from Arbilum. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Erbil has a primary and secondary education system modeled on that of the British system.

[13][14] In July 2014, the Citadel of Arbil was inscribed as a World Heritage site. Most businesspeople are merchants, buying and selling food and services connected mostly with the construction industry. Wheat, barley, grains and fruits are the major agricultural products. In addition to oil, Erbil has a small industry based on agriculture. [8] At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Erbil and Mudhafaria Minaret.

The Muslims conquered Erbil in the 7th century, but it was not until Erbil was razed by the Turkic conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) in the late 14th century that it became largely Muslim. Retrieved October 2, 2019, from Macropolis: https://www.marcopolis.net/kurdistan-oil-a-gas-oil-sector-growing-amid-political-wrangling.htm, Kurdistan24. Dominating the old city, the citadel has been built upon seven layers of civilization. In the past there also was an important Jewish presence in Erbil, the last remnants of which departed after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

It has been claimed that the site is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the world. According to National Census, in 2011 population of Kurdistan Province was 1,493,645 out of which 66% lived in urban area. With records of human settlement dating back to the fifth millennium BC, Erbil is rich in history and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in the world, if not the oldest. Erbil, also spelled Arbīl or Irbīl, Assyrian Arba-ilu, Greek Arbela, Kurdish Hawler or Hewler, city, capital of Erbil muḥāfaẓah (governorate), northern Iraq. Another important form of transportation in the city are busses. Turkey’s military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan territory continue, despite objection from Baghdad, because of the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in the area, Dizayi said. Erbil, or Arbil, also known in Kurdish as Hewlêr, is the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan and home to the governing bodies of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

KDP claimed that on March 1996 PUK asked for Iran's help to fight KDP. The city was captured by the KDP in 1996 with the assistance of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Its populace then gradually converted from the Mesopotamian religion between the 1st and 4th centuries to Christianity—primarily the Chaldean Catholic Church (and to a lesser degree to the Syriac Orthodox Church), with Pkidha traditionally becoming its first bishop around 104 AD. Erbil International Airport is one of Iraq's busiest airports and it is near the city. The Ardalan Dynasty continued to rule the region until the Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah (1848-1896) ended their rule in 1867 CE. A new bus terminal opened in 2014, which offers connections to Turkey and Iran. In 2009, a Neo-Assyrian chamber tomb was found at the foot of the citadel mound. This page was last edited on 23 September 2020, at 02:43. Erbil has a primary and secondary education system modeled on that of the British. Erbil is the birthplace of Ibn Khallikān (1211–82), the Muslim jurist famous as the compiler of a great biographical dictionary of Arab scholars, and, in modern times, İhsan Doğramacı (1915–2010), a famous Turkish physician and educational administrator, and Abdulla Pashew (born 1946), an eminent Kurdish poet. Over the millennia, Erbil has been ruled by such empires as those of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medians, and Achaemenids and later the Sassanid Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Arabs, and Ottomans. Erbil, capital of Erbil governorate, Iraq. A Kurdish newspaper journalist interviewing a resident in Erbil, Iraq. Retrieved October 2, 2019, from Kurdistan24: https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/culture/979793c3-413d-485c-8045-2a7930baaa2d, New York Times. Under the Median Empire, Cyaxares might have settled a number of people from the Ancient Iranian tribe of Sagartians in the Assyrian cities of Arbela and Arrapha (modern Kirkuk), probably as a reward for their help in the capture of Nineveh. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Erbil has experienced an incredible economic boom that has brought tall buildings, modern housing, expensive hotels, new well-paved two- and four-lane roads, shopping centres, excellent restaurants, parks, and a hospital.

Professor of Political Science, Tennessee Technological University. pic.twitter.com/1qZTzbMG21. 2006 population included in figure for Qorveh County, from which it was split off in 2007. [50] Erbil citadel has been inscribed on the World Heritage List on 21 June 2014 . Erbil or Hawler (Kurdish: ھەولێر ,Hewlêr‎[2][3]; Arabic: أربيل‎[4]; Syriac: ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ‎[5]), known in ancient history as Arbela and also spelled Arbil, Arbel and Irbil, is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. Erbil International Airport was briefly closed to international commercial flights in September 2017 by the Iraqi government in retaliation for the Kurdish independence vote but reopened in March 2018. The Kurdistan region is important to foreign countries for political, diplomatic, as well as economic reasons, Dizayi said. The ancient Mesopotamian religion did not die out entirely in the region until the 10th century AD. A housing project in the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. There also are private primary and secondary schools. Lake Vahdat's dam, to the north of Sanandaj (Sinne), provides excellent opportunities for fishing and water-sports. Taxis and buses provide public transportation. Banking services have been established and a stock exchange is under development. The local major football team is Erbil SC which plays its matches at the Franso Hariri Stadium, which is based in the central part of the city. The territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh), Khanaqin, Kirkuk, and Kifri, which were already the homelands of the Goran-Kurds, all belonged to this principality. However, it remained part of Assyria under Persian, Greek, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid rule until the first half of the 7th century AD. The major activities of the inhabitants are agriculture and modern livestock farming. Studies, B. I.