SulaymaniyahSulaymaniyah, also spelled Slemani (Silêmanî; as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) 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, Mahwi, and Piramerd.
Oil-for-Food ProgrammeThe Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) was established to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military capabilities. The programme was introduced by United States President Bill Clinton's administration in 1995, as a response to arguments that ordinary Iraqi citizens were inordinately affected by the international economic sanctions aimed at the demilitarisation of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, imposed in the wake of the first Gulf War.
IraqisIraqis (العراقيون) are people who originate from the country of Iraq. Iraqi Arabs are the largest ethnic group in Iraq, followed by Iraqi Kurds, then Iraqi Turkmen as the third largest ethnic group. Other ethnic groups include Yazidis, Assyrians, Mandaeans, Armenians, and Marsh Arabs. Iraq consists largely of most of ancient Mesopotamia, the native land of the indigenous Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian civilizations, which was subsequently conquered, invaded and ruled by foreigners for centuries after the fall of the indigenous Mesopotamian empires.
ShahrizorShahrizor or Shahrazur (شارهزوور / Şarezûr) is a region part of Kurdistan Region, Iraq situated in the Silêmanî Governorate and west of Hewraman. Shahrizor is a fertile plain watered by the tributaries of Tandjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers. The name Shahrazur is likely derived from two Iranian words: shah (king) and (forest), hence sharazur meaning kingly forest. Herzfeld based on the fact that in classical sources the name was spelt with an initial /s/ rather /sh/, suggested white forest, which he connected with the Avestan legends.
KhanaqinKhanaqin (خانقين; خانەقین) is the central city of Khanaqin District in Diyala Governorate, Iraq, near the Iranian border (8 km) on the Alwand tributary of the Diyala River. The town is populated by Kurds who speak the Southern Kurdish dialect. Khanaqin is situated on the main road which Shia pilgrims use when visiting holy Islamic cities. The city is moreover rich in oil and the first Iraqi oil refinery and oil pipeline was built nearby in 1927. The main tribes of Khanaqin include Kalhor, Feyli, Zand, Malekshahi Suramiri, Arkavazi and Zangana.
Achaemenid AssyriaAthura (𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼𐎠 Aθurā), also called Assyria, was a geographical area within the Achaemenid Empire in Upper Mesopotamia from 539 to 330 BC as a military protectorate state. Although sometimes regarded as a satrapy, Achaemenid royal inscriptions list it as a dahyu (plural dahyāva), a concept generally interpreted as meaning either a group of people or both a country and its people, without any administrative implication.
Casualties of the Iraq WarEstimates of the casualties from the Iraq War (beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the ensuing occupation and insurgency and civil war) have come in several forms, and those estimates of different types of Iraq War casualties vary greatly. Estimating war-related deaths poses many challenges. Experts distinguish between population-based studies, which extrapolate from random samples of the population, and body counts, which tally reported deaths and likely significantly underestimate casualties.
Iraqi ArmeniansIraqi Armenians (أرمنيون عراقيون ’Armanion Iraqion; Armenian: իրաքահայեր irakahayer) are Iraqi citizens and residents of Armenian ethnicity. Many Armenians settled in Iraq after fleeing the 1915 Armenian genocide. It is estimated that there are 10,000–20,000 Armenians living in Iraq, with communities in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk, Baqubah, Dohuk, Zakho and Avzrog. The history of Armenians in Iraq is documented since late Babylonian times.
Constitution of IraqThe Constitution of the Republic of Iraq (دستور جمهورية العراق Kurdish: دەستووری عێراق) is the fundamental law of Iraq. The first constitution came into force in 1925. The current constitution was adopted on September 18, 2005 by the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq, and confirmed by constitutional referendum, held on October 15, 2005. It was published on December 28, 2005 in the Official Gazette of Iraq (No. 4012), in Arabic original, and thus came into force.