Portal:Kurdistan/Selected article/November

Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and capital of Kirkuk Governorate. The present city of Kirkuk, which lies in the Kurdistan geographical region, stands on the site of the ancient Assyrian capital of Arrapha, which sits near the Khasa River on the ruins of a 5,000-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 empires, Assyria, Babylonia, and Media, who controlled the city at various times. Kirkuk is the centre of the northern Iraqi petroleum industry. It is an historically and ethnically mixed city populated by, Kurds,Assyrians,Arabs and Turkmen.The population was estimated at 755,700 in 2003. more...