Kirkuk

For other uses, see Kirkuk (disambiguation).

Kirkuk
City
View of the Kirkuk citadel from outside
View of the Kirkuk citadel from outside
Kirkuk is located in Iraq
Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Location within Iraq
Coordinates: 35°28′0″N 44°19′0″E / 35.46667°N 44.31667°E / 35.46667; 44.31667
Country Iraq[1]
GovernorateKirkuk
DistrictKirkuk
Elevation
350 m (1,150 ft)
Population
 (2023 est.)
 • Total
1,075,000[2]
Time zoneGMT +3

Kirkuk (Arabic: كركوك;[3] Kurdish: کەرکووک, romanized: Kerkûk;[4] Syriac: ܟܪܟܘܟ, romanized: Kerkouk;[5] Turkish: Kerkük[6]) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located 238 kilometres (148 miles) north of Baghdad.[7] The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs.[8] Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Citadel which sits near the Khasa River.

It is described by the Kurdish leader and former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani as “the Jerusalem of Kurdistan”, while it is seen by the Turkmen activist Fatih Salah as the cultural and historical capital of Iraqi Turkmens.[9] The government of Iraq states that Kirkuk represents a small version of Iraq due to its diverse population, and that the city is a model for coexistence in the country.[10][11]

  1. ^ Hanish, Shak (1 March 2010). "The Kirkuk Problem and Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution: The Kirkuk Problem". Digest of Middle East Studies: 15–25. doi:10.1111/j.1949-3606.2010.00002.x. ISSN 1060-4367. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Iraq - The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  3. ^ "كركوك.. محافظة عراقية تتنازعها القوميات" (in Arabic). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. ^ "محافظة كركوك کەرکووک Kerkûk" (in Kurdish and Arabic). 14 April 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Zowaa" (PDF). Bahra Magazine. 2005.
  6. ^ "Irak'ın Kerkük kentindeki patlamalarda 16 kişi yaralandı". Anadolu Agency (in Turkish). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Google Maps Distance Calculator". Daftlogic.com. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  8. ^ Bet-Shlimon, Arbella (2012). "Group Identities, Oil, and the Local Political Domain in Kirkuk: A Historical Perspective". Journal of Urban History. SAGE Publications. doi:10.1177/0096144212449143. S2CID 145293772.
  9. ^ "Kirkuk: A major centre of Iraqi Turkmen culture | Nazli Tarzi". Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  10. ^ "العبادي: نريد فرض سلطة اتحادية في "العراق المصغر"". Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. ^ "قضية كركوك: رؤية في الأبعاد الإستراتيجية والحلول المقترحة". fcdrs.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 14 April 2022.