Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymānīyah (السليمانية) is a city in the southeast of greater Kurdistan and the northeast of Iraq, located at 35.55°N, 45.45°E. It is the capital of Sulaymaniyah province (part of the Kurdish Autonomous Region).
It founded in 1786 by a Kurdish prince known as Ibrahim Pasha who named it for his father Sulaiman Pasha (Sulaiman is the Islamic version of the name Solomon). After being founded as the capital of a powerful Kurdish principality it has since then grown in population numbers to around 800,000. As the cultural centre of the Sorani-speaking Kurds, it is major cultural centre for the Soranis and the Kurds in general. It is also an important economic centre for Iraqi Kurdistan and is also known for it's strong economic ties with Iran. Since liberation by the Nawshirwan Mustafa in 1990, it has been administered by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. (This information is current as of 2004.)
See also
Categories: Cities and towns in Iraq | Middle East geography stubs