Kirkuk (governorate)

كركوك Kirkūk
Basic data
Country	Iraq
Capital	Kirkuk
surface	10,282 km²
Residents	1,500,000 (2008)
density	146 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	IQ AI
Districts of the governorate

Coordinates: 35 ° 18 '  N , 44 ° 0'  E

Kirkuk ( Arabic كركوك, DMG Kirkuk , Kurdish کەرکووک Kerkûk , Aramaic ܟܪܟ ܣܠܘܟ, from 1976 to 2006 at-Taʾmīm  /التأميم / 'Nationalization') is an Iraqi governorate with an area of ​​10,282 km² and a population of 1.5 million (2008). The majority of the population are now Kurds . Since the Iraq war in 2003, around 100,000 Arabs have left the governorate, while around 300,000 Kurdish refugees have returned. The Kurds speak Sorani . In addition, there are still Arabs , Turkmens and Arameans . The capital of the governorate is the city of the same name, Kirkuk . After the US invasion in 2003, part of the governorate is under the control of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region . Since July 2014 , the governorate has been largely under Kurdish control after the Iraqi armed forces withdrew. The south around Hawijah was under IS control until September 2017 . Several battles took place just south of the city. In September 2017, Hawijah and the surrounding area were captured by the Iraqi armed forces. From October 2017, the Iraqi Armed Forces began an attack on Kirkuk and the surrounding area. On October 16, 2017, the Kurds withdrew largely without a fight.

The province was divided into three parts from 2014 to October 2017: yellow = Kurds, gray = IS, red = central government, after October 2017 IS was expelled from this region

The districts of the governorate are:

• al- Hawijah (Hawija)
• Daquq
• Kirkuk
• ad dibis

Reorganization of the governorate borders

In the course of the Arabization policy of the Baathre regime , the governorate lost a considerable part of its area. Some districts were added to other provinces. Tuz Churmatu came to Salah ad-Din and Jamjamāl to as-Sulaimaniyya . The name of the governorate was changed to at-Taʿmīm ("the nationalization ") in 1972 to symbolize the nationalization of the petroleum industry, which is centered in Kirkuk. In the course of the unwinding of the Arabization policy, the province is to regain its formerly associated districts. The affected districts would be Kifri, Jamjamāl, Tuz Churmatu and Kalar. The aim of the reorganization of the governorate borders is to influence the ethnic population, i.e. to achieve a non-Kurdish or Kurdish majority in the governorate.

In 2006 the former name Kirkuk was reintroduced.

Trivia

• On October 15, 2005, according to official figures, 62.91 percent of 542,688 voters voted yes for the new Iraqi constitution , but Sunni Arabs had largely boycotted the vote.
• Since December 2008, in addition to Arabic and Kurdish , Turkmen and Syriac-Aramaic have also been the official languages ​​of the governorate.

swell

1. ↑ IRAQ: Ethnic tensions mount in Kirkuk ( memento from March 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), November 16, 2006
2. ^ Zeit.de : Kurds put fighters on standby
3. ↑ Welt.de : Iraq's army starts military operation against Kurds in Kirkuk
4. ↑ tagesschau.de: Background: Iraq and the Kurds. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .