Zaxo
Zaxo | ||
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location | ||
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Coordinates | 37 ° 9 ' N , 42 ° 41' E | |
Country | Iraq | |
Autonomous Region | Kurdistan | |
Governorate | Dahuk | |
Basic data | ||
Residents | 350,000 (2012) | |
mayor | Khalil Mahmoud | |
View of Zaxo |
Zaxo ( Kurdish زاخۆ Zaxo ; Arabic زاخو, DMG Zāḫū ) is a city in the Dahuk Governorate of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in Iraq .
geography
Geographical location
Zaxo is the northernmost city in the autonomous region of Kurdistan and is located on the border with Turkey , on the route from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing to Mosul . Due to its special location, the city of Zaxo has an essential logistical influence on freight traffic to the autonomous region of Kurdistan and Iraq.
The Xabûr River flowed around it when the city was built (in the 5th century at the latest). After the area of Zaxos was enlarged, the Xabûr now divides the city, with most of the area still being surrounded by the river. There are four bridges over the river and the main one is the Delal Bridge which is a Roman bridge.
Before the advent of the automobile, Zaxo was an important city due to the river. Possibly Zaxo is identical with the city of Bēṭzāk ,ū, which is mentioned in a Syriac-Aramaic manuscript from the 11th century.
climate
The climate in Zaxo is warm. The summer is dry and hot, the winter rainy and cold. In the months of June to September there is almost no rainfall. The climate of the city of Zaxo is rainier and cooler compared to the entire Kurdistan region.
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Zaxo
Source: Climate-Data.org
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Residents
Most of the city's residents are Kurds who speak a variant of Kurmanji , the Bahdini. Historically, the Kurdish feudal lords from Şemdinli , which is now part of Turkey, had a great influence on Zaxo. There were also Christian and Jewish communities in Zaxo. The religious groups lived together peacefully in their own neighborhoods. After the establishment of the State of Israel , many Kurdish Jews emigrated. Before emigrating, around 350 Jewish families lived in the city. The city's Christians are made up of Arameans and Armenians . Together they made up about 5000 people in 1992.
During the Second Gulf War , the population grew rapidly due to the massive flight of the Kurds to the north. The city is now part of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region .
education
The city has been the seat of the University of Zaxo since July 2010 . This makes the University of Zaxo one of the 11 state universities in the autonomous region.
origin of the name
According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam , Second Edition, the name is of Aramaic origin and means "victory". It is unclear whether the city "bēt̲zāk̲h̲ū" ("House of Victors"), which is mentioned in an Aramaic manuscript from the 11th century, is identical to today's Zaxo.
Personalities
- Yona Sabar (* 1938), Kurdish-Jewish scholar, linguist and researcher
- Jitzchak Mordechai (* 1944), Israeli general and politician
- Ramzi Garmou (* 1945), Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Diyarbakır
- Louis Raphaël I. Sako (* 1948), Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church
- Erdewan Zaxoyî (1957–1986), Kurdish musician
- Kovan Sindî , Kurdish poet and writer
- Karosh Taha , Kurdish-German writer (* 1987)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.duhokhealth.org/en/centers/zakho
- ^ Mordechai Zaken: Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival . Chapter One / Zakho. BRILL, 2007, ISBN 90-04-16190-2 , pp. 33 ( google.com [accessed May 10, 2016]).
- ↑ Haya Gavish: Unwitting Zionists: The Jewish Community of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan . Zakho, on Island in the River. Wayne State University Press, 2010, ISBN 0-8143-3366-4 , pp. 13 ( google.com [accessed May 10, 2016]).
- ↑ University homepage
- ↑ Universities in the Kurdistan Region , homepage of the government of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition, sv ZĀK̲H̲Ū.