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Greater Iran · IraqDraft

Iraqi Kurdistan

کردستان عراق

Capital: Erbil

Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and the mountains of Kurdistan in Iraq, where Kurdish, an Iranian language, is spoken.

Milad TowerShrine of Fatima MasumehNaqsh-e Jahan SquareFin GardenPersepolisArg-e BamThe Lut desertDowlat Abad GardenTomb of FerdowsiTomb of Omar KhayyamGonbad-e QabusMount DamavandMasulehSheikh Safi al-Din ShrineTabriz BazaarTakht-e SoleymanQara KelisaDome of SoltaniyehAlamut CastleGanjnamehUramanBisotunFalak-ol-AflakChogha ZanbilZard KuhMount DenaSirafHormuz IslandShahr-e SukhtehDasht-e KavirFriday Mosque of HeratMinaret of JamArch of BostBlue MosqueBabur's GardenBamiyan nichesMinarets of GhazniAncient PanjakentRegistanArk of BukharaItchan Kala, KhivaAncient MervNisaMaiden TowerMausoleum of NezamiErbil CitadelBolan PassTaq KasraAkdamar IslandWalls of DiyarbakırGarni TempleNarikalaNaryn-KalaDargavsQal'at al-BahrainKumzar

Kurdish belongs to the western branch of the Iranian languages, and the Kurdish homeland spans the Zagros and Taurus mountains across four countries. In Iraq, the Kurdistan Region is centred on Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok.

The citadel of Erbil, a mound built up over thousands of years of continuous settlement, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sulaymaniyah, founded by the Baban princes in 1784, is a centre of Kurdish poetry and culture.

Cities and towns

  • Erbilاربیل

    The city of the ancient citadel

  • Sulaymaniyahسلیمانیه

    A centre of Kurdish letters

  • Duhokدهوک

    A town in the northern mountains

Landmarksبناها و نشانه‌ها

  • Erbil Citadel

    ارگ اربیل

    A mound of thousands of years of settlement

Iraqi Kurdistan through time

Iranian history
  1. Elam and the first cities4000 BCE
  2. The Medes850 BCE
  3. The Achaemenids550 BCE
  4. Seleucids and Parthians330 BCE
  5. The Sasanians224
  6. The Arab conquest and the Persian revival636
  7. Seljuks, Mongols and Ilkhanids1040
  8. The Timurids1370
  9. The Safavids1501
  10. Afsharids, Zands and Qajars1736
  11. The Pahlavi century and after1925

550–330 BCE

The Achaemenidsهخامنشیان

From Cyrus to Darius III, the first Persian empire stretched from the Aegean to the Indus and left behind Persepolis, the Cyrus Cylinder and a model of kingship the region would long remember.

  • 331 BCE Alexander defeats Darius III near Arbela
  • 2007 Residents moved out for restoration
  • 2014 Erbil Citadel inscribed by UNESCO