Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

🇮🇶 Sulaymaniyah, also called Slemani, is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Goyzha and Qaywan Mountains in the north-east, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cool wet winters.

From its foundation Sulaymaniyah was always a centre of great poets, writers, historians, politicians, scholars and singers, such as Nalî, Mahwi, and Piramerd. The modern city of Sulaymaniyah was founded in 1784 by the Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban, who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha. Sulaymaniyah was the capital of the historic principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850.

History The region of Slemani was known as Zamwa prior to the foundation of the modern city in 1784. The capital of the Kurdish Baban principality (1649–1850), before Slemani, was a territory named "Qelaçiwalan". At the time of the Babani's rule there were major conflicts between the Safavid dynasty and the Ottoman Empire. Qelaçiwalan became a battleground for the two rivals.

Being of strategic importance and lying deep inside Safavid territory, there was concern that Qelaçiwalan would be attacked and captured if the Babani did not give the Safavids military support, as both Sultan Mahmud II and Nader Shah were trying to gain the support of the dispersed Kurdish Emirates. This obliged Mahmud of Baban in 1781 to think about moving the centre of the emirate to a safer place. He chose Melkendî, then a village but now a district in central Slemani, to construct a number of serahs.

In 1783, Ibrahim Baban became ruler of the emirate and began the reconstruction of a city which once constructed by Ottoman Sultan Sulaiman (the name of Sulaimaniyah came from his name) new city which would become its capital. In 1784 he finished erecting a number of palaces for trade called Qeyserîs and bazaars, which were also used as baths, and began inviting people from the surrounding villages and emirates to move to the newly established city. Soon Melkendî, which was originally intended to be the city itself, instead became one of its quarters. The new city of Slemani was named after Sulaiman Baba, who was the first Baban prince to gain control of the province of Şarezûr. Sulaiman Baban invaded the neighboring Kurdish vassaldom of Ardalan, defeating their forces in 1694. Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II assigned him the district of Baban.

According to Jewish tradition, Sulaiman baban emphasized the importance of a town having Jewish residents for its completeness. A mission was then sent to Qaradagh, a town with a thriving Jewish community, and surrounding villages. The Jews of Qaradagh responded by sending the first group of Jewish inhabitants to Sulaimaniya.

In the early 1800s refugees from Ardalan moved to Slemani, including Mastura Ardalan, the widow of Xosraw Xanî Erdalan, the ruler of the kingdom. Erdalan wrote an account of Kurdish history in Persian and was buried in Slemani when he died in 1848.

From 1922 to 1924, Slemani was the capital of the Kingdom of Kurdistan, a short-lived unrecognized state declared by Iraqi Kurds following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Demographics In 1820, only 36 years after the creation of the city, a British man named Rech visited the city and estimated that its population was more than ten thousand, containing 2,144 families of which 2,000 were Muslim, 130 Jewish, and 14 Christian.

Ottoman documents from 1907 suggest that there were 8,702 Muslim and 360 non-Muslim residents living in the city at that time. The Peshkawtin newspaper which was distributed in Slemani in 1920 estimated its population to be around ten thousand.

The early 1920s Iraqi Revolt against the British rule of the Mandate for Mesopotamia led by Shaikh Mahmud triggered a wave of Jewish emigration from Sulaimaniya.

According to Iraqi government documents, by 1947 the number of residents had increased to 23,475. In the same year, records documented the existence of three hundred Jewish families, comprising a total of 1,517 individuals. Notably, nearly the entire Jewish community, except one family, made aliyah to the emerging State of Israel in 1951–52.

By 1998, the local population was estimated at 548,747, which grew in 2015 to an estimated 656,100.

The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani estimated the number of inhabitants in 2016 at 800,000.

Geography The city is located in northern Iraq and Southern Kurdistan.

Education The University of Slemani was opened in 1968 with instruction in Kurdish, Arabic, and English. It has faculties in engineering, agriculture, the arts, science, and medicine. It is the largest university in the Kurdistan Region. A second university, Sulaimani Polytechnic University was established in 2012, also teaching in Kurdish, English and Arabic.

In 2007 The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani, (AUI-S) was a new addition to the American universities in the Middle East, graduating its fifth class in 2016. Instruction at this private, not-for-profit liberal arts university is in English only, featuring a US-accredited program in English as a Second Language (ESL). There are a number of other private universities.

Culture Two independent newspapers Hawlati and Awena and two independent political magazines Lvin and Shock, are published and distributed in Slemani city. Since 2016, there exists an International Film Festival in the city which is organized by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Sulaymanya.

Slemani is the only city in South Kurdistan that regularly celebrates World Music Day or Fête de la Musique. In one trip to the city, a journalist working for the BBC wrote about Slemani's distinct culture:"Culture is hugely important to the Kurdish people, especially in Slemani, but there is a strong pull to the west—modernisation and consumerism—driven perhaps by the satellite televisions they have had access to since they started running their own affairs…And at the university, students mill around the campus, chattering with each other and doing some last-minute cramming for their exams. The war only stopped lectures for a few weeks. There are probably more women than men and they are happy to air their views to anyone who asks".

Economy Since 2003, Slemani has experienced a growing local economy. Its economy today relies on tourism, agriculture and a number of small factories, most of which are involved in the building trade.

In 2004 the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis in Iraq released an in-depth survey of the Slemani Governorate in which they surveyed each city. In this survey, one can see the economic boom of 2003 mentioned earlier.

Economy: Tourist Industry The city was visited by more than 60,000 tourists in 2009. Slemani attracted more than 15,000 Iranian tourists in the first quarter of 2010, many drawn by the fact it is not subject to strict laws faced at home. Newroz 2010 drew an exodus of Iranian tourists choosing to celebrate the event in the region.

Culture: Museums • Sulaimani Museum: It is the second biggest museum after the national museum in Baghdad. It is home to many Mesopotamian, Kurdish and ancient Persian artifacts dating back to 1792–1750 BC. • Amna Suraka museum • Museum of Modern Art (Mozehanai Hunari Howchah) • Sulaimani Archeological Museum.

Sites • Tomb of king Cyaxares of Media, Qyzqapan.

Transport The city is served by Sulaimaniyah International Airport, with service on many commercial airlines, including Iraqi, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and Turkish Airlines.