Sulaymaniyah Governorate (Sorani Kurdish: پارێزگای سلێمانی; Kurmanji Kurdish: Parêzgeha Silêmaniyê; Arabic: محافظة السليمانية) or Sulaymaniyah Province is a governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its largest city is Sulaymaniyah. Halabja Governorate was formerly the Halabja District of Sulaymaniyah, until it became a separate governorate in 2014.
The Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous federal region of the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority governorates of Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. It is located in northern Iraq, which shares borders with Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, and Syria to the west.
It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government (in Erbil) and the Government of Iraq (in Baghdad) to the present day. The Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil, the capital of KRI.
West Azerbaijan province (Persian: استان آذربایجان غربی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia.
It is in the northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey (Ağrı, Hakkâri, Iğdır and Van Provinces), Iraq (Erbil and Sulaymaniyah Governorates) and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as the Iranian provinces of East Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and Kurdistan. West Azerbaijan province is part of Region 3. It is separated from Armenia by Turkey's short border with the Azerbaijan Republic. The province covers an area of 39,487 km, or 43,660 km including Lake Urmia.
Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (Kurdish: سلێمانی, romanized: Silêmanî; Arabic: السليمانية, romanized: as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Goizha and Qaiwan Mountains in the northeast, 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 cold wet winters.
The modern city of Slemani was founded in 1784 by the Ottoman-Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban in Collaboration with Azim Beg and Haji Aziz Bey Aghal Dwanze Swarey Meriwane Jawamer Agha Rangena, who named it after his father Sulayman Pasha. Slemani was the capital of the historic Kurdish principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850.
Halabja Governorate (Kurdish: پارێزگای ھەڵەبجە, romanized: Parêzgay Helebceyê, Arabic: محافظة حلبجة, romanized: Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalabja) is a governorate in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The governorate was established in 2014, splitting off from Sulaymaniyah Governorate and becoming the fourth governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Halabja. Halabja Governorate is the least populated governorate.
Although officially recognized by Kurdistan Regional Government, the Iraqi government had not officially recognized it until April 14th 2025 due to postponing of the hearing regarding its status multiple times by the Council of Representatives of Iraq, which is the only legislature in Iraq capable of declaring it as such.
Shahrizor or Shahrezur (Kurdish: شارەزوور, romanized: Şarezûr) is a fertile plain in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, situated in the Silêmanî Governorate and west of Hewraman. Shahrizor plain is watered by the tributaries of Tanjaro river which flows to Diyala and Tigris rivers.
The Diyala (Arabic: نهر ديالى Nahr Diyālā; Kurdish: Sîrwan; Farsi: دیاله Diyâlah, سيروان Sīrvān) is a river and tributary of the Tigris. It is formed by the confluence of the Sirwan and Tanjaro rivers in Darbandikhan Dam in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of Northern Iraq. It covers a total distance of 445 km (277 mi).
The Paikuli inscription (Kurdish: پەیکوڵی, romanized: Peykulî, Persian: پایکولی, in Arabic: بيكولي) is a bilingual text corpus in Parthian and Middle Persian, inscribed on the stone blocks of the Paikuli Tower's walls. The tower is located in the southern part of Iraqi Kurdistan, near the modern-day village of Barkal in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. These inscribed stone blocks are now housed in the Sulaymaniyah Museum, with the field only containing the stones used in the tower’s construction. The inscription was erected as a monument to victory and explains how and why the Sasanian emperor Narseh overthrew his grandnephew from power.
In 293 Narses marched from Armenia in open revolt against his nephew with a host of supporters and allies, whose names are recorded on the Paikuli inscription.