Сулеймания: История и современность иракского Курдистана

City in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (; السليمانية), 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 (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) 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. Slemani was the home of poets such as Nalî, Mahwi, and Piramerd. The modern city of Slemani was founded in 1784 by the Ottoman Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban, who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha. Slemani was the capital of the historic principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850.

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. 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. 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.

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 Sulaymaniyah. According to Iraqi government documents, by 1947 the number of residents had increased to 23,475. The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani estimated the number of inhabitants in 2016 at 800,000.

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.

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.

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.

In recent years, many people in Slemani have distanced themselves from Kurdish nationalism as the Kurdistan Workers Party is experiencing a surge.

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