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IRBIL

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also Arbil or Erbil (anc. Arbela), city, N Iraq, E of Mosul. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it was founded before 2300 bc by the Sumerians and called Urbillum. On the caravan route between Baghdad and Mosul, Irbil became, and continues to be, an important commercial center. Salahuddin University (1968) in located here.

The ancient name, Arbela, is often erroneously applied to the battle fought in 331 bc at Gaugamela, a village W of Arbela, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, king of Persia. Irbil, which served as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, was the site of fierce fighting between Kurdish factions in the mid-1990s. Irbil’s economy flourished in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as a “no-fly” zone enforced by the U.S. and Britain shielded the Kurdish-controlled region from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The Irbil region was a staging area for military action during the war (see Persian Gulf Wars: War of 2003) that toppled the Hussein regime in April 2003. Pop. (1996 est.) 750,000.

An article from Funk & Wagnalls® New Encyclopedia. © 2006 World Almanac Education Group. A WRC Media Company. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by written agreement, uses of the work inconsistent with U.S. and applicable foreign copyright and related laws are prohibited.

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ENCYCLOPEDIA:

IRBIL,

On the caravan route between Baghdad and Mosul, Irbil became, and continues to be, an important commercial center. Irbil, which served as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, was the site of fierce fighting between Kurdish factions in the mid-1990s. Irbil’s economy . . .

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ENCYCLOPEDIA: GAUGAMELA, BATTLE OF,