Duhok
Duhok
Dihok / دهۆک | |
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City | |
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Top-bottom, R-L: View over Dohuk American University of Dohuk • Sharansh Waterfall Dohuk at night • Assyrian Mar Narsai Church | |
  Duhok | |
| Coordinates: 36°52′N 43°0′E / 36.867°N 43.000°E | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Region |  Kurdistan Region |
| Governorate | Duhok Governorate |
| District | Duhok District |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ali Tatar |
| Elevation | 1,854 ft (565 m) |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 340,900+[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Arabian Standard Time) |
| Postcode | 42001 |
| Area code | 062 |
| Website | http://duhok.gov.krd |
Duhok (Template:Lang-ku,[2][3] Template:Lang-ar,[4] Template:Lang-syr[5][6]) is the capital city of Duhok Governorate, Kurdistan Region in Iraq.
History
The city's origin dates back to the Stone Age, and it became part of the Assyrian Empire, then the Babylonian Empire before it fell into the hands of Achaemenid Empire after the Fall of Babylon, and subsequently fell into the hands of Alexander the Great and the Romans. It became an important center of Syriac Christianity where it was known as "ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ" Beth Nohdry, before fading out after the conquests of Mesopotamia by Tamerlane.[7]
According to Evliya Çelebi, the city was initially called Dohuk-e Dasinya, named after the militant Dasini tribe who were believers of Yazidism. The Yazidi population is still relatively significant[vague], but has decreased due to persecution. This made it possible for Muslims, Christians and Jews to settle in the town.[8]
The city became prominent in 1236, when Hasan Beg Saifadin[who?] joined the Bahdinan Principality. In 1842, the principality was dissolved by the Ottomans and the region was administered from Mosul.[9] In 1820, Claudius Rich described Dohuk as a small town of 300 houses and the principal settlement of the Kurdish Doski tribe, who also lived in eighty villages. In 1851, Henry Aaron Stern pointed at the heterogenous composition in the city and mentioned a Jewish presence. He also mentioned that the mayor was a Chaldean Catholic. In 1859, the city had two minyans according to Rabbi Yechiel.[8]
In 1929, the city had a population of 3,500 people, of which a majority was Kurdish. Out of the 550 families, 65 were Christian and 30 were Jewish. The city also housed Tyari and Chaldean refugees from Turkey.[8]
Modern times
Tens of thousands of Yazidi and Assyrian Christian internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in the city as well due to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) expansion in Iraq in 2014 and the subsequent Fall of Mosul and the Nineveh Plains region after two more months of fighting, in addition to the Sinjar massacre in which 5,000 Yezidis were massacred during the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL.[10][11] According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM-Iraq), as of June 2019, Duhok Governorate hosted 326,106 IDPs across 169 different locations.[12]
Archaeology
In 2020, researches discovered in the Balyuz hills, ten kilometers west of Duhok City, an ancient tablet with Greek inscription which dates back to 165 B.C. The inscriptions refers to Demetrius, the ruler of the region during that time.[13]
Seven kilometers southwest of Duhok, Halamata Cave is an archaeological site containing the Assyrian relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs, associated with the northern canal system built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (r. 704-681 BCE) to carry water to his capital city of Nineveh".[14]
Climate
According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, Duhok, like most of Upper Mesopotamia, has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) featuring very hot, virtually rainless summers and cool to cold, wet winters. Precipitation falls in the cooler months, being heaviest in late winter and early spring. The city can get around two or three snowy days per year, with heavier falls in the uplands. Summers are virtually rainless, with rain returning in late autumn.
| Climate data for Duhok, Iraq | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 20 (68) |
27 (81) |
30 (86) |
34 (93) |
38 (100) |
41 (106) |
45 (113) |
46 (115) |
44 (111) |
39 (102) |
31 (88) |
24 (75) |
46 (115) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 11 (52) |
14 (57) |
19 (66) |
24 (75) |
32 (90) |
38 (100) |
42 (108) |
41 (106) |
37 (99) |
29 (84) |
20 (68) |
13 (55) |
27 (80) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7 (45) |
10 (50) |
14 (57) |
18 (64) |
25 (77) |
31 (88) |
34 (93) |
34 (93) |
29 (84) |
22 (72) |
14 (57) |
9 (48) |
21 (69) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3 (37) |
5 (41) |
9 (48) |
13 (55) |
18 (64) |
23 (73) |
27 (81) |
26 (79) |
21 (70) |
15 (59) |
8 (46) |
6 (43) |
15 (58) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4 (25) |
−6 (21) |
−1 (30) |
3 (37) |
6 (43) |
10 (50) |
13 (55) |
17 (63) |
11 (52) |
4 (39) |
−2 (28) |
−2 (28) |
−6 (21) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 101 (4.0) |
120 (4.7) |
111 (4.4) |
70 (2.8) |
38 (1.5) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
10 (0.4) |
57 (2.2) |
108 (4.3) |
616 (24.3) |
| Average rainy days | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 62 |
| Average snowy days | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 60 | 53 | 46 | 39 | 23 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 28 | 42 | 62 | 34 |
| Source 1: My Forecast[15] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Levoyageur for rainfall[16] | |||||||||||||
See also
References
- ^ "Iraq: Governorates, Major Cities & Urban Centers - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de.
- ^ "K24 rêjeya dengdanê li navçeyên cuda yên Herêma Kurdistan belav kir". Kurdistan24 (in Kurdish). Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ "كوردستانی سەرسوڕهێنەر- وێبسایتی فەرمی دەستەی گشتی گەشت و گوزار". bot.gov.krd. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ "مقتل وإصابة ثلاثة من "البشمركة" بهجوم لـ"الكردستاني" في دهوك". The New Arab (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Kadr, Salahden Ghareb (2010). Klimatische Optimierung von verdichteten Wohnhäusern in Irakisch-Kurdistan (in German). Univerlagtuberlin. ISBN 978-3-7983-2238-7.
- ^ "Duhok". Retrieved Oct 6, 2020.
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Syriac Language and Literature". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
- ^ a b c Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. BRILL. p. 79. ISBN 9789004161900.
- ^ Hassanpour, Amir (1988). "BAHDĪNĀN". Encyclopedia Iranica. III.
- ^ Khalel, Sheren; Vickery, Matthew (27 October 2014). "The Forgotten Yazidis". Foreign Policy Magazine.
- ^ Interactive. "Iraq's exodus". www.aljazeera.com.
- ^ "DTM-IOM-Iraq Mission". iraqdtm.iom.int. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ Researchers in Kurdistan's Duhok find artifact over 2,000 years old
- ^ "Maltai Rock Reliefs | Mapping Mesopotamian Monuments". mcid.mcah.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
- ^ "Dahuk, Iraq Climate". My Forecast. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
- ^ "Climate, weather, temperatures - City : DUHOK". Levoyageur. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
External links
Media related to Dohuk at Wikimedia Commons- Iraq Image - Dahuk Satellite Observation
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