Duhok Province
It is one of the provinces in the Southern part of Kurdistan and the central city of it is Duhok. This Province has common borders with Hassichah Province in Syria. Before 1969, Duhok was a part of Nineveh Province under the name of Mosul Province. The population of this city was 1,292,535 in 2018.
Most of the citizens in this province are Kurdish people and there is a minority of Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians living here, too. The main religious groups living in this province are Muslims, Yazidis, and Christians.
Duhok Bandaw (dam), Zaweta, Sarsang, Amedi, Akre, Zakho, and Solav are among the most important cities of Duhok Province that are all tourist attractions. After a great academic attempt in February 2011, Amedi Castle was recorded in the UNESCO monument list.
Duhok City
Duhok is a big city in the Southern part of Kurdistan. It is also the central city of Duhok Province in the Badinan region. The people speak the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language.
Since Duhok is located on a strategic geographical location, it has become a developed business center and it is an important trading center for the Kurdistan Region now.
There are various opinions on the name of this city, however, the most prominent idea is that Duhok means "two mountains or two eggs".
This city possesses all four seasons' weather conditions; the hot dry summers of the Mediterranean Sea, and cold rainy winters.
Duhok is famous for its beautiful views and it is also one of the most attractive regions where the citizens and the tourists can feel all four seasons here.
There are more than 42 ancient monuments in this region such as the Great Mosque, the old market that is in the center of the city, Saint Eth Alaha Church, Sharokha Caves, Halamat, and Charstine which is a significant old place and very popular among the tourists.
The Marth Eth Alaha is one of the tourist attractions in Duhok which is a church and it is particularly used by this region's Christians. This church is on the way from Duhok to Zakho. This church has a large hall designed in a classic way and it is built on an old Babylon design. The ceiling is shaped like a dome with a big cross on top of it. The interior design of this church is decorated with various paintings.
Duhok is a historical city
Duhok possesses an ancient and historical background that traces back to 681 to 705 A.D.
This city has always had a historical and geographical strategic position throughout history. What must be regarded is that Duhok was a business corridor among Iraq, Turkey, and Syria and it has been a gate for the South part of Kurdistan. All of this information has been recorded in the historical documents of this city.
The origins of this city go back to the Stone Age. Duhok became a part of the Assyrian Empire and later a part of the Babylon Empire. After the Babylon Empire collapsed, this city was ruled by the Achaemenids, then Alexander III of Greece dominated it and finally, the Roman Empire occupied the city.
Duhok and "Gainesville" in the U.S are sister cities
On March 9, 2021, in an online ceremony, the two cities of Duhok and Gainesville in America were declared to be sister cities.
Dr. Ali Tatar, the governor of Duhok and "Lorin Po", the Mayor of Gainesville participated in this ceremony and they signed a memorandum of agreement that these two cities will be sister cities.
Dr. Ali Tatar told the South part of Kurdistan media: "The sisterhood of Duhok and Gainesville is to strengthen the economic, tourist, academic, cultural, agricultural, industrial and some other fields among these two cities."
He also pointed out that, "Florida University is a well-known university in the United States and we will be pleased to have a cooperative agreement between Duhok and Florida Universities so that we both could benefit from this agreement."
Gainesville is located in the Alachua region in Florida State. Florida University is the fifth largest university in the U.S.
Duhok is the winner of a prize for World Peace
In 2019, Duhok won a prize for World Peace in South Africa.
Every year this prize will be granted to Peace Cities, particularly those cities that provide the opportunity of peaceful life for the citizens. Since Duhok hosted thousands of Yazidis, Christian refugees, and others, it won the first prize for World Peace.
In addition to the fact that Duhok is a city of various religions, it also has been able to host thousands of Yazidis, Christians, and Kurdish people from Rojava, too.
