Description : Kirkuk (Arabic: كركوك, Kurdish: Kerkûk ,کەرکووک, Syriac: ܟܪܟܘܟ, Turkish: Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located 238 kilometres (148 miles) north of Baghdad. Kirkuk has a diverse population and experienced demographic changes during its urbanization in the twentieth century. Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens lay conflicting claims to the city. The city sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Citadel which sits near the Khasa River. Kirkuk was proclaimed the "capital of Iraqi culture" in 2010. It is also the capital of the Kurdistan Region according to its constitution. Arab Muslims fought the Sassanid empire in the 7th century AD, conquering the region. The city was a part of the Islamic Caliphate until the tenth century. Kirkuk and the surrounding areas were then ruled by the Hasanwayhid Kurds & Annazid Kurds from 1014 to 1120 AD, then it was taken over by Seljuk Turks for many years. After the divided empire collapsed, the city came under the Abbasids rule once again Suleiman Shah who was the governor of the city until it was taken over by Mongols in 1258. After the Mongol invasion, the Ilkhanate State was founded in the region and the city became a part of the Mongol Ilkhanate. The Ilkhanate region was then in 1336 The Ardalan Kurds took over the city, despite being vassals themselves of the various in Persia centred succeeding Turkic federations in the region, namely that of the Kara Koyunlu, and the Ak Koyunlu specifically. After the battle of chaldiran in 1514 the city came under the soranid Kurds control until it was taken over by Babanids in 1694. In 1851 it became under direct control of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Rule continued until World War I when the Ottoman Empire was overthrown in the region by the British Empire.
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