Ain Sifni

Shekhan
city
A street in Shekhan
Shekhan Location in Iraq
Coordinates: 36°41′30″N 43°21′00″E / 36.69167°N 43.35000°E / 36.69167; 43.35000Coordinates: 36°41′30″N 43°21′00″E / 36.69167°N 43.35000°E / 36.69167; 43.35000IQ
Country	Iraq
District	Shekhan

Ain Sifni is the capital of the Sheikan district in northern Iraq. Its inhabitants are primarily is Yazidis. It is one of the primary holy cities of the ethno-religious group of the Yazidis, and functions as a capital for them as it is the residence of the Princes of Shekhan, the leader of the Yazidi people, with the current prince being Tahseen Said. The town is also the seat of the Shekhan District in the Mosul Governorate in Northern Iraq.

The town is mainly populated by Yazidis, with a minority of Assyrian Christians. The churches are Mar Yusuf (Saint Joseph) Chaldean Catholic and Mar Kyriakos, which belongs to the Assyrian Church of the East. The languages spoken in the town are the Kurdish dialect of Kurmanji, Arabic and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic.

The Assyrian name of the town, Ain Sifni, comes from Aramaic, the language spoken by Assyrians. Its name comes from the words "aina," meaning "[water] spring," and "sapanna," meaning "sailor." The name of the town means "[water] spring of the sailor."

Beginning on August 10, 2014, Yazidi refugees have been fleeing to the town and Lalish from Sinjar through Syria after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant placed that city under siege.