Arbil

Erbil ܐܲܪܒܝ̣ܠ ھەولێر أربيل Arbelā, Hawler, Arbīl
Clockwise, from top: Downtown, Mudhafaria Minaret, Statue of Ibn al-Mustawfi, and Citadel of Erbil
Erbil Erbil in Iraq
Coordinates: 36°11′28″N 44°0′33″E / 36.19111°N 44.00917°E / 36.19111; 44.00917Coordinates: 36°11′28″N 44°0′33″E / 36.19111°N 44.00917°E / 36.19111; 44.00917
Country	Iraq
Autonomous region	Iraqi Kurdistan
Province	Erbil Governorate
Government
• Governor	Nawzad Hadi
• Mayor	Nihad Qoja
Elevation	420 m (1,380 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,025,000
Time zone	GMT+3 (UTC+3)
• Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC)
Postal code	31019
Area code(s)	66

Erbil, also spelt Arbil or Irbil, and also known as Hewler (Central Kurdish: ھەولێر Hawler‎, Syriac: ܐܪܒܝܠ‎ Arbel, Arabic: أربيل‎‎ Arbīl), is the capital city of Erbil Governorate and of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is located approximately 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Baghdad. Its governorate has a permanent population of approximately 1.61 million as of 2011^[update].

Human settlement at Erbil can be dated back to possibly 5000 BC, and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in the world. At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Arbil. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Ur III dynasty of Sumer, when king Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum, the ancient Assyrian name of modern-day Arbil.

Erbil became an integral part of Assyria by at least the 21st century BC, and it was known variously as Urbilim, Arbela and Arba-ilu. It was part of the geopolitical province of Assyria, under several regional powers in turn, including the Median Empire, the Achaemenid Empire (Achaemenid Assyria), Macedonian Empire, Seleucid Syria, Parthian Empire (Athura), Assyria (Roman province) and Sassanid Empire (Assuristan). Following the Arab conquest of Persia, Assyria as a geo-political entity (then known as Assuristan/Athura) slowly dissolved, and during medieval times the city came to be ruled by the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks.