Salah ad-Din Governorate
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Saladin Governorate صلاح الدين Salah ad Din Province |
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|---|---|
| Governorate | |
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| Coordinates: 34°27′N 43°35′E / 34.450°N 43.583°ECoordinates: 34°27′N 43°35′E / 34.450°N 43.583°E | |
| Country |
 Iraq
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| Capital | Tikrit |
| Governor | Raed al-Jabouri |
| Area | |
| • Total | 24,751 km2 (9,556 sq mi) |
| Population (2011 ) | |
| • Total | 1,408,200 |
| Official language(s) | Arabic |
The Saladin or Salah ad Din Governorate (Arabic: صلاح الدين, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn) is a governorate in Iraq, north of Baghdad. The governorate has an area of 24,363 square kilometres (9,407 sq mi). The estimated population in 2003 was 1,042,200 people. The capital is Tikrit; the governorate also contains the significantly larger city of Samarra. Before 1976 the governorate was part of Baghdad Governorate.
The province is named after Saladin (written Salah ad-Din in modern Arabic Latin transcription), a Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders at Hattin, and who hailed from the province. Salah ad Din was the home province of Saddam Hussein; he was born in Al-Awja, a town near Tikrit.
Saladin Governorate contains− a number of important religious and cultural sites. Samarra, the governorate's largest city, is home to both the Al-Askari Shrine (an important religious site in Shia Islam where the 10th and 11th Shia Imams are buried), the Sardab, where the 12th Imam al-Mahdi went into occultation, and the Great Mosque of Samarra with its distinctive Malwiya minaret. Samarra was also the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century CE, and today Abbasid Samarra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ancient Neo-Assyrian Empire Assyrian city of Assur is located in Al-Shirqat District on the banks of the Tigris River. Other sites in the governorate include the Crusader Dome (القبة الصلبية) north of Samarra and the Al-`Ashaq Palace (قصر العاشق).
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