Urbilum

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
• Type	Governorate (1921)
• Governor	Nawzad Hadi
• Mayor	Nihad Qoja
Area
• Total	197 km2 (76 sq mi)
Elevation	390 m (1,280 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,750,000
Time zone	GMT+3 (UTC+3)
• Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC)
Postal code	44001
Area code(s)	066
Website	http://hawlergov.org/ku/index.php

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 The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Ur III dynasty of Sumer, when king Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum, the ancient Assyrian name of modern-day Arbil.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 the kingdom of Assyria by at least the 21st century BC through to the end of the 7th century BC, and it was known in Assyrian annals variously as Urbilim, Arbela and Arba-ilu. After this it was part of the geopolitical province of Assyria under several empires 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), as well as being the capital of the Neo-Assyrian state of Adiabene between the mid 2nd century BC and early 2nd century AD. 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.