Tikrit is a city in Iraq, located 140 kilometres (87 mi) northwest of Baghdad and 220 kilometres (140 mi) southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. As of 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000.
Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second largest city in Iraq in terms of population and area after the capital Baghdad, with a population of over 3.7 million. Mosul is approximately 400 km (250 mi) north of Baghdad on the Tigris river. The Mosul metropolitan area has grown from the old city on the western side to encompass substantial areas on both the "Left Bank" and the "Right Bank", as locals call the two riverbanks. Mosul encloses the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on its east side.
Nineveh Governorate is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of 37,323 km2 (14,410 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Before 1976, it was called Mosul Province and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate. The second largest city is Tal Afar, which had an almost exclusively Turkmen population.
Assyrians are an ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East. Some self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans. They are speakers of the Neo-Aramaic branch of Semitic languages as well as the primary languages in their countries of residence. Modern Assyrians are Syriac Christians who claim descent from Assyria, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.
Alqosh is a village in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif District and is situated 45 km north of the city of Mosul.
Dayro d-Mor Mattai is located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq and is 20 kilometers from Mosul. It is recognized as one of the oldest Christian monasteries in existence and is famous for its magnificent library and considerable collection of Syriac Christian manuscripts. It is also the center of an Archbishopric, with Bishop Mor Timothius Mousa A. Shamani serving.
Sarsing is a town and sub-district in the Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located in the Sapna valley in the Amadiya District.
Karamlesh is an Assyrian town in northern Iraq located less than 18 miles (29 km) south east of Mosul.
Batnaya is a village in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It is located in the Tel Kaif District in the Nineveh Plains.
Bartella is a town that is located in the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq about 21 kilometres east of Mosul.
Qaraqosh, also known as Al-Hamdaniya or Bakhdida, is an Assyrian city in Iraq within the Nineveh Governorate, located about 32 km (20 mi) southeast of the city of Mosul and 60 km west of Erbil amid agricultural lands, close to the ruins of the ancient Assyrian cities Nimrud and Nineveh. It is connected to the main city of Mosul by two main roads. The first runs through the towns of Bartella and Karamles which connects to the city of Erbil as well. The second, which was gravel until being paved in the 1990s, is direct to Mosul. All of its citizens fled to Kurdistan Region after the ISIS invasion on August 6, 2014. The town was under control of ISIS until October 19, 2016 when it was liberated as part of the Battle of Mosul after which residents have begun to return.
The Assyrian homeland or Assyria refers to areas inhabited by Assyrians. The areas that form the Assyrian homeland are parts of present-day Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. Moreover, the area that had the greatest concentration of Assyrians in the world until recently is located in the Assyrian Triangle.
Nineveh Plains is a region in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate to the north and east of the city Mosul. Control over the region is contested between Iraqi security forces, KRG security forces, Assyrian security forces, Babylon Brigade and the Shabak Militia
The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world. The vast majority of Iraqi Christians are indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking ethnic Assyrians who claim descent from ancient Assyria, and follow the Syriac Christian tradition. Some are also known by the name of their religious denomination as well as their ethnic identity, such as Chaldo-Assyrian, Chaldean Catholics or Syriac Orthodox Church. Non-Assyrian Iraqi Christians are largely Arab Christians and Armenians, and a very small minority of Kurdish, Shabaks and Iraqi Turkmen Christians. Most present-day Iraqi Christians are ethnically, linguistically, historically and genetically distinct from Kurds, Arabs, Iranians, Turks and Turcomen. Regardless of religious affiliation the Eastern Aramaic speaking Christians of Iraq and it's surrounds are one genetically homogeneous people. They identify themselves as being a separate people, of different origins and with a distinct history of their own harking back to ancient Assyria and Mesopotamia. Assyrian Christians also have communities in North Eastern Syria, South Eastern Turkey and North Western Iran as well as in the wider worldwide Assyrian diaspora.
Dair Mar Elia, also known as Saint Elijah's Monastery, was a Christian monastery located just south of Mosul, in the Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It was founded in the late 6th century, and it was one of the oldest monasteries in Iraq. It belonged to the Church of the East, an ancient branch of Eastern Christianity, and then to the Chaldean Catholic Church. The monastery closed in 1743, after its monks were massacred by Persian forces. Its ruins were damaged during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and were later demolished by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014.
Baqofah is a village in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It is located in the Tel Kaif District in the Nineveh Plains.
Mount Alfaf, also known as Mount Maqlub, is a mountain in the Nineveh Plains region in northern Iraq. The mountain lies 30 km to the northeast of Mosul and some 15 km from Bartella. The largest town on the mountain is Merki which is inhabited by Syriac Orthodox Christians.
The Nineveh Plain Protection Units or NPU is an Assyrian military organization that was formed in late 2014, largely but not exclusively by Assyrians in Iraq to defend themselves against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Nineveh Plains is a region where Assyrians in Iraq have traditionally been concentrated.
The Nineveh Plain Forces or NPF was a military organization that was formed on 6 January 2015 by indigenous Assyrian/Chaldean/Aramaic Christians in Iraq, in cooperation with Peshmerga, to defend against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Nineveh Plains are a region at the heart of the Assyrian homeland. The militia is affiliated with the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party and the Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union (HBA), the latter being part of the secular Dawronoye movement. It participated in the Battle of Mosul (2016–17).
