Nineveh Governorate is a governorate in northern Iraq that contains the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. It was an integral part of Assyria from the 25th century BC to the seventh century AD. It has an area of 37,323 km2 (14,410 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Tal Afar is the second-biggest city. Before 1976, it was called Mosul Province and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate, which is now part of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region in northern Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Dohuk, Erbil, Halabja and Sulaymaniyah and bordering Iran, Syria and Turkey. The Kurdistan Region encompasses most of Iraqi Kurdistan but excludes the disputed territories of Northern Iraq, contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central Iraqi government in Baghdad since Southern Kurdish autonomy was realized in 1992 in the aftermath of the Gulf War. The Kurdistan Region Parliament is situated in Erbil, but the constitution of the Kurdistan Region declares the disputed city of Kirkuk to be the capital of the Kurdistan Region. When the Iraqi Army withdrew from most of the disputed areas in mid-2014 because of the ISIL offensive in Northern Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga entered the areas and held control there until they surrendered the city to Iraqi government forces in October 2017.
Kurdish women have traditionally played important roles in Kurdish society and politics. In general, Kurdish women's rights and equality have improved dramatically in the 21st century due to progressive movements within Kurdish society. However, despite the progress, Kurdish and international women's rights organizations still report problems related to gender inequality, forced marriages, honor killings, and, in Iraqi Kurdistan, female genital mutilation (FGM).
The mass media in Iraq includes print, radio, television, and online services. In fact, Iraq became the first Arab country to broadcast from a TV station, in 1954. As of 2005 about 80 radio stations and 25 television stations were broadcasting to Iraq in Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen, and Neo-Aramaic.
The mass media in Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available in English and French. While television is the most popular medium in Syria, the Internet has become a widely utilized vehicle to disseminate content. Transcending all available media, the government seeks to control what Syrians see by restricting coverage from outside sources. Publications and broadcasts are monitored by members of the government. Syria is ranked as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. There were 28 journalists killed in combat in 2012.
Chopy Fatah is a contemporary Kurdish singer. She was born in Kirkuk, Iraq.
Dashni Morad is a Kurdish singer, songwriter, television presenter, human rights & environmental activist. Born in Kurdistan, she moved to Holland as a refugee with her family in 1997. She rose to prominence in 2005 through her television show, "Bê Kontrol", which was the first of its kind in the Kurdistan Region to explore pop culture and related aspects of contemporary Western culture candidly. Many people in the Kurdistan Region, particularly the youth, consider Dashni to have broken down cultural and traditional barriers for young women.
Erbil or Hawler, known in ancient history as Urbil and Arbela, is the capital and most populated city in Kurdistan Region in Iraq. It has around 1.5 million inhabitants, while Erbil Governorate has 2,932,800 inhabitants as of 2020.
Nawshirwan Mustafa was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the General Coordinator of the Movement for Change and the leader of the opposition in the Kurdistan Region from 1 April 2009 to his death on 19 May 2017.
Zagros TV . (Kurdish: زاگرۆس تیڤی) is a Kurdish language satellite television station in Iraqi Kurdistan, broadcasting since 2007. It belongs to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and is based in Erbil.
In the aftermath of the 2010 election, great attention was given to the decision on who should be the next Iraqi PM. Both al-Iraqiyya's Allawi and the State of Law coalition's al-Maliki laid claim to the post, so it was seen as up to the Kurdish parties and the Iraqi National Alliance to decide this matter.
Relations of Kurdistan Region of Iraq with foreign states and organizations are conducted by the Kurdistan Region. Political stability and a rapidly developing economy have given the KRG the opportunity to pursue a foreign policy independent from the central government's. The KRG's primary body for directing its foreign affairs is the Department of Foreign Relations (DFR). The DFR's foremost objectives are to raise the global profile of the Kurdistan Region, improve the Region's international ties with various governments and international organizations, and present emerging business opportunities in the Kurdistan Region to regional and international actors.
Rudaw Media Network, also known as Rudaw, is a media group in Iraqi Kurdistan. It publishes in Kurdish, English, Arabic and Turkish. Rudaw Media Network also owns a weekly newspaper in the Sorani dialect with a circulation of 3,000, a Kurmanji version published in Europe, a website in Kurdish, English, Arabic and Turkish and a satellite TV station. The network is funded and supported by Rudaw Company and aims to impart news and information about Kurdistan and the Middle East.
An independence referendum for Kurdistan Region of Iraq was held on 25 September 2017, with preliminary results showing approximately 92.73 percent of votes cast in favour of independence. Despite reporting that the independence referendum would be non-binding, the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) characterised it as binding, although they claimed that an affirmative result would trigger the start of state building and negotiations with Iraq rather than an immediate declaration of independence of Kurdistan. The referendum's legality was rejected by the federal government of Iraq.
The history of Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) goes back to the days when there were no independent media networks in the Kurdistan Region. The corporation claims to be independent.
Kurdistan 24 (K24) is a Kurdish broadcast news station based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, with foreign bureaus in Washington, DC and Cologne, Germany. The service was launched on October 31, 2015, with television programs being broadcast in the Sorani and Kurmanji dialects of Kurdish, as well as in English and Turkish. The station is owned by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Noreldin Waisy is the founder and former General Manager of Kurdistan 24. The current General Manager is Mohammed Kerim.
Greece–Kurdistan Region relations are bilateral relations between Greece and Kurdistan Region. Greece has an economic and commercial office in Erbil, while Kurdistan Region has no representation in Greece. In February 2017, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias described Kurdistan as having a geostrategic role in the region and constitutes an important element in Greek geostrategic policy, and these were the reasons Greece opened a consulate general in Erbil in May 2016. In an interview with Alpha Radio, Kotzias stated that the Kurdish independence referendum in September 2017 was guaranteed by the Iraqi constitution and that Kurdistan Region has a right to hold it. Vice-President of the Greek party New Democracy Adonis Georgiadis has stated that his party supports the referendum and the Kurdish right to self-determination.
Daniel Madland is Kurdish singer and television host in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Noreldin Waisy,, is an Kurdish political analyst and journalist. He helped found the Kurdish media broadcasting outlets Rudaw and Kurdistan 24. He served as the general manager of Kurdistan 24, based in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil, from 2015 to 2019. Waisy currently serves as the press secretary to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
