Kirkuk Governorate

Kirkuk Governorate (Arabic: محافظة كركوك, romanized: Muḥāfaẓat Karkūk,^[3] Kurdish: پارێزگای کەرکووک, romanized: Parêzgeha Kerkûkê/Parêzgayi Kerkûk,^[4][5] Turkish: Kerkük ili^[6][7]) or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an area of 9,679 square kilometres (3,737 sq mi). In 2017 the estimated population was 1,259,561 people.^[8] The provincial capital is the city of Kirkuk. It is divided into four districts.

Kirkuk Governorate
Governorate
Flag
Coordinates: 35°22′N 44°8′E / 35.367°N 44.133°E / 35.367; 44.133Coordinates: 35°22′N 44°8′E / 35.367°N 44.133°E / 35.367; 44.133
Country	Iraq (Disputed territories of Northern Iraq)^[1]
Capital	Kirkuk
Government
• Type	Provincial government
Area
• Total	9,679 km^2 (3,737 sq mi)
Population  (2018)
• Total	1,597,876
Official language(s)	Arabic, Kurdish, Syriac and Turkish
HDI (2018)	0.708^[2] high · 1st of 17

The province was named Kirkuk Governorate until 1976, when it was named At-Ta'mim Governorate, meaning "nationalization", referring to the national ownership of the regional oil and natural gas reserves. In 2006, the name "Kirkuk Governorate" was restored.^{[citation needed]}

Governorate government

 

Districts of Kirkuk Governorate

• Governor:Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri^[9]
• Provincial Council Chairman (PCC): Rebwar Talabani^[10]

Districts

District	Total population, 2018
Kirkuk	974,824
Dibis	50,241
Daquq	66,433
Hawija	120,679

Demographics

Using census data and other primary and secondary sources, including voter registration rolls and food ration registry, Khalil Fadl Osman traces demographic changes in Kirkuk since the 1920s and investigates how these changes inflamed ethnic tensions.^[11] Kirkuk Governorate borders were altered in 1976; when 4 districts were added to the Sulaymaniya, Diyala and Saladin Governorates. With these 4 districts, in the Kirkuk Governorate the Kurds would form a clear majority.^[12] The Kirkuk Governorate received the Arab populated Zab District from the Mosul Governorate.^[13]

With the Arabization policies of the Ba'ath party, the number of Arabs in official censuses increased fivefold within 40 years, however the most reliable data indicative of the ethnic breakdown of the governorate are those of the 1957 census.^[14] The number of Kurds remained relatively constant from 1957 until 1977, decrease in their numbers coincides with the Arabization process in the 1990s.^[15] The Turkmens were seriously affected by the Ba'ath changing Kirkuk borders their percentage fell from 21% to 7%.

Starting from 1977, 2,000 Christians (Assyrians) were registered as Arabs. From the end of the Gulf War to 1999, about 11,000 Kurdish families were deported from Kirkuk.^[16] Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 100,000 Kurds have returned to the city of Kirkuk.^[17]

Statistics

Ethnic data from a League of Nations report from 1925 and British data from 1924, 1930 and 1931:

Ethnic data for Kirkuk Governorate (liwa)
Ethnicity	1924^[18]	%	1925^[19]	%	1930^[20]	%	1931^[18]	%
Kurdish	79,646	54.4%	47,500	42.5%	67,703	49.5%	77,608	56.7%
Turkmen/Turk	28,395	19.3%	26,100	23.4%	28,741	21%	28,741	21%
Arab	35,649	24.4%	35,650	31.9%	26,561	19.4%	26,561	19.4%
Jewish	1,703	1.2%	-		6,742	4.9%	2,472	1.8%
Christian	1,000	0.7%	2,400	2.1%	1,228	0.9%	1,228	0.9%
Other			-		-		192	0.1%
Total	146,393		111,650		136,705		136,802

Census results for Kirkuk Governorate^[14]
Mother tongue	1947 (Ethnicity)	Percentage	1957	Percentage	1977	Percentage	1997	Percentage
Arabic			109,620	28%	218,755	45%	544,596	72%
Kurdish	151,575^[21]	53%	187,593	48%	184,875	38%	155,861	21%
Turkish			83,371	21%	80,347	17%	50,099	7%
Syriac			1,605	0.4%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hebrew	4,042^[22]	1.05%	123	0.003%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Other			6,545	1.77%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	285,900^[21]		388,829		483,977		752,745

A report by the International Crisis Group points out that figures from 1977 and 1997 censuses "are all considered highly problematic, due to suspicions of regime manipulation" because Iraqi citizens were only allowed to indicate belonging to either the Arab or Kurdish ethnic groups;^[23] consequently, this skewed the number of other ethnic minorities, such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Iraqi Turkmen.^[23]

2018 election results

The following is the results of the 2018 Iraqi parliamentary election in the Kirkuk governorate. Election results are often used to estimate the demographics of the region. However, Iraqi citizens do not necessary vote for parties based on its ethnic affiliation.

Party		Total vote^[24]	Percentage	Seats
	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan	183,283	37.8%	6
	Arab Alliance of Kirkuk	84,102	17.4%	3
	Turkman Front of Kirkuk	79,694	16.4%	3
	Victory Coalition	24,328	5%	0
	Conquest Alliance	18,427	3.8%	0
	National Coalition	14,979	3.1%	0
	Nishtiman coalition Movement for Change Coalition for Democracy and Justice Kurdistan Islamic Group	14,118	2.9%	0
	New Generation Movement	13,096	2.7%	0
	Chaldean Coalition Reserved Christian Seat	4,864	1%	1
	Kurdistan Islamic Group	4,631	1%	0
	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council	3,810	0.8%	0
	Others	39,286	8.1%	0
Total		484,618	100%	12(+1)

See also

• 2009 Kirkuk governorate election
• Arabization and Kurdification
• Disputed territories of Northern Iraq

References

1. Hanish, Shak (1 March 2010). "The Kirkuk Problem and Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution: The Kirkuk Problem". Digest of Middle East Studies: 15–25. doi:10.1111/j.1949-3606.2010.00002.x. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
2. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
3. "الرئيسية". kirkuk.gov.iq (in Arabic). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
4. "کۆبوونەوەی ئەنجوومەنی پارێزگای کەرکووک شکستی هێنا" (in Kurdish). Retrieved 21 December 2019.
5. "Hevpeymanîya Kurdistanî bi 96 namzedan dikeve hilbijartinan". Rûpela nû (in Turkish). 17 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
6. "Bir Türkmen Şehri Kerkük". Dergipark. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
7. Yawooz Hameed Mahmood,1Murat Kütük, Tawis Mohammed Kamel Ahmed. "Kerkük (Irak) İli̇ İçme Suyunun Ki̇myasal Parametreleri̇ Açisindan Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇" (in Turkish). Retrieved 21 December 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
8. Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology, Iraq
9. Kurdistan24. "Iraqi court issues arrest warrant for acting gov. of Kirkuk on 'corruption involvement'". Kurdistan24. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
10. . Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
11. عثمان, خليل فضل (2018). كركوك: جدل الأرقام والسرديات – مأزق الانتخابات في سياق تحولات ديموغرافية، حالة انتخابات مجلس المحافظة. الدوحة: المركز العربي للأبحاث ودراسة السياسات. ISBN 9786144452332.
12. Mohammed, Ihsan (2017). Nation Building in Kurdistan. London: Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 9781315597393.
13. Mohammed, Ihsan (2017). Nation Building in Kurdistan. London: Routledge. p. 33. ISBN 9781315597393.
14. Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 43, ISBN 978-0-8122-4176-1
15. Anderson, Liam D.; Stansfield, Gareth R. V. (2009), Crisis in Kirkuk: The Ethnopolitics of Conflict and Compromise, University of Pennsylvania Press, p. 44, ISBN 978-0-8122-4176-1
16. "An ancient tragedy". The Economist. 20 February 1999. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
17. "The Militant - March 28, 2005 -- Iraqi Kurds make progress toward return to oil-rich Kirkuk". www.themilitant.com.
18. Fuat Dundar (2012). "British Use of Statistics in the Iraqi Kurdish Question (1919–1932)" (PDF): 44. Retrieved 12 November 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
19. Fuat Dundar (2012). "British Use of Statistics in the Iraqi Kurdish Question (1919–1932)" (PDF): 30. Retrieved 12 November 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
20. Fuat Dundar (2012). "British Use of Statistics in the Iraqi Kurdish Question (1919–1932)" (PDF): 38. Retrieved 12 November 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
21. C. J. Edmonds (1957). Kurds, Turks and Arabs, Politics, Travel and Research in North-Eastern Iraq, 1919-1925. Oxford University Press. p. 438. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
22. Abbas Shiblak (1986). The lure of Zion: the case of the Iraqi Jews. p. 21.
23. (PDF). International Crisis Group. 2008. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
24. (PDF) (in Arabic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.

External links

• Reports, Maps and Assessments of Iraq's Governorates from the UN Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit