About Sulaymaniyah

Sulaymaniyah or Slemani, (Kurdish: سلێمانی / Silêmanî), Arabic: السليمانية) is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan and also known as the cultural capital of Kurdistan. It is the capital of Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Sulaymaniyah is surrounded by the Azmer Range, Goyija Range and the Qaiwan Range in the north east, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot and dry summers and very cold winters. Sulaymaniyah served as the historic capital of the Kurdish principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850.

The modern city of Sulaymaniyah was founded on 14 November 1784 by the Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha. Because it was founded as the capital of a powerful Kurdish principality, Sulaymaniyah has developed into a large city with a population of about 1.500.000 people. It is an important economic center for Iraqi Kurdistan and the cultural center for the Sorani-speaking Kurds. It has been named cultural capital of Kurdistan continuously since 1992.

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