Kirkuk

City in northeast Iraq, in the governorate of the same name, 235 km/146 mi north of Baghdad; population (1998 est) 568,000. It is the capital of Kirkuk Province and lies in one of the richest oilfields in Iraq. The city is also the market for an area of sheep farming and grain and fruit growing. Ruins found on the site of the city show that settlement dates back some 3,000 years.

Prior to the Iran-Iraq War, Kirkuk was linked by pipelines to Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. In 1991, 100,000 Kurds were expelled following the failure of the Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein. The population of Kirkuk is now predominantly Sunni Arab with a Turkoman minority.