Saladin Governorate

History

Saladin Governorate contains a number of important religious and cultural sites. Samarra, the governorate's largest city, is home to both the Al-Askari Shrine (an important religious site in Shia Islam where the 10th and 11th Shia Imams are buried), and the Great Mosque of Samarra with its distinctive Malwiya minaret. It also contains an old Zengid mosque.

Samarra was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century CE, and today Abbasid Samarra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The ancient Neo-Assyrian Empire Assyrian city of Assur is located in Al-Shirqat District on the banks of the Tigris River. Other sites in the governorate include the Crusader Dome (القبة الصلبية) north of Samarra and the Al-`Ashaq Palace (قصر العاشق).

In January 2014, there were plans announced by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make the Tuz Khurmatu district into a new governorate due to its Turkmen majority. However, these plans were not implemented.

Autonomy

In October 2011, the governorate's administration declared itself a semi-autonomous region, explaining that the declaration was in response to the central government's "domination over the provincial council authorities".{{cite web |last=Hammoudi |first=Laith |title=Saddam's home province declares regional autonomy in Iraq |date=27 October 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210154253/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/10/27/128503/saddams-home-province-declares.html|archive-date=10 December 2011| url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/10/27/128503/saddams-home-province-declares.html|publisher=McClatchy Newspapers|access-date=4 January 2020}} Saladin, which is a largely Sunni governorate, is also hoping that by declaring themselves an autonomous region within Iraq, it will entail them to a larger portion of government funding. The council cited "article 119 of Iraq's constitution" in its call for autonomy, which states that "one or more governorates shall have the right to organize into a region" if one third of the Provincial Council members or one tenth of the voters request to form a region".

Provincial government

• Governor: Ammar Jabr al-Jubouri
• Deputy Governor: Ammar Hikmat
• Provincial Council Chairman: Ahmed Abdel-Jabbar al-Karim

Districts

• Al-Daur District (Al-Daur)
• Al-Shirqat District (Al-Shirqat)
• Baiji District (Baiji)
• Balad District (Balad)
• Samarra District (Samarra)
• Tikrit District (Tikrit)
• Tooz District (Tuz Khurmatu)
• Dujail District (Dujail) - previously known as "Al-Faris District"

Towns and cities

• Baiji
• Balad
• Samarra
• Tarmiyah
• Dujail
• Al-Daur (Ad-Dawr)
• Yathrib
• Al-Shirqat
• Sulaiman Bek
• Yankjah
• Tuz Khurmatu
• Ishaqi
• Amirli
• Azwai City (incl. Qaryat al Misḩak)
• Al Hatamia
• Al Moshahda
• Al Seniyah (Seneia Town)
• Al Alam
• Al Dhuluiya
• Al Sareen
• Al-Sedira (سّديرة)
• Al-Mu'tasim
• Al-Faris (Bamerni)
• Al-Hajaj}} File:مسجد ومزار الأربعين وسط مدينة تكريت العراقية يضم رفاة اربعين شهيداً من شهداء الفتح الاسلامي للمدينة.jpg|Tikrit File:Samarra City 1.jpg|Samarra File:Tuz Kurmatu.jpg|Tuz Khurmatu

Population

The following table shows the populations of the districts of Saladin Governorate, according to the United Nations in 2003. No data is available for Dujail District.

References

References

1. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab".
2. (24 January 2007). "Iraq: No end to violence in Saddam's home province".
3. (21 January 2014). "Iraqi Council of Ministers approved new provinces of Tuz Khurmatu and Tal Afar". Kurd Net.
4. "محتجون يتظاهرون في طوزخورماتو ضد القصف التركي". شفق نيوز.
5. "Baghdad tries to cancel demands of Diyala Province". Kurdsat TV.
6. (3 March 2015). "Fierce clashes rage around IS-held Iraqi city of Tikrit - BBC News". BBC News.
7. (4 April 2015). "Iraq: Saladin governor protests Shia militia's looting". Middle East Monitor - The Latest from the Middle East.