- This article is about the province of Iraq. There is also a city of the same name, see Arbil, Iraq
Arbīl (أربيل, also transliterated as Irbil or Erbil) is one of the provinces of Iraq. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is a city also called Arbil.
The province of Arbil covers an area of 14,428 km² 5,570 miles² in the north of Iraq, with an estimated population (in 2001) of 1,134,300 people. It is largely populated by Kurds with Arab and Turcoman minorities, and from 1974 onwards formed part of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of northern Iraq.
The region's economy is largely agricultural with some oil production and was badly affected by the conflict between Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi Kurds, although smuggling in defiance of the United Nations sanctions regime enabled many locals to keep afloat and even to prosper in some cases.
Since August, 2004, the Korean Zaytun Division (around 3,000 soldiers) were dispatched to the province for peace-keeping and reconstruction.
There are also significant many Assyrians in Arbil. There was an assyrian kingdom in Arbil called the kingdom of Adiabene (ܚܕܝܐܒ) for about 2000 years ago.
Arbil lies in the heart of Ancient Assyria.
See also
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