Mosul
Mosul (Arabic: موصل, al Mawsil) is a city in northern Iraq. It stands on the right bank of the Tigris River, some 220 miles northwest of Baghdad.The population of the area is largely Kurdish, but the majority of the city's inhabitants are Arabs. In 1987 the city's population was 664,221 people; the 2002 population estimate was 1,739,800.[1] It is the nation's third largest city, after Baghdad and Basra.
The fabric muslin was long manufactured here and is named for this city. Another historic important product of the area is Mosul marble.
The ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh are across the Tigris in the city of Ninewa.
Mosul became an important commercial center in the 8th century. In the 13th century it was conquered and destroyed by the Mongols; although it was later rebuilt and remained important, it did not regain its earlier grandeur. Between 1534 and 1918 it was a part of the Ottoman Empire.
The city is a historic center of Nestorian Christianity containing the tombs of several Christian prophets such as Jonah.
Mosul declined after the opening of the Suez Canal, but revived with the discovery and development of the petroleum reserves in the area starting in the late 1920s.
In World War I the British occupied Mosul in October 1918. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the British mandate of Iraq. However, this mandate was contested by Turkey which continued to claim the area. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations in 1926.
On April 15, 2003, US troops opened fire on a mob of anti-occupation protesters in Mosul after members of the crowd threw stones and fired guns at an US controlled building. At least ten Iraqis were killed and many more were injured. Most of those killed were unarmed. Some call this incident the Mosul massacre.
On 2 July 2003, Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein, were attacked and killed by Coalition forces in Mosul. The city also served as the operational base for the US Army's 101st Airborne Division during the occupational phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom and is currently the home of the Army's First Stryker Brigade
See also: Baiji
History