Sulaymani
is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Goizha and Qaiwan Mountains in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cold wet winters. Like Erbil,
the second city of the Kurdish region in Iraq is rapidly expanding. Since its inception, it has been a center for culture, history and politics. The modern city was founded in 1784 by Prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban; he named it after his father Suleiman Pasha. It has suffered a lot from the various conflicts of the region.
From its foundation Sulaymaniyah was always a center of great poets, writers, historians, politicians, scholars and singers, such as Nalî, Mahwi, and Piramerd. Sulaymaniyah was the capital of the historic principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850. From 1922 to 1924, Sulaymaniyah was the capital of the Kingdom of Kurdistan, a short-lived unrecognized state declared by Iraqi Kurds following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The city is located in northern Iraq and Southern Kurdistan. Of the main population centers in the country, it is characterized by its cooler summer temperatures and its rainier winters. Average temperatures range from 0 to 39 °C. In the winters, there can be a significant amount of snow. Snow falls every year or two.