Kurdistan - Iraq

The Southern Kurdistan Region (Kurdish: حكومه تى هه ريمى كوردستان, Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan, Arabic: إقليم کردستان) is an autonomous, federally recognized political entity located in northern Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north and Syria to the west. Its capital is the city of Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr. Arbil (also written Erbil or Irbil; BGN: Arbīl; Arabic: اربيل‎, Arbīl; Kurdish: هه‌ولێر, Hewlêr; Syriac: ܐܪܒܝܠ, Arbela) is believed by many to be the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world and is one of the larger cities in Iraq. The city lies eighty kilometres (fifty miles) east of Mosul. In 2005, its estimated population was 990,000 inhabitants.