A Beginner’s Guide: Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Surge for Kirkuk

The history of Kirkuk reflects its heterogeneous multi-ethnic nature.  A name whose pronunciation indicates its Aramaic origin, Kirkuk is as old as the 3rd millennium BC. Its ancient citadel, on the east bank of the Tigris, has seen the rise and fall of the Akkadian, the Assyrian, the Parthian, Salgus, and Ottoman empires, as well as the Arab Islamic conquest of the 7th century.

Each of these rulers brought demographic shifts, but today’s Kirkuk was forged in the heightening of ethnic identities after World War I and the formation of…