Atlas cities

Cities of Kurdistan

From the citadel of Hewlêr to the walls of Amed, explore the great cities where Kurdistan's history, music and memory live.

Amed

Diyarbakır · Principal city of Bakur. The basalt-walled heart of Bakur, on a bluff above the Tigris.

Van · Lakeside city of old Urartu. Urartu's capital on the shore of the great soda lake.

Mardin · Stone city above Mesopotamia. Honey-coloured terraces looking out over the Mesopotamian plain.

Cizre · Seat of the Botan emirate. The island city of Botan — home of Mem û Zîn and the first robots.

Erbil · Capital of the Kurdistan Region. The citadel city — inhabited for perhaps six thousand years.

Sulaymaniyah · Cultural capital of Başûr. The young Baban city that became Kurdistan's capital of letters.

Duhok · Chief city of Badinan. Gateway of Badinan, folded between two mountain walls.

Kirkuk · City of the eternal flame. Ancient Arrapha — the multi-ethnic oil city of the disputed lands.

Halabja · City of memory. City of memory and rebirth at the foot of Hewraman.

Qamishli · De facto capital of Rojava. The railway town that became the heart of Rojava.

Kobani · City of the resistance. The border city whose stand against ISIS was watched by the world.

Afrin · Centre of Çiyayê Kurmênc. Olive-grove city of the Kurd Mountain.

Kermanshah · Great city of the southern Zagros. Sasanian rock arches and the largest Kurdish-majority city.

Sanandaj · Court city of Erdelan. The Erdelan court city that UNESCO named for its music.

Mahabad · Cradle of the 1946 Republic. Chief town of Mukriyan — cradle of the Kurdish republic.