Looking back on Mosul's population make-up

Mosul is the center of the Nineveh governorate, with Tilkef and Shekhan towns located in its north, Hamdania, Shargat, and Hazar towns in the south, Akre and Hamdania in the east, and the town of Talaafar in the west of the city.

Mosul is situated northwest of Kurdistan Region. The city is partially mountainous, and is split into two parts by Tigris River. The Maqlub and Bashiq mountains are located in the north of the city. The elevation of Mosul is between 223-1057 meters, with its northeastern territory more elevated than its southwestern part.

The elevation of its territory in the southwest, at the eastern banks of Tigris River, gradually lowers, reaching 223m. The surrounding mountains, lakes, and the banks of Tigris River are tourist attractions. 

The climate of the city is dry, and its rainfall is higher towards northeast of the city, due to the uphill and downhill nature of the area.

Due to continued attempts to change the demography of the city, no credible ethno-religious census has so far been carried out in Mosul. 

 

According to the Iraqi 1957 census, the rate of the Kurdish population was 40%, and was 91.91% in Bashiq, whereas the rate of the Arab population in Bashiq was 8.09%.

But due to the country’s Arabization Policy in predominantly Kurdish regions, the rate of the Kurdish population in these areas changed dramatically in Iraq’s 1965 census, according to which the Kurdish population in Mosul is less than 17%. This rate lowered even further to less than 15% in Iraq’s 1977 census.