Meet one of Iraq’s tallest men

ALTUN KUPRI, Iraq — At 2.15 metres tall, Ibrahim Muzafar is one of the tallest men in Iraq.

The Kurd from the province of Kirkuk has mixed feelings about his height.

“My height reached 2.15 metres by the time I was 19. I face difficulties when I want to buy shoes and clothes. Sometimes I can’t find anything to fit my body at all,” said the twenty-one year old. “I feel uncomfortable when I’m among people at this height, though people happily take pictures with me. This is what makes me different from everyone else.”

Ibrahim works at his father's concrete block factory in their hometown of Altun Kupri. He also plays volleyball.

“I am a new player with the Erbil Volleyball Team... I work hard to improve. God willing, I’ll put in good effort and perform well,” said Ibrahim. 

His father says height runs in the family, but no one has surpassed Ibrahim.

“My other children are tall too, but not as much as Ibrahim,” said Muzafar Rasheed, Ibrahim’s father. “When he turned 12, he started to really grow. When he turned 13 and 14, he started to grow really quickly. He used to have problems at school. His classmates and teachers would tease him because he was taller than all of them.

The world's tallest man is Sultan Kosen, a 38-year-old from the Kurdish village of Dede in Turkey's Mardin province.

Kosen, at 251cm tall, has held the Guinness World Record since 2009.

Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali