Khanaqin


Khanaqin or Khanaqi is a city in Iraq in Iraq's Diyala Governorate, near the Iranian border on the Alwand tributary of the Diyala River. It is the administrative center of the Khanaqin District, which comprises several towns as well as hundreds of villages. The city is divided into two parts by the Alwand, which has played a significant role in land cultivation and the establishment of a strong rural society in the area. The town is part of the Disputed areas of North Iraq.

People

The majority of the town's inhabitants are Shia Kalhor Kurds. A sizable number of Turkmen live in the town. Small amounts of Shia Arabs are still left over from the Arabization policy of the Ba'athist regime; Khanaqin was subject to the Arabization policy of Ba'athist Iraq, but this has been substantially reversed since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Oil fields

The Naft Khana oil field is capable of producing up to of sweet light crude from an oil reserve that is also being tapped by Iran in Naft Shahr. Repairs to the oil plant were completed in March 2006 which restored it to its pre-war condition. The main elements affected were the gas-oil separation facility and the wet crude facility. Trucks currently transport oil to the Al Daura refinery in Baghdad. A oil refinery has been approved for construction in Khanaqin and oil from Naft Khana will be sent there when it is complete. During the 1970s the intensive Arabization and deportation policy of the Iraqi regime led Arabs to settle in this oil-rich city. Due to this policy, all Kurdish refinery workers and, at that time and place, their only Kurdish Engineer were deported to the West of Iraq.

Higher education

There are five higher education centers in Khanaqin:
Khanaqin has a hot semi-arid climate.

Notable people