Erbil/ Arbil/ Irbil/ or Hawler

Erbil International Airport (EIA)


The Kurdistan Regional Government is investing $325 million in the expansion of the Erbil International Airport, which they hope will help them to challenge the position of Dubai as a transportation and business hub for the Middle East


Construction of the new EIA terminal as of Mar 28, 2007






EIA expansion to the original terminal complex quintuples the covered space, Jan 2007 - Photo by Andy Wylegala


Erbil International Airport (EIA), original terminal complex UL, new terminal LR, Jan 2007 - Photo by Andy Wylegala


A three-mile runway that will be big enough for the new double-decker Airbus A380


Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani (1st L) and former U.S Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad (2nd L) checking the new runway on September 13, 2006.


Construction of the new terminal, 2006 photo


Air traffic control tower under construction as of 2006


Original terminal, and Naz City in the back was still under construction






The old Iraqi military airstrip, and current EIA runway (UL), and the new runway (LR), May 7, 2006


Airlines offices on the road to Salahaddin


Google map shows major cities in northern Iraq. Erbil is the 2nd largest city in northern Iraq, after Mosul, and followed by Kirkuk, Suaymaniyah, and then Dahuk.


Aerial view of Erbil Citadel, Aug 15, 2007


Council of Ministers (left), and Kurdistan National Assembly (center), August 15 2007




The Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) is the Kurdistan Region’s democratically elected parliament


Kurdistan National Assembly is the parliament of Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Kurdish parliament which formed a federal government and a legal system was established in Hewler in beginning of 1990s. It began to work after elections were held in Iraqi Kurdistan in which several political parties took part and tens of international observers watched these elections.

During the past decades the parliament has passed several important laws regarding administration, political parties, the press, the economy, the culture, society and etc.

The Kurdish parliament establish relations with many other parliaments in the world, almost every foreign delegation to Kurdistan has visited the Kurdish parliament in Hewler the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government.


Erbil International Hotel (EIH), is one km off the city center


Across street view


Outdoor swimming pool...


Tennis courts...


EIH, 10th floor, restaurant balcony


EIH, Bekhal Restaurant


EIH 10th floor


The citadel was built on layers of archaeological ruins which represent consecutive historical settlements, since the building of the first village in that place around the 6th millennium BC. The total area of this citadel is 102000 square metres and it rises 26 metres high on the ground level. This archaeological citadel witnessed the rule of many historical nations, like the Sumarians, Babylonians, Assyrian, Achaemenid Persians, Greeks, Iranian Parthians, Persian Sassanids and Muslims.


Textile Museum at the Citadel, a museum devoted to preserving Kurdish tribal textiles, mainly rugs.




Nishtiman Mall an enormous shopping mall being built in Erbil by NASDAK. The $1 billion mall will have 8,000 shops, 4,000 offices, 5,000 parking spaces, and four towers, one of them a five star hotel


Nishtiman Mall view from EIH






Ten percent of the project has been completed, including 800 shops and 400 offices, all project is expected to be completed by 2010




Confession of an Iraqi army officer to Saddam during Al-Anfal genocidal campaign against Kurds led by the Iraqi regime in a wallpaper hanged across the street from Nishtiman mall


Turkish style mosque, photo taken from EIH


Looking NW Erbil, view from EIH, February 2007


Zaytun Camp in the back - Zaytun Camp, 2,200 Korean service members perform a variety of medical services, vocational training and reconstruction projects to support economic development for Erbil.

South Korea maintains the third largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq, following the U.S. and Britain. The Republic of Korea began operating in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 in Southern Iraq. In September 2004, they moved to the northern province of Irbil. The name 'Zaytun', which means “olive” in Arabic, stresses the peacekeeping and reconstruction role of the division.


Northwestern part of Erbil




Sami Abdulrahman Park, Aug 2007

English Village

English Village, a 410 unit residential housing complex






Interior works



Naz City

Naz City, a new complex of 14 high-rise apartment towers




Naz City's underground parking garage for over 1000 cars


Kids playing in the garage


View from Naz City, Gulan street, Sep 12, 2007




Naz City soccer field




Erbil International Airport, 7th floor Naz City view, photo with my new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi


Using 28-300 mm lens




Dream City and Camp Zaytun


Dream City and English Village




Naz City's 50 m long swimming pool


An aerial photo of Naz City, May 7, 2006

Khanzad Hotel, Khanzad, Erbil

Khanzad Hotel, 20km off Erbil city center on Salahaddin road.






- U.S. Department of State photo



American Village, Khanzad, Erbil

Khanzad American Village is an elegant housing development project located approximately 20km Northeast of Erbil City and Erbil International Airport. It is copy of modern American Community sub division has 400 exclusive detached villas




American Village house models includes standard, Hawlerian, and palace home
http://americanvillage.info/


The Erbil-Ifraz water treatment plant 31 km off Erbil city-- a $191 million project -- is the second largest U.S government reconstruction project in Iraq, and provides water to a population of more than 1 million. To date, the United States has contributed almost $22 billion toward Iraq's rebuilding effort


PM Nechirvan Barzani (2nd R), Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad (2nd L), Michael Walsh commander of USACE's Gulf Region Division (1st R), and Minister of Municipality (1st L) attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ifraz water treatment plant


Saint Joseph church in Ainkawa, Erbil


Karez system in Erbil, is a water management system used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates. The technology is known to have developed in ancient Persia, and then spread to other cultures, especially along the Silk Road as far east as China as well as by Arabic cultures as far west as Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula.




Erbil silo in 1957 - silos are structures for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store grain or fermented feed known as silage. Silos are more commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, wood chips and sawdust.


50 years later - 2007 photo