Khanaqin
Iraq
Khanaqin, a Kurdish-majority city in Iraq's Diyala Governorate close to the Iranian border, sits on the Alwand River, which divides the city and has shaped local agriculture and identity for generations. The region holds Iraq's second-largest oil field in the north, and the country's first oil refinery and pipeline were built nearby in 1927. Archaeological mounds including Ouj Tapa, excavated by a University of Chicago team in 1976, yielded evidence of Median and Assyrian-era structures, streets, and temples. The city's population speaks Kurdish, Arabic, and Turkmen — locally called "the language of three waves."
- Population175,000
- Nearest water2.3 km
- Nearest mountain2.8 km