Halabja Governorate ( ku, پارێزگای ھەڵەبجە, Parêzgeha Helebceyê, ar, محافظة حلبجة, Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalabǧa) is a governorate in the autonomous region of

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. The governorate was established in 2014, splitting off from Sulaymaniyah Governorate and becoming the fourth governorate in the

Kurdistan Region of Iraq Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

. Its capital is the city of

Halabja Halabja ( ku, هەڵەبجە, Helebce, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border. The city lies at the base of what is often referred to ...

. Halabja Governorate is the least populated Iraqi Governorate.

History

The Kurdish Parliament first agreed to turn Halabja District into a province in 1999, but it was not enacted at the time. The

approved of it becoming a governorate in June 2013. Iraq's

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

approved a bill on 31 December 2013 to enable it. The

Iraqi Parliament The Council of Representatives ( ar, مجلس النواب, Majlis an-Nuwwāb al-ʿIrāqiyy; ku, ئه‌نجومه‌نی نوێنه‌ران, ''Enjumen-e Nûnerên''), usually referred to simply as the Parliament is the unicameral legislature o ...

had to pass the bill but failed to do so. However, the Speaker of the house, Osama Nujaifi, advised that Kurdistan had the power to make Halabja a province. On 13 March 2014,

Nechirvan Barzani Nechirvan Idris Barzani ( ku, نێچیرڤان بارزانی, translit=Nêçîrvan Barzanî; born 21 September 1966) is a Kurdish politician serving as the second President of Kurdistan Region, Iraq. He was elected into office by the Kurdistan ...

, Prime Minister of Kurdistan, signed the decision of making Halabja district the fourth governorate of Kurdistan Region; that happened just three days before the remembrance of

Halabja chemical attack The Halabja massacre ( ku, Kêmyabarana Helebce کیمیابارانی ھەڵەبجە), also known as the Halabja chemical attack, was a massacre of Kurdish people that took place on 16 March 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War ...

, which happened on 16 March 1988. On March 16, 2014, Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani signed a regional directive to promote Halabja from district status to a province. The Kurdish Parliament passed a bill in February 2015 to establish the legal framework for selecting a provincial council and a governor. As of December 2015, the Iraqi Parliament had not yet officially recognised the province, apparently because of issues with budgeting finance for it. In August 2018, the then Iraqi Interior Minister, Qasim al-Araji, approved authorization for the opening of federal offices that would issue passports, national ID cards, and other civil documents under its own name.

Districts

Halabja comprises the central district,

, and three other districts, Sirwan, Khurmal, and Byara (Bayyarah). Three other districts of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate had the option of joining the province, but decided against it.

References

Governorates of Iraq Geography of Iraqi Kurdistan States and territories established in 2014 2014 establishments in Iraqi Kurdistan {{Iraq-geo-stub