Al-Aziziyah () is an Iraqi town located in

Wasit Province Wasit Governorate () is a governorate in eastern Iraq, south-east of Baghdad and bordering Iran. Prior to 1976 it was known as Kut Province. Major cities include the capital Al-Kut, Al-Hai and Al-Suwaira. The governorate contains the Mesopotam ...

, on the left bank of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

River. Located approximately 80 kilometers northwest of

Kut Kūt (), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare, Kut al-Imara, or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad, and the capital of the Wasit Governorate. the estimated populatio ...

, it is the administrative and political centre of Al-Aziziyah District. As of 2009, it had an estimated population of 44,868 citizens.

History

It was established in 1866 by Ottoman

Midhat Pasha Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha (; 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman politician, reformist, and statesman. He was the author of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire. Midhat was born in Istanbul and educated from a private . In July 1872, he ...

, in honor of Sultan

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...

. On 6 October 1915, English soldiers

Percy Cox Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, (20 November 1864 – 20 February 1937) was a British Indian Army officer and Colonial Office administrator in the Middle East. He was one of the major figures in the creati ...

and

Gerard Leachman Lieutenant-Colonel Gerard Evelyn Leachman, CIE, DSO (27 July 1880, Petersfield, Hampshire – 12 August 1920, Iraq) was an English soldier and intelligence officer who travelled extensively in Arabia. Career Leachman was commissioned a second ...

met at Al-Aziziyah to discuss how to free

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

from the Ottomans.

References

Populated places in Wasit Governorate Cities in Iraq {{Iraq-geo-stub