MOSUL

Arabic Al-mawsil city, northwestern Iraq. It lies on the right bank of the Tigris River across from the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, 225 miles (362 km) northwest of Baghdad. Mosul is Iraq's third largest city and constitutes the chief commercial centre of the northwestern portion of the country. Probably built on the site of an earlier Assyrian fortress, Mosul succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Syria and Anatolia with Persia. By the 8th century AD it had become the principal city of northern Mesopotamia. In succeeding centuries a number of independent dynasties ruled the city, which reached its political zenith under the Zangid dynasty (AD 11271222) and under Sultan Badr ad-Din Lu'lu' (reigned 122259). Famous schools of metalwork and miniature painting arose in Mosul at this time, but the region's prosperity ended in 1258 when it was ravaged by the Mongols under Hleg. The Ottoman Turks ruled the region from 1534 to 1918, during which time Mosul became a trade centre of the Ottoman Empire and the headquarters of a political subdivision. After World War I the Mosul area was occupied by Britain until a border settlement (c. 1926) placed it in Iraq rather than in Turkey. The city's commercial importance thereafter declined because it was cut off from the rest of the former Ottoman Empire. Mosul has since grown more prosperous with increased trade and the development of important oil fields nearby to the east and north. There is a refinery in the city. Mosul was once famous for its fine cotton goods; it is now a centre of cement, textile, sugar, and other industries and a marketplace for agricultural products. The city has road and rail connections with Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and with nearby Syria and Turkey, and it has an airport. The population consists mainly of Kurds, along with a large minority of Christian Arabs. Mosul contains many ancient buildings, some dating from the 13th century. These include the Great Mosque, with its leaning minaret, the Red Mosque, the mosque of Nabi Jarjis, several Christian churches, and various Muslim shrines and mausoleums. Since World War II the city has been enlarged several times in area by new construction. The buildings of the University of Mosul (1967) and a modern five-span bridge stretching across the Tigris to the new suburb of Nineveh are among the city's modern structures. Pop. (1985 est.) 570,926.