page_title: Mosul
section_title: 1918 to 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Mosul / History / 1918 to 1990s
caption_attribution_description: العربية: بيت خضر افندي اسبير المعلم في المدرسة الخالدية في الموصل شمال العراق، قرب قهوة السويدية (بيت المستنطق) يونس جودة الرمضاني ويقع البيت على بعد خطوات من مدخل سوق الشعيغين الى باب النبي، الصورة التقطت في صيف عام 1968 والفرع الثاني الى اليسار يذهب الى بيت حجازي الأثري
context_page_description: Mosul is a major city in northern Iraq. Located approximately 400 km north of Baghdad, Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank. The metropolitan area has grown to encompass substantial areas on both the "Left Bank" and the "Right Bank", as the two banks are described by the locals compared to the flow direction of Tigris.
  At the start of the 21st century, Mosul and its surroundings had an ethnically and religiously diverse population; the majority of Mosul's population were Arabs, with Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens, Kurds, Yazidis, Shabakis, Mandaeans, Kawliya, Circassians in addition to other, smaller ethnic minorities. In religious terms, mainstream Sunni Islam was the largest religion, but with a significant number of followers of the Salafi movement and Christianity, as well as Shia Islam, Sufism, Yazidism, Shabakism, Yarsanism and Mandaeism.
  Mosul's population grew rapidly around the turn of the millennium and by 2004, the city's population was estimated to be 1,846,500. In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized control of the city.
context_section_description: At the end of World War I in October 1918, after the signature of the Armistice of Mudros, British forces occupied Mosul. After the war, the city and the surrounding area became part of the British-occupied Iraq (1918–1920) and shortly Mandatory Iraq (1920–1932). This mandate was contested by Turkey, which continued to claim the area based on the fact that it was under Ottoman control during the signature of the Armistice.
  In the Treaty of Lausanne, the dispute over Mosul was left for future resolution by the League of Nations. Iraq's possession of Mosul was confirmed by the League of Nations brokered agreement between Turkey and Great Britain in 1926. Former Ottoman Mosul Vilayet eventually became Nineveh Governorate of Iraq, but Mosul remained the provincial capital.
  Mosul's fortunes revived with the discovery of oil in the area, from the late 1920s onward. It became a nexus for the movement of oil via truck and pipeline to both Turkey and Syria. Qyuarrah Refinery was built within about an hour's drive from the city and was used to process tar for road-building projects. It was damaged but not destroyed during the Iran–Iraq War.
  The opening of the University of Mosul in 1967 enabled the education of many in the city and surrounding areas.
  After the 1991 uprisings by the Kurds Mosul did not fall within the Kurdish-ruled area, but it was included in the northern no-fly zone imposed and patrolled by the United States and Britain between 1991 and 2003.
  Although this prevented Saddam's forces from mounting large-scale military operations again in the region, it did not stop the regime from implementing a steady policy of "Arabisation" by which the demography of some areas of Nineveh Governorate were gradually changed. Despite the program Mosul and its surrounding towns and villages remained home to a mixture of Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens, Shabaks, a few Jews, and isolated populations of Yazidis, Mandeans, Kawliya and Circassians.
  Saddam was able to garrison portions of the 5th Army within the city of Mosul, had Mosul International Airport under military control, and recruited heavily from the city for his military's officer corps. This may have been due to the fact that most of the officers and generals of the Iraqi Army were from Mosul long before the Saddam regime era.
caption: Mosul, 1968
exif: {}