Halabja

Halabja is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, about 240 kilometres northeast of Baghdad and 14 kilometres from the Iranian border. It lies at the base of the greater Hewraman region that stretches across the Iran-Iraq border, with the Hawraman and Shnrwe ranges to the northeast, the Balambo range to the south and the Sirwan river to the west. Most of its Kurdish residents speak the Sorani dialect. Modern development dates from the early twentieth century: a post office opened in 1924, the first school in 1925, the Qaysari Pasha and Hamid Bag bazaars were built in 1932, and electricity arrived in 1940. On 16 March 1988, during the final phase of the Iran-Iraq War, Iraqi aircraft attacked the town with bombs, artillery and chemical weapons, killing at least 5,000 people, mostly Kurdish civilians. Halabja has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with very hot summers and cool wet winters.