Samawah
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Samawah
UTC+3 (Arabia Standard Time) | |
---|---|
• Summer (DST) | No DST |
Postal code | 66001 |
Samawah or As-Samawah (
The city of Samawah is the modern capital of the
History and attractions
The city was settled by the Arab tribe of
The eastern side of the city including "Qushla" has a more modern feel and contains a number of estates of apartment blocks built during the 1970s and 1980s,
The most famous attraction of Samawah is the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk which dates to 4000 BC. This was the largest city in Sumer, extending over 2 km2. Uruk was not only the largest conurbation of the first urban civilisation on earth, but it is also the place where the first written script was discovered, the oldest dating back to 3300 BC.
Samawah is built on both sides of the Euphrates and is surrounded by hundreds of palm groves that give it a tropical feel, especially in the southern and northern suburbs. These groves provide cool respite from the scorching heat of Mesopotamia and were the inspiration for the famous Iraqi folk song "The Palm of Samawah".
Samawah has a large
Al Muthanna province contains one of the most notorious prisons in Iraq, which has been used since the time of the monarchy (1921–1958). Nigret Al Salman, located in the small town of Al-Salman 200 km (124 mi) south of Samawah, is a desert prison camp built in the style of a fortress where thousands have perished over the decades. It was used to house the prisoners surviving the Dujail Massacre.[5] During the Anfal campaign directed at Kurds, older men and women were sent to the prison as well.[6]
The Saray on the east bank of Samawah is the historical seat of authority and authoritarianism in Samawah. It dates from the period of the Ottoman Turkish Occupation. It has been the focus of revolts and popular uprisings by the local population for the past century, most recently in 1991 when hundreds of prisoners, including women and children, as well as Kuwaiti hostages kidnapped by the Iraqi occupation forces in 1990, were freed from their captors by the people of Samawah.
Samawah's medical facilities have improved greatly since 2003. The renovation of the central hospital with the aid of Japanese development funds has resulted in an improvement in medical provision for the residents of the province. New facilities, such as an MRI scanner, have been added to the existing medical units.
The residents of Samawah have used some simple and low-cost means to brighten up the appearance of the grey concrete walls surrounding official buildings and schion was started in the early 1970s, but was cut off during the period of Saddam Hussein's rule (1979–2003). The wall paintings put up since 2003 depict the new life achieved since the liberation.
Geography
Climate
Samawah has a
Climate data for Samawah | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.1 (59.2) |
18.6 (65.5) |
24.6 (76.3) |
31.0 (87.8) |
37.8 (100.0) |
41.7 (107.1) |
43.4 (110.1) |
43.7 (110.7) |
41.4 (106.5) |
34.6 (94.3) |
25.6 (78.1) |
18.3 (64.9) |
31.3 (88.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.0 (41.0) |
7.3 (45.1) |
11.2 (52.2) |
16.1 (61.0) |
21.7 (71.1) |
24.8 (76.6) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.5 (77.9) |
22.9 (73.2) |
17.1 (62.8) |
10.9 (51.6) |
6.9 (44.4) |
16.3 (61.3) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 18 (0.7) |
18 (0.7) |
9 (0.4) |
10 (0.4) |
5 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
3 (0.1) |
19 (0.7) |
24 (0.9) |
106 (4.2) |
Source: climate-data |
Religion
Primarily
Today, there is still a small population of Assyrian Christians in the city.
Industries
The unemployment rate is high. The city, in spite of the lack of high-value natural resources such as oil and gas and a lack of central government investment, has managed to maintain lively small-scale industrial, agricultural and alternative sectors.
Samawah had the largest cement factories in the Middle East during the 1970s,[citation needed] with a total production capacity of 2.85 million tonnes a year. These have since fallen into disrepair, exacerbating the unemployment situation, although the southern cement factory, the oldest, reopened in 2005. As of 2007, the four existing plants are producing a total of just 0.8 million tonnes a year due to the shortage of electricity. Five new cement factories with a capacity of 9 million tonnes a year are under construction on the outskirts of Samawah and will provide employment for several thousand skilled and unskilled workers as well as filling 45% of Iraq's total cement needs.
A small
The historical route between Mesopotamia and Saudi Arabia ran through Samawah, and it has been a main trading thoroughfare for Iraqi produce to Saudi Arabia.
Samawah is home to a rail yard for overhauling and maintaining the rolling stock and locomotives along the Baghdad-Basra rail routes. Samawah railway station is conveniently located halfway between Baghdad and Basra. Overhaul facilities for the railways are an important source of employment opportunities in this Mesopotamian city. There was an overhaul facility for the Iraqi Armoured corps based in Samawah belonging to the military Industrial Commission.
In terms of agriculture, the staple Mesopotamian produce is grown in Samawah, such as dates, wheat, barley, citrus fruits, and tomatoes. In addition, Samawah is home to the small and rare trade in wild truffles, which grow in the desert regions of Muthanna province.
The
Samawah has its own media industry, with the recently reopened Muthanna TV broadcasting terrestrial transmission to Samawah and the province. It focuses primarily on local news and issues. The station gained notoriety as the "Robin Hood of Television" when it broadcast the 2006 World Cup games without licence using a single subscription to a pay-per-view satellite channel. The central government were unable to enforce a ruling against the TV station to stop the transmissions.
There is a small cottage industry of
Reaching Samawah
Samawah is served by a highway for road traffic from Baghdad and Basra. The railway station has passenger services from both Baghdad and Basra and is the cheapest form of transport. The railway station is located approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) to the west of central Samawah.[citation needed]
Samawah is also accessible via the Euphrates River.
Samawah artists and personalities
A number of prominent artists originate from Samawah, including poets, painters and sculptors. An indepth overview of both historical and current artists can be found in samawah artists.
Due to the preponderance of both communists as well as Shia thinkers like (Sheikh Mahdi Al-Samawi) was among the personalities and artists of Samawah, most of them ended up either being killed by the Baathists regime or lived in exile for much of their lives.
Security since 2003 US invasion
Since the
Elements of the
On December 24, 2006, political violence between Shiite militias hit Samawah,[8] killing 9 people, among them 4 policemen. Reportedly, local members of the Mahdi Army tried to seize the city in a failed attempt and clashed with the police, who were aided by the Badr Organization. Internal fighting and division among the local tribes was reported. Associates of Mahdi leader Muqtada al-Sadr said he was distancing himself from the Samawah militia, led by "a renegade cleric".
On May 1, 2016, a government office and bus station in the city of Samawah were attacked in a double car bombing claimed by the
See also
- Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group
- List of places in Iraq
- Iraqi conflict (2003–present)
References
- ^ New Samawa mayor appointed
- ^ As Samāwah
- ^ The largest cities in Iraq, ranked by population
- ^ MOFA: Grassroots Human Security Grant Aid to Samawah, Iraq
- ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- ^ Hilterman, Joost (2016-01-19). "The 1988 Anfal Campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network". www.sciencespo.fr. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
- ^ a b DefenseLink News Article: Coalition Troops to Leave Muthanna Province in Iraq
- ^ 2 dead in Baghdad minibus bombing – Los Angeles Times
- ^ "Isis claims responsibility after two blasts kill at least 32 people in Iraqi city of Samawa". The Independent. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
External links
- Iraq Image – Samawah Satellite Observation Archived 2012-06-23 at the Wayback Machine