Samawah
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(February 2008) |
Samawah
Arabic:ٱلسَّمَاوَة | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Qaser Al Gaader Hotel in Samawah | |
| Nickname: Samawa | |
  Samawah Samawah's location inside Iraq | |
| Coordinates:31°19′N45°17′E/ 31.317°N 45.283°E | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Province | Muthanna |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Abdul Hussein Khalaf Hamza[1] |
| Elevation | 9 m (29 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Estimate (2011) | 152,890[2] |
| • Rank | 20th[3] |
| Time zone | UTC+3(Arabia Standard Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | No DST |
| Postal code | 66001 |
SamawahorAs-Samawah(Arabic:ٱلسَّمَاوَة,romanized:as-Samāwah) is a city inIraq,280 kilometres (174 mi) southeast ofBaghdad.[4]
The city of Samawah is the modern capital of theAl Muthanna Governorate.The city is located midway between Baghdad andBasra,at the northern edge of the governorate. The province was established in 1975; prior to that date it was a unified province along withQadissiya(Diwaniya) andNajaf.
History and attractions
[edit]
The city was settled by the Arab tribe ofBanu Quda'aaround the 3rd century AD. It is built on both sides of the Euphrates river; there are four bridges in the centre of town for crossing between the two sides. The west bank of the city contains the commercial heart of the city, and includes the old town and theJewish quarter,agd al yahood.The west bank is the site of the covered marketSuq Al Masgoof,which dates to theOttoman period.The area surrounding the market is the old city with its Byzantine maze of crowded markets and streets.
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,As Samawah Stadium,which is home to the local Muthanna football teamSamawa FC,as well as technical colleges and the polytechnic. There too isAl Qushla,the historic "Ottoman Barracks".
The most famous attraction of Samawah is the ruins of the ancientSumeriancity ofUrukwhich dates to4000 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 to3300 BC.
Samawah is built on both sides of theEuphratesand 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 largesalt lakecalledSawa Lake,which once had a tourist village that has since fallen into disrepair. The lake is located 25 km (15 mi) to the north of the city centre and is accessible by road. The lake has no obvious source, neither river nor ancient link to a sea. The water is extremely salty due to heavy evaporation in the searing heat of Mesopotamia and supports no marine life. A unique feature of the lake is that the water is above ground level surrounded by naturallevees.Due to the high levels of salt in the lake, the levees heal themselves if a break is made in the levee, stopping the water from flowing down to ground level. The salt levels also improve buoyancy, and many migratory birds walk on the lake.
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 theDujail Massacre.[5]During theAnfal campaigndirected at Kurds, older men and women were sent to the prison as well.[6]
TheSarayon 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 asKuwaitihostages 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 ofJapanesedevelopment funds has resulted in an improvement in medical provision for the residents of the province. New facilities, such as anMRI 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 ofSaddam Hussein's rule (1979–2003). The wall paintings put up since 2003 depict the new life achieved since the liberation.
Geography
[edit]Climate
[edit]Samawah has ahot desert climate(BWh) in theKöppen–Geiger climate classification system.Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Samawah is 23.8 °C (74.8 °F). About 106 mm (4.17 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| 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) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (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
[edit] |
PrimarilyShiite,the town was cut off almost entirely by Saddam after theGulf War.The terrorisation of the Jewish minority by Arab nationalists in the 1940s and '50s drove most of them into exile. TheTorat Synagogue,which has been abandoned since the flight of the Jews, still exists in thequshlaquarter of the east bank of Samawah. In 1979–81 anethnic cleansingcampaign saw Shia Iraqis deemed to be ofPersianorigin deported by theBaathistregime ofSaddam Hussein.
Today, there is still a small population ofAssyrian Christiansin the city.
Industries
[edit]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 largestcementfactories 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 smalloil refinerywas reopened in Samawah in 2005 after being idle for 15 years. The existing 10,000bbl/dfacility's capacity was doubled to 20,000 bbl/d (3,200 m3/d) in 2006 and was to have increased to 30,000 bbl/d (4,800 m3/d) by 2007. The facility is linked by pipeline to the new Kifl oil field in Samawah province that has an initial capacity of 40,000 bbl/d (6,400 m3/d). The major advantage of the refinery is that it is designed for processing heavy crude oil, allowing the light crude to be exported.
The historical route between Mesopotamia andSaudi Arabiaran 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.
TheBahr al Milh,or Salt Sea, located 20 km (12 mi) to the southwest of Samawah, is the main source of industrial salts in Iraq, and large salt mining and processing facilities are located there to exploit this resource. A thriving industry in traditional sun-bakedbrickmanufacture exists on the outskirts of Samawah using primarily female labourers for forming and drying bricks. Large temporarykilnswith chimney stacks as high as 30 m (98 ft) are constructed by villagers in the surrounding region to make baked bricks with the same methods used during the Sumerian andAkkadianperiods.
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 ofcarpetmakers in the city, primarily employing women. The advantages for the local carpet makers are the availability of cheap raw materials, wool from the desertBeduwho use Samawah as their main trading post, and the availability of cheap labour in this poor city.
Reaching Samawah
[edit]
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
[edit] |
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 insamawah 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
[edit]
Since the2003 Invasion of Iraq,the town has had the fewest problems with Coalition forces, with insurgent activity practically non-existent.[citation needed]
Elements of theU.S. 82nd Airborne Divisionand 1–41 Infantry, 1st Armored Division, took the town in theBattle of Samawah,a fierce running battle with emplacedFedayeen forcesin the days after the initial invasion. After the initial combat phase ended in May 2003, the 82nd was relieved by U.S. Marines fromRCT-5,1st Marine Division.Control of the city was handed over toDutch forcesin August 2003, to the British Army (1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards) in October 2004 who in turn handed over to (The Light Dragoons) again British Army Cavalry Regiment in April 2005 and in October 2005 the2nd Battalion, Parachute Regimenttook over. All units took part in peacekeeping operations involving foot and vehicular patrolswinning hearts and mindsalso they helped in training local police in crowd control and riot training, also fire arms training.
Japan Self-Defense Forces,stationed in Samawah since January 2004, left in 2006.[7]British and Australian troops departed, making Samawah's entire province the first to be responsible for its own security, dubbed in Iraqi parlance the first "green province", meaning that it is fully independent.[7]
On December 24, 2006, political violence between Shiite militias hit Samawah,[8]killing 9 people, among them 4 policemen. Reportedly, local members of theMahdi Armytried to seize the city in a failed attempt and clashed with the police, who were aided by theBadr Organization.Internal fighting and division among the local tribes was reported. Associates of Mahdi leaderMuqtada al-Sadrsaid 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 theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant.The attack killed at least 32 people and wounded another 85.[9]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^New Samawa mayor appointed
- ^As Samāwah
- ^The largest cities in Iraq, ranked by population
- ^MOFA: Grassroots Human Security Grant Aid to Samawah, Iraq
- ^"Das Massaker von Dudschail".Der Tagesspiegel Online(in German). 2005-10-19.ISSN1865-2263.Retrieved2022-08-28.
- ^Hilterman, Joost (2016-01-19)."The 1988 Anfal Campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network".www.sciencespo.fr.Retrieved2022-08-28.
- ^abDefenseLink 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.Retrieved1 May2016.
External links
[edit]- Iraq Image – Samawah Satellite ObservationArchived2012-06-23 at theWayback Machine
31°19′N45°17′E/ 31.317°N 45.283°E
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