View source for Diyala Governorate

{{Short description|Governorate of Iraq}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name     = Diyala Governorate
| native_name       = {{lang|ar|محافظة ديالى}}
| native_name_lang  = ar
| other_name        = 
| settlement_type   = [[Governorates of Iraq|Governorate]]
| image_flag        = Flag of Diyala Governorate.png
| image_seal        = 
| image_map         = Diyala in Iraq.svg
| mapsize           = 200px
| coordinates       = {{Coord|33|53|N|45|4|E|type:adm1st_region:IQ-DI|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type  = Country
| subdivision_name  = {{flagu|Iraq}}
| subdivision_type1 = Capital
| subdivision_type2 = Governor
| subdivision_name1 = [[Baqubah]]
| subdivision_name2 = Adnan al-Shimmari
| area_total_km2    = 17685
| population_total  = 1,637,226
| population_as_of  = 2018
| population_density_km2   = auto
| iso_code          = IQ-DI
| blank_name_sec2   = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2021)
| blank_info_sec2   = 0.695<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database |publisher=Global Data Lab |language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref><br />{{color|#fc0|medium}}
}}

'''Diyala Governorate''' ({{langx|ar|محافظة ديالى}} {{Transliteration|ar|''Muḥāfaẓat Diyālā''}}) or '''Diyala Province''' is a [[Governorates of Iraq|governorate]] in northeastern [[Iraq]].

== Provincial Government ==
*Governor: Adnan al-Shimmari<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.964media.com/23073/|title=New Diyala Governor Adnan Al-Shammari takes office amid tensions|publisher=+964}}</ref>
*Deputy Governor: Mustafa al-Luhaybi
*Provincial Council Chairman: Omar al-Kirwi

== Geography ==
[[File:صور من شفتة.jpg|thumb|[[Diyala River|Diyala river]]]]
Diyala Governorate extends to the northeast of [[Baghdad]] as far as the [[Iran–Iraq border|Iranian border]]. Its [[Capital (political)|capital]] is [[Baqubah]]. It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometres (6,828&nbsp;sq&nbsp;mi).

A large portion of the province is drained by the [[Diyala River]], a major tributary of the [[Tigris]]. Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diyala's main industry is agriculture, primarily [[Phoenix dactylifera|dates]] grown in large groves. The province also contains one of the largest [[olive]] groves in the Middle East.<ref>[http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2010/09/06/biggest-olive-groves-in-middle-east-in-diyala/ Biggest Olive Groves in Middle East – in Diyala]</ref> It is also recognized as the [[Orange (fruit)|orange]] capital of the Middle East. The [[Hamrin Mountains]] pass through the governorate.

== Population ==
The governorate is home to a diverse population of [[Arabs]], [[Kurds]] and [[Iraqi Turkmen|Turkmen]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-iraq-2021/diyala | title=Diyala }}</ref>  According to the latest statistics, the number of inhabitants is approximately 1,6 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=الصفحة الرئيسية - الجهاز المركزي للاحصاء |url=https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/ |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=www.cosit.gov.iq}}</ref>
[[File:Defense.gov photo essay 100913-A-5370B-011.jpg|thumb|234x234px|U.S. Army and Iraqi soldiers maneuver through palm groves in pursuit of insurgents in Diyala (2010)]]

==Culture==

===Sports===
Diyala is home to [[Diyala SC]] that plays in [[Iraq Stars League]], the highest division of the Iraqi football league system, following promotion from [[Iraqi Premier Division League]] in 2024. The club is based in [[Baqubah]] and [[Ba'quba Stadium]] is its home stadium.

==Administrative districts==
[[File:Diyala_province.JPG|thumb|275px|right|Districts of the Diyala Governorate]]
Diyala Governorate comprises seven districts, listed below with their areas<ref>COSIT (Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology), Baghdad.</ref> and populations as estimated in 2003:<ref>NGO Co-ordination Committee.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! District
| Name <br />in Arabic
! Area in <br />sq.&nbsp;km
! Population <br />in 2003
|-
| [[Ba'quba District|Ba'quba]] || بعقوبة ||align="right"| 1,630 ||align="right"| 467,895
|-
| [[Al-Muqdadiya District|Al-Muqdadiya]] || المقدادية ||align="right"| 1,033 ||align="right"| 198,583
|-
| [[Khanaqin District|Khanaqin]] || خانقين ||align="right"| 3,512 ||align="right"| 160,379
|-
| [[Al Khalis District|Al-Khalis]] || الخالص ||align="right"| 2,994 ||align="right"| 255,889
|-
| [[Kifri District, Diyala Governorate|Kifri]] || كفري ||align="right"| 1,139 ||align="right"| 42,010
|-
| [[Balad Ruz District|Balad Ruz]] || بلد روز ||align="right"| 6,280 ||align="right"| 99,601
|-
|[[Mandali District|Mandali]]
|مندلي
|
|align="right"| 47,796
|-
| '''''Total''''' || || align="right" | ''17,685'' || align="right" | ''1,272,154''
|}

== Cities, towns, and villages ==
* [[Baqubah]] (provincial capital)
*[[Nahrawan]]
* [[Muqdadiyah|Miqdadiyah]]
* [[Hebheb City|Hibhib]]
* [[Khanaqin]]
* [[Balad Ruz]]
* [[Al Khalis]]
* [[Khan Bani Saad City|Bani Sa'ad]]
* [[Jalawla]] (or Jalula)
* [[Al-Sadiyah]]
* [[El Mansouria, Iraq|Mansouryat al-Jabel]]
* [[Camp Ashraf]]
* [[Dwelah]]
* [[Kingirban]]<ref name="tageo">{{cite web
  | url = http://www.tageo.com/index-e-iz-v-10-d-m4389473.htm
  | title = Republic of iraq (IQ): Asia/Iraq/Diyala
  | work = Tageo.com
  | access-date = 2007-05-28
}}</ref>
*[[Naft Khana]]
* [[Al-Ghalibiyah]]
* [[Abd Allah Bayk (Diyala)|Abd Allah Bayk]]
* [[Safra' (Al Safra)|Safra']]
* [[Marfu Village]]
* [[Village of Nye]]
* [[Udame]]
* [[Kan’aan]]
* [[Al Wajehiya|Al Wajihiya]]
* [[Al Muntheriya]]
* [[Abu Saydah]]
* [[Buhriz]]
* [[Mandali, Iraq|Mandali]]
* [[Qaryat Imam ʽAskar]]
* [[Kifri]]
* [[Qara Tapa]]

== Infrastructure ==
The Diyala Province boasts the Diyala Media Center which has one of the Middle East's tallest radio and television antennas at 349 metres (1,047&nbsp;ft). The Diyala Media Center was built under contract by a Japanese architectural firm in 1989. It is one of Iraq's few independent radio and television stations that offer local television and radio news coverage as well as rebroadcasting state-run television.

== Civil unrest/Iraq War ==
There is evidence that [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] moved its base of operations from [[Al Anbar Governorate|Anbar]] province to Diyala in 2006 and during late 2006, Baqubah and majority of the Diyala province were reported to have come under Sunni insurgent control.<ref name="Engel">{{cite news
  | first = Richard
  | last = Engel
  | author-link = Richard Engel
  | url = http://onthescene.msnbc.com/baghdad/2006/12/reporting_under.html#posts
  | title = Reporting under al-Qaida control
  | work = Blogging Baghdad: The Untold Story
  | publisher = [[MSNBC]]
  | date = December 27, 2006
  | access-date = 2007-05-28
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160119055306/http://onthescene.msnbc.com/baghdad/2006/12/reporting_under.html#posts
  | archive-date = January 19, 2016
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref>
This insurgent control is reported to have continued through 2007 and into early 2008.<ref name="Engel-2007-01-17">{{cite web
 |first       = Richard
 |last        = Engel
 |date        = January 17, 2007
 |url         = http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/17/32969.aspx
 |title       = Dangers of the Baghdad plan
 |work        = Worldblog
 |publisher   = MSNBC
 |access-date  = 2007-05-28
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071102170117/http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/01/17/32969.aspx
 |archive-date = November 2, 2007
}}</ref>

On May 11, 2007, Army Maj. Gen. [[Benjamin Mixon]], commander of the [[Iraq War order of battle#Multinational Force Iraq: complete current order of battle|Multi-National Division North]] said he needed more troops in order to contain the current level of violence in the Diyala province, this coming in the recent wake of a [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|troop "surge"]], [[Individual Ready Reserve#Activations in the Global War on Terror|involuntary recalls]] by the U.S. military, and the [[Iraq Study Group|public debate]] about the [[Multinational Force Iraq#Multi National Force Iraq|level of commitment from the U.S. government]].<ref name="DoD-transcript">{{cite web
  | date = May 11, 2007
  | url = http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3961
  | title = DoD Special Security Operations Briefing with Maj. Gen. Mixon from Iraq
  | work = News Transcript
  | publisher = [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]]
  | access-date = 2007-05-28
}}</ref>
By mid-2007 the [[Islamic State of Iraq]], already holding Baqubah and most of the province under its control, declared its capital to be [[Baqubah]]. The Sunni insurgent group [[Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna]] was also active in the region around this time.

In June 2007, US forces launched [[Arrowhead ripper|Operation Arrowhead Ripper]] with night air assaults in [[Baqubah]]. By August 19, Baqubah was largely secured, although some insurgent presence remained in the city and surrounding areas.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} Fighting continued in the [[Diyala River]] valley but by the beginning of October, US and Iraqi forces held most of the province while the insurgents were in retreat to the north and west. On October 27 the Islamic State of Iraq attacked a police base in Baqubah, killing 28 Iraqi policemen and police recruits, showing that insurgent cells still remain in the province.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

In January 2008 [[Operation Phantom Phoenix]] was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remaining insurgents following the [[Diyala campaign]] between 2006 and 2007.

Mid-2008 saw many changes in Diyala province with an increased effort by U.S. Forces and a substantial Iraqi Army presence, and in the Baqubah region, [[Islamic State of Iraq]]'s activity was dramatically hampered, and the [[Sons of Iraq]] program served only to further weaken Islamic State in Iraq.

===Declaration of autonomy===
In December 2011, the governing council in Diyala province declared itself a semi-autonomous region within Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iraq's Diyala province demands semi-autonomous status|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7674537.html|publisher=Xinhua|access-date=15 December 2011}}</ref>  This comes two months after [[Saladin Governorate]] made a similar declaration. The council in Diyala, using [[Constitution of Iraq#Regions|Article 119 of the Iraqi Constitution]] as justification, made the declaration because of suspicion of the [[Shi'a]]-dominated government of [[Prime Minister of Iraq|Prime Minister]] [[Nouri al-Maliki]]. Unlike [[Saladin Governorate|Salah ad Din province]] however, Diyala province is more ethnically and religiously mixed, and such an announcement led to the outbreak of protests in the province.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hammoudi|first=Laith|title=A second Iraqi province seeks autonomy from Baghdad|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/13/2544709/a-second-iraqi-province-seeks.html|publisher=Miami Herald|access-date=15 December 2011}}</ref>

==See also ==
*[[Hisham al-Hayali]], former governor
*[[Battle of Baqubah]]
*[[Injanah Air Base]]
*[[2004 Baqubah bombing]]
*[[15 July 2008 Baquba bombings]]
*[[15 September 2008 Balad Ruz bombing]]
*[[23 April 2009 Iraqi suicide attacks]]
*[[3 March 2010 Baqubah bombings]]
*[[2014 Musab bin Omair mosque massacre]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Governorates of Iraq}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Diyala Governorate| ]]
[[Category:Governorates of Iraq]]
[[Category:Upper Mesopotamia]]