What is "zakho"

Zakho (, , ; ; Zākhō) is a city, centre of the eponymous Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate of Iraq, located a few kilometers from the Iraqi-Turkish border. The city has a population of 350,000.

It may have originally begun on a small island surrounded on all sides by the Little Khabur river, which flows through the modern city. The Khabur flows west from Zakho to form the border between Iraq and Turkey, continuing into the Tigris. The most important rivers in the area are the Zeriza, Seerkotik and the aforementioned Little Khabur.

In July 2010, Zakho became the seat of the University of Zakho: one of only eleven public universities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.