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Mosul, Arabic AL-MAWSIL, capital of Ninawa muhafazah (governorate), northwestern Iraq. Located on the Tigris River across from the ruins of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, it is Iraq’s third largest city and the commercial centre of the muhafazah. Mosul once produced fine cotton goods, from which the name “muslin” is derived; it is now a centre of cement, textile, sugar, and other industries, and a marketplace for agricultural products. The city has road and rail connections with Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and with nearby Syria and Turkey, and it has an airport.
Mosul contains many ancient buildings, some dating from the 13th century. These include the Red Mosque and other mosques, shrines, and Christian churches. Since World War II the city has been enlarged several times in area by new construction. A university and a hospital are among the modern buildings.
Mosul, founded on the site of much earlier settlements, became by the 8th century AD the principal city of northern Mesopotamia.
In succeeding centuries a number of independent dynasties ruled the city and surrounding country during a period of relative prosperity and stability. This situation ended in 1258 when the Mongol ruler HulagU ravaged the entire region, after which there was little effective government until the Persian Esma ‘Il I occupied it in 1508.
He was followed by the Ottoman Turks, who ruled from 1534 to 1918; Mosul became a trade centre of their empire, and the headquarters of a political subdivision. Following World War I and Iraqi independence from Turkey, the city’s commercial importance declined because it was cut off from the rest of the former Ottoman Empire. Turkey continued to claim the Mosul area until 1926, Mosul has since grown more prosperous with increased trade and the development of nearby important oil fields.
