Arbil:
Arbil is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is the third-largest city in Iraq after Baghdad and Mosul. The city lies eighty kilometers (fifty miles) east of Mosul. The city is the capital of Kurdistan Autonomous Region and the Kurdistan Regional Government and the biggest Kurdish city in the world.
Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least the twenty-third century BC. The city has been under the rule of many regional powers during that time, such as the Assyrians, the Persians, Sasanians, Arabs, and Ottomans. The city's archaeological museum contains only pre-Islamic objects.
During the middle Ages, Arbil became a major trading center on the route between Baghdad and Mosul, a role which it still plays today with important road links to the outside world.
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