Tikrit

Tikrit تكريت ܬܓܪܝܬ
City
Looking north along the Tigris towards Saddam Hussein's Presidential palace in April 2003
Tikrit Location of Tikrit within Iraq
Coordinates: 34°36′36″N 43°40′48″E
Country	Iraq
Governorate	Salah ad Din
Government
• Mayor	Omar Tariq Ismail
Elevation	137 m (449 ft)
Population  (2012)
• Total	160,000

Tikrit (Arabic: تكريت) sometimes known as Takrit or Tekrit, is a city in Iraq, located 140 kilometres (87 mi) northwest of Baghdad and 220 kilometres (140 mi) southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the capital of the Saladin Governorate. As of 2012, it has a population of 160,000.

At least 80% majority of the people are Sunni. Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq through April 2003, was born there; he considered it his hometown. He was actually born in a village on the outskirts of Tikrit, however in a part of Tikrit municipality. Forming a part of the "Sunni Triangle", the region of Tikrit was an important area of resistance by insurgents against the US forces. In June 2014, Tikrit and the surrounding regions fell under the control of the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) organisation following a large-scale offensive. Tikrit was later recaptured by Iraqi military forces during a major battle in April 2015.

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  Tikrit c. 2000
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  Tikrit Old Town
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  Tikrit old Town
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  Modern-day view of the Syrian Monastery at Tikrit

Other websites

• How Tikrit has Changed the War - Counteroffensive in Tikrit March 2015
• Iraq Image - Tikrit Satellite Observation Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine