Tal Afar
Tal Afar
تَلْعَفَر | |
|---|---|
Tal Afar Location of Tel Afar within Iraq | |
| Coordinates: 36°22′27″N 42°26′36″E / 36.37417°N 42.44333°E | |
| Country | Iraq |
| Governorate | Nineveh Governorate |
| District | Tel Afar District |
| Elevation | 1,350 ft (410 m) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 215,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+03:00 (AST) |
Tal Afar (Arabic: تَلْعَفَر, romanized: Talʿafar, IPA: [talˈʕafar]; Turkish: Telafer, تلعفر) is a city in the Nineveh Governorate of northwestern Iraq, located 63 km (39 mi) west of Mosul, 52 km (32 mi) east of Sinjar and 200 km (120 mi) northwest of Kirkuk. Its local inhabitants are exclusively Turkmen.
While no official census data exists, the city, which had previously been estimated to have a population of approximately 200,000, had dropped to 80,000 as of 2007. In 2003, Tal Afar's Turkmen population in the city center was about 15 percent Bektashi and Shia, while 85 percent was Sunni. Surrounding areas push the total Sunni ratio to 90%. On 27 April 2025, Baghdad Today reported of an ongoing government initiative to convert Tel Afar District into the 20th governorate of Iraq. The proposed name of the new governorate is Jazira.