Irbil (ancient Arbela), city in northern Iraq, capital of Irbil Governorate, near Mosul. One of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the world, the city was founded before 2300 BC by the Sumerians, who called it Urbillum. Situated on the caravan route between Baghdad and Mosul, Irbil was, and continues to be, an important commercial center. The ancient name, Arbela, is often applied erroneously to the battle fought in 331 BC at Gaugamela, a village west of Arbela. In the battle Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, king of Persia. Irbil was one of many sites of fighting between rival Kurdish factions in the early 1990s. In August 1996, leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) asked Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to intervene in the fighting. Hussein sent at least 30,000 troops into the city and installed the KDP in power. Population (1987) 485,968.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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