Raniya (or Ranya) is a town of 258,000 people (2020) in Sulemania Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan, surrounded by mountains, rivers, and Lake Dukan. It is known as the “Intifada Gate”, because Rania was the starting point for the Kurdish uprising in northern Iraq against the regime of Saddam Hussein on March 5, 1991.

Get in

Ranita is 100 km east of Erbil along Highways 18 and 32.

See

• The shore of the Derbendi
• Reşemêrg spring
• Kwerakani spring
• Central mosque
• Ranyae's main bazaar
• Girdedême hill
• Bêtwate

Sleep

• 1 Golden House Lodge, Darwaza St at the Mam St/Mirza Manguri/Darband St roundabout, ☏ +964 770 907 1717. (updated Jan 2023)