"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٣‎٤‎٧] (٨٦٢/٦٩٧)

PORTS AND INLAND TOWNS
54 °
pomegranates, and figs are grown. The town itself lies mainly to the east
of the river, which is here 60 yards wide and fordable although also crossed
by a good bridge. It has grown much in recent years, the newer quarters
being occupied by workers from the oil-wells of Naft Khaneh, 30 miles
south of the town. There are a sarai, 10 large khans for pilgrims, a quaran
tine station hospital (12 beds), civil hospital (12 beds), and about 450 shops.
The Rafidain Oil Company has a large depot in the railway yard at the
north end of the town, supplies being piped direct from the K.O.C.
refinery at Alwand, 3 miles south-east of the town. Electricity is supplied
by government licensees.
Supplies of barley and wheat, fruit, sheep, and goats are plentiful. Water
is obtained in unlimited quantities from the Alwand river and from canals.
There is good grazing in the neighbourhood. Very large quantities of
petrol, kerosene fuel oil, and crude oil are stored by the Rafidain and
K.O.C.
Bajlani are the principal settled tribe in the Khanaqin district, which is
also visited by Persian Kalhurs; some of the neighbouring inhabitants are
Ali Ilahis (p. 329).
Communications
Rail: Khanaqin is the terminus of the metre-gauge branch from Jaloula
(Qaraghan) of the Baghdad-Kirkuk line (Rly. 2).
Road: Tarmac road [7] north-east to Qasr-i-Shirin and Kermanshah
in Persia, and south-west to Shahraban (Muqdadiya) and Baghdad is pass
able at all seasons. Partly metalled road south to Naft Khaneh and
Mandali. An unmetalled cart-road north to Chia Surkh.
Air: There is a permanent landing-ground about half a mile from the
station on the way to the refinery.
Kifri. 34 0 42' N., 44 0 58' E.; alt. c. 750 feet. Pop. 3,000. Qadha cap.,
Kirkuk Liwa.
Kifri or Salahiya lies in a plain, in the mouth of a gorge in the 300-400-
foot Kifri Dagh which lies to the north, through which the Kifri Su emerges.
The town stands on the right bank; the cultivated plain extends for a few
miles to the south and east and about 10 miles to the north-west. The in
habitants are Turkomans and Kurds with some Arab elements. Turkoman
and Kurdish tribes, including Baiyat, Zangana, and Jaf, inhabit the sur
rounding country. The houses are of stone, gypsum, or mud with flat roofs.
There are khans, a police barracks, and a fair-sized bazaar.
There are gardens of fruit-trees close to the town. Wheat is grown, and
there is usually very good grazing in the neighbourhood between December
and May. Sheep and goats are plentiful. Good and abundant water is
obtained from the river, which is liable to violent floods.
Seven miles south-south-west of Kifri lie the village and railway station