Sinjar (Shingal) Şingal

Overview

About Sinjar (Shingal)

Sinjar, known in Kurmanji as Şingal, is the main town at the foot of the mountain of the same name and the historic heart of one of the two great centres of Yazidi settlement in Iraq. Before 2014 it anchored a dense network of Yazidi towns and villages across the district.

The town was overrun by ISIS on 3 August 2014 and much of it was destroyed in the fighting and occupation that followed. Return has been slowed by the scale of the damage, the presence of multiple armed actors, and an unresolved governance dispute; the events themselves are documented in the Genocide, Displacement & Justice section.

This is a community place rather than a primarily religious one. Population and return figures move and are always given with a source and a date rather than stated as fixed.

Locate & verify

Coordinates and external references

Coordinates are approximate and provided for orientation. They should be re-checked against an authoritative gazetteer before any operational use.

Source note

References for this place

This entry is an editorial synthesis of the references below, chosen for the place type. It reproduces no restricted or copyrighted text and should be expanded only after specialist review.