Tikrit

Tikrit, on the western bank of the Tigris River in central Iraq, is the birthplace of the 12th-century Ayyubid sultan Saladin and, more recently, of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein — a pairing that gives the city an outsized place in the history of the wider region. The administrative centre of Saladin Governorate, it is widely regarded as the cultural capital of Iraqi Sunni Arabs. The city has been peaceful since Iraqi government forces retook it in 2015 following a period of Islamic State occupation.

• Population42,477
• Nearest water from center5.6 km
• Nearest mountain from center5.0 km
• UNESCO within 50 km8