Tikrit sometimes known as Takrit or Tekrit, is a city in Iraq, located 140 kilometres (87 mi) northwest of Baghdad and 220 kilometres (140 mi) southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. As of 2012, it has a population of 160,000.
At least 80% majority of the people are Sunni. Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq through April 2003, was born there; he considered it his hometown. He was actually born in a village on the outskirts of Tikrit, however in a part of Tikrit municipality.
Tikrit c. 2000
Tikrit Old Town
Tikrit old Town
Modern-day view of the Syrian Monastery at Tikrit
