Bakhdida - Situation of The Town

Situation of The Town

Agriculture was the main source of living for the people of Bakhdida, It also prospered on handicrafts such as weaving and producing leather coats which are locally known as Farawee made of sheepskin. Today, Bakhdida has become a center of trade and business with many roads, shops, houses, buildings and lots of government employees but still agriculture and farming are one of the main sources of living as since the 1980s many people own and run chicken farms with modern facilities.

The vast majority of its inhabitants are ethnic Assyrians, more than 96% of which are members of the Syriac Catholic Church, While the rest are Syriac Orthodox. The recent wave of violence targeting Christians in Iraq forced many Assyrians living in major Iraqi cities to move to Assyrians towns in Nineveh Plains which swelled the town with an influx of refugees mainly belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East.

The main language spoken is the Nineveh Plains variant of Syriac, Which is almost identical to that spoken in other major Assyrian towns in the region, Like Alqosh and Tel Kepe. Arabic is also used as a second language. English is widely understood by younger generations.

As of now, the Al-Hamdaniya Municipality also includes towns of Bartella and Karamlish and tens of other smaller Assyrian villages.