Sulaymaniyah is surrounded by the Azmer Range, Goyija Range and the Qaiwan Range in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Sulaymaniyah served as the capital of the historic Kurdish principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850.
The modern city of Sulaymaniyah was founded on 14 November 1784 by the Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha.
From its foundation Sulaymaniyah has been a center of great poets, writers, historians, politicians, scholars and singers, such as Nalî, Mahwi, and Piramerd.