Duhok, also spelled Dihok (, , ) is the capital of the Duhok Governorate in Iraq's Kurdistan Region. The city is encircled by mountains along the Tigris river. Duhok has a growing tourism industry. Its population has increased rapidly since the 1990s, as the rural population moved to the cities after villages were destroyed by the Iraqi Army during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq. The University of Duhok, founded in 1992, is a renowned center for teaching and research. The city of Duhok is natively populated by Kurds and Assyrians.