Az Zubayr (Arabic,الزبير) is a town in Basra Governorate in Iraq. It has a population of around 90,000.[1]
The name is also sometimes written Az Zubair, Zubair, Zoubair, El Zubair, or Zobier.
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The city was named al-Zubair due to the fact that one of the most prominent Sahaba, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, is buried there.
In the 19th century, the city of Zubair witnessed a relatively large migration from Najd. Up until the 1970s and 1980s, the town was predominantly populated with people of Najdi origin. Now only a few families remain of the old inhabitants. Most of the old inhabitants moved back to their homeland Najd and other parts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some also moved to Kuwait.
In the period when Najdis inhabited the city it was dominated by the Sunni denomination of Islam. After they left the city this fact has probably changed . In that period the city was a self-ruling emirate within the Ottoman Empire ruled by an Emir (or Sheikh) (like al Zuhair, al Meshary, or al Ibrahim families) who used to pay for protection from the Ottomans and any dangers.