The third largest city in Iraq (570,000 inhabitants, approximately), located 396 km north of Baghdad on the west bank of Tigris, close to the ruined Assyrian city of Nineveh. The city was an important trade centre in the Abbasid era, due to its strategic position on the caravan route between India, Persia, and the Mediterranean. Their primary exports of the city are cotton, cereals, livestock, oil, cement, and textiles. In the 13th century, the Mongol invasion almost completely destroyed the city, but rebuilding began under Ottoman rule. Once, the city was walled in, and part of the old city wall still exists at Bash Tapia castle, on the west bank of the Tigris. Although primarily Kurdish, Mosul has the highest proportion of Christians of all the Iraqi cities, and has several old churches. The Mosque of Nebi Yunus, located in the city, is said to be the burial place of the Biblical Jonah.
info from http://www.arab.net/iraq/tour/iq_mosul.html and http://i-cias.com/e.o/mosul.htm