Kirkuk Governorate or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an area of 9,679 square kilometres. In 2017, the estimated population was 1,259,561 people. The provincial capital is the city of Kirkuk. It is divided into four districts. The province was named Kirkuk Governorate until 1976, when it was named At-Ta'mim Governorate, meaning "nationalization", referring to the national ownership of the regional oil and natural gas reserves.