FACTBOX - Iraq's disputed city of Kirkuk

(Reuters) - Iraq's government may be dreaming of the vast wealth it plans to extract from oilfields around Kirkuk, but residents of the restive city have different appraisal of a resource they say has brought them nothing but trouble.

The following are some facts about the northern city of Kirkuk and its surrounding province:

* THE CITY:

Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, is the capital of Tamim province, which is also known as Kirkuk province.

Kirkuk sits atop one of Iraq's key oil producing fields. The Kirkuk fields contain about 13 percent of Iraq's proven reserves, which in turn are the world's third largest. U.S. officials believe the province could contain 4 percent of the world's oil reserves.

Kirkuk city is one of Iraq's biggest urban areas. It lies just outside the largely autonomous Kurdistan region, which is predominantly Kurdish.

* THE PEOPLE:

Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen make up Kirkuk's three main ethnic groups. The city is also home to Chaldean Christians and other minorities. Thousands of Arab families moved to Kirkuk in the 1970s and 1980s under Saddam Hussein's "Arabisation" policy, which involved the expulsion of thousands of Kurds and Turkmen.

The size of each ethnic group in Kirkuk is disputed, making population statistics unreliable. Arabs and Turkmen say hundreds of thousands of Kurds have settled in the city since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.