The 13th Erbil international Book Fair opened on Wednesday in the capital of the Kurdistan Region with Kurdish officials marking the cultural event.

The fair opened its door with former President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani in attendance as well as other Kurdish officials.

Over 250 publishing companies from 35 countries around the world participate in the fair. The exhibition holds over 700,000 books in different languages, including Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

The fair will run for ten days with curious minds coming from all parts of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

“Last year, we participated in this fair, and we were surprised by the numbers of book lovers,” Katrina Tayerson, the representative for British Pathfinder Press, told Kurdistan 24.

“We will carefully listen to the demands and suggestions of our book readers. Last year, we were surprised by the high demand for English books,” Tayerson said.

Books related to religion, namely Islam, are some of the top-selling books at the fair. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), however, has prevented the event from publishing books that promote extremist ideologies.