Surani people are first attested during the rule of the Urartian Empire to have lived in modern Soran district stretching up to the areas around lake Urmia in Iran.

The Assyrian king Sargon II in 714 BC during his renowned Eighth Campaign conquered Soran, which he refers to it as Sarun, and sacked the Kurdish fire temple and its treasury.

[14][15][16][17] The Muslim army led by Ubadah ibn al-Samit conquered Soran and the surrounding areas in 642 (22 A.H.), after they defeated the Kurdish forces in Mosul and Erbil plains.

[24] In addition to Soran University, there are numerous primary and secondary schools in the district that offer education in Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

[27] Soran has a Mediterranean climate (Csa) with very hot, dry summers, and cool to cold, damp, humid winters.