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Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...
after
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. It is located on the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the
Sassanid Persian Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...
capital of Ctesiphon. In 762 CE, Baghdad was chosen as the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, and became its most notable major development project. Within a short time, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Baghdad was the largest city in the world for much of the Abbasid era during the Islamic Golden Age, peaking at a population of more than a million. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the
British Mandate of Mesopotamia The Mandate for Mesopotamia ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by th ...
) in 1932, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of
Arab culture Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. The various religions the Ara ...
, with a population variously estimated at 6 or over 7 million. Compared to its large population, it has a small area at just 673 square kilometers (260 sq mi). The city has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War, which began with the United States-led
invasion of Iraq in 2003 The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
and lasted until 2011, and the subsequent
insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...
and renewed war that lasted until 2017, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. During this period, Baghdad had one of the highest rates of terrorist attacks in the world. However, terrorist attacks are rare and have been declining since the territorial defeat of the
Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...
militant group in Iraq in 2017.


Name

The name Baghdad is pre-Islamic, and its origin is disputed. The site where the city of Baghdad developed has been populated for millennia. By the eighth century, several villages had developed there, including a
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
hamlet called ''Baghdad'', the name which would come to be used for the Abbasid metropolis. Arab authors, realizing the preIslamic origins of Baghdad's name, generally looked for its roots in Middle Persian. They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God". Modern scholars generally tend to favor this etymology, which views the word as a Persian compound of ''bagh'' () "god" and ''dād'' () "given". In
Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
the first element can be traced to ''boghu'' and is related to Indo-Iranian ''bhag'' and Slavic ''bog'' "god."Guy Le Strange, "Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate from Contemporary Arabic and Persian", pg 10 A similar term in Middle Persian is the name ''Mithradāt'' (''
Mehrdad Mehrdād ( fa, مهرداد, ) is a common Persian male given name in Iran and other Persian speaking countries. The name is derived from '' Mehr'', an angelic Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') of covenant, light, and oath. The Persian word ''me ...
'' in New Persian), known in English by its borrowed Hellenistic form ''Mithridates'', meaning "Given by Mithra" (''dāt'' is the more archaic form of ''dād'', related to Sanskrit ''dāt'', Latin ''dat'' and English ''donor''), ultimately borrowed from Persian ''Mehrdad''. There are a number of other locations whose names are compounds of the Middle Persian word ''bagh'', including
Baghlan Baghlan (Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the ...
and
Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir V ...
in Afghanistan,
Baghshan Baghshan ( fa, باغشن, also Romanized as Bāgh-shan; or fa, بغ شن, Romanized as Bagh-shan) is a village in Zeberkhan Rural District, Zeberkhan District, Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its populatio ...
in Iran itself, and
Baghdati Baghdati ( ka, ბაღდათი, tr) is a town of 3,700 people in the Imereti region of western Georgia, at the edge of the Ajameti forest on the river Khanistsqali, a tributary of the Rioni. Geography The town is located at the edge of the ...
in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, which likely share the same etymological Iranic origins. A few authors have suggested older origins for the name, in particular the name ''Bagdadu'' or ''Hudadu'' that existed in
Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Camb ...
(spelled with a sign that can represent both ''bag'' and ''hu''), and the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic name of a place called "Baghdatha" (. Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations. When the Abbasid caliph
al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name ''City of Peace'', which now refers to the Round city of Baghdad proper. This was the official name on coins, weights, and other official usage, although the common people continued to use the old name. By the 11th century, "Baghdad" became almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis.


History


Foundation

After the fall of the Umayyads, the first Muslim dynasty, the victorious
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
rulers wanted their own capital from which they could rule. They chose a site north of the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, and on 30 July 762 the
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
commissioned the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the
Barmakids The Barmakids ( fa, برمکیان ''Barmakiyân''; ar, البرامكة ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol ...
. Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic empire under the Abbasids. The Muslim historian al-Tabari reported an ancient prediction by Christian monks that a lord named Miklas would one day build a spectacular city around the area of Baghdad. When Mansur heard the story, he became very joyful, for legend has it, he was called Miklas as a child. Mansur loved the site so much he is quoted saying: "This is indeed the city that I am to found, where I am to live, and where my descendants will reign afterward". The city's growth was helped by its excellent location, based on at least two factors: it had control over strategic and trading routes along the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
, and it had an abundance of water in a dry climate. Water exists on both the north and south ends of the city, allowing all households to have a plentiful supply, which was quite uncommon during this time. The city of Baghdad quickly became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts: Madinat al-Mansur (the Round City), al-Sharqiyya (Karkh) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank). Baghdad eclipsed Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanians, which was located some to the southeast. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of
Salman Pak fa, , settlement_type = city , image_skyline = File:001125-TaqKasra-Iraq-IMG 7914-2.jpg , caption = Salman Pak's famous Taq Kasra, the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world a ...
, just to the south of Greater Baghdad which is where Salman the Persian is believed to have been buried. Ctesiphon itself had replaced and absorbed
Seleucia Seleucia (; grc-gre, Σελεύκεια), also known as or , was a major Mesopotamian city of the Seleucid empire. It stood on the west bank of the Tigris River, within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. Name Seleucia ( grc-gre, � ...
, the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, which had earlier replaced the city of Babylon. According to the traveler Ibn Battuta, Baghdad was one of the largest cities, not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly
Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and f ...
. Baghdad is also home to the grave of
Abu Hanifa Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Musl ...
where there is a cell and a mosque above it. The Sultan of Baghdad, Abu Said Bahadur Khan, was a Tatar king who embraced Islam. In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the Qur'an, when it refers to
Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
. It took four years to build (764–768). Mansur assembled engineers, surveyors, and art constructionists from around the world to come together and draw up plans for the city. Over 100,000 construction workers came to survey the plans; many were distributed salaries to start the building of the city. July was chosen as the starting time because two
astrologers Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
, Naubakht Ahvazi and
Mashallah ''Mashallah'' ( ar, مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, '), also written Masha'Allah, Maşallah ( Turkey and Azerbaijan), Masya Allah ( Malaysia and Indonesia), Maschallah ( Germany), and Mašallah (Bosnia), is an Arabic phrase that is used to ex ...
, believed that the city should be built under the sign of the lion, Leo. Leo is associated with fire and symbolizes productivity, pride, and expansion. The bricks used to make the city were on all four sides.
Abu Hanifa Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Musl ...
h was the counter of the bricks and he developed a canal, which brought water to the work site for both human consumption and the manufacture of the bricks. Marble was also used to make buildings throughout the city, and marble steps led down to the river's edge. The basic framework of the city consists of two large semicircles about in diameter. The inner city connecting them was designed as a circle about in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City". The original design shows a single ring of residential and commercial structures along the inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring inside the first. Within the city there were many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. There was a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary European cities at the time, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash. In fact, by the time of Harun al-Rashid, Baghdad had a few thousand hammams. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Islam. Moreover, entry fees were usually so low that almost everyone could afford them. In the center of the city lay the mosque, as well as headquarters for guards. The purpose or use of the remaining space in the center is unknown. The circular design of the city was a direct reflection of the traditional Persian Sasanian
urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban de ...
. The Sasanian city of Gur in Fars, built 500 years before Baghdad, is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city. This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient Greek and
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles. Baghdad was a hectic city during the day and had many attractions at night. There were cabarets and taverns, halls for backgammon and chess, live plays, concerts, and acrobats. On street corners, storytellers engaged crowds with tales such as those later told in Arabian Nights. ;Surrounding walls The four surrounding walls of Baghdad were named
Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
,
Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
, Khurasan, and Syria; named because their gates pointed in the directions of these destinations. The distance between these gates was a little less than . Each gate had double doors that were made of iron; the doors were so heavy it took several men to open and close them. The wall itself was about 44 m thick at the base and about 12 m thick at the top. Also, the wall was 30 m high, which included merlons, a solid part of an embattled parapet usually pierced by embrasures. This wall was surrounded by another wall with a thickness of 50 m. The second wall had towers and rounded merlons, which surrounded the towers. This outer wall was protected by a solid
glacis A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More generally, a glaci ...
, which is made out of bricks and
quicklime Calcium oxide (CaO), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term "''lime''" connotes calcium-containing inorganic ma ...
. Beyond the outer wall was a water-filled moat. ;Golden Gate Palace The Golden Gate Palace, the residence of the caliph and his family, was in the heart of Baghdad, in the central square. In the central part of the building, there was a green dome that was 39 m high. Surrounding the palace was an
esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
, a waterside building, in which only the caliph could come riding on horseback. In addition, the palace was near other mansions and officer's residences. Near the Gate of Syria, a building served as the home for the guards. It was made of brick and marble. The palace governor lived in the latter part of the building and the commander of the guards in the front. In 813, after the death of caliph
Al-Amin Abu Musa Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو موسى محمد بن هارون الرشيد, Abū Mūsā Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd; April 787 – 24/25 September 813), better known by his laqab of Al-Amin ( ar, الأمين, al-Amī ...
, the palace was no longer used as the home for the caliph and his family. The roundness points to the fact that it was based on
Arabic script The Arabic script is the writing system used for Arabic and several other languages of Asia and Africa. It is the second-most widely used writing system in the world by number of countries using it or a script directly derived from it, and the ...
. The two designers who were hired by
Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
to plan the city's design were
Naubakht Nobakht Ahvazi ( fa, نوبخت اهوازى), also spelled Naubakht Ahvaz and Naubakht, along with his sons were astrologers from Ahvaz (in the present-day Khuzestan Province, Iran) who lived in the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Nobakht was particula ...
, a Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and
Mashallah ''Mashallah'' ( ar, مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ, '), also written Masha'Allah, Maşallah ( Turkey and Azerbaijan), Masya Allah ( Malaysia and Indonesia), Maschallah ( Germany), and Mašallah (Bosnia), is an Arabic phrase that is used to ex ...
, a Jew from
Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
, Iran.


Center of learning (8th–9th centuries)

Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of learning and
commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the
Abbasid translation movement The Graeco-Arabic translation movement was a large, well-funded, and sustained effort responsible for translating a significant volume of secular Greek texts into Arabic. The translation movement took place in Baghdad from the mid-eighth century ...
began under the second caliph
Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. '' Baytul-Hikmah'' or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies,When Baghdad was centre of the scientific world
. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
and had the largest selection of books in the world by the middle of the 9th century. Notable scholars based in Baghdad during this time include translator
Hunayn ibn Ishaq Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (also Hunain or Hunein) ( ar, أبو زيد حنين بن إسحاق العبادي; (809–873) was an influential Nestorian Christian translator, scholar, physician, and scientist. During the apex of the Islamic ...
, mathematician
al-Khwarizmi Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī ( ar, محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي, Muḥammad ibn Musā al-Khwārazmi; ), or al-Khwarizmi, was a Persian polymath from Khwarazm, who produced vastly influential works in mathematics, astronom ...
, and philosopher
Al-Kindi Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn ʼIsḥāq aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ al-Kindī (; ar, أبو يوسف يعقوب بن إسحاق الصبّاح الكندي; la, Alkindus; c. 801–873 AD) was an Arab Muslim philosopher, polymath, mathematician, physician ...
. Although Arabic was used as the international language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabs, but also Persians,
Syriacs Terms for Syriac Christians are endonymic (native) and exonymic (foreign) terms, that are used as designations for ''Syriac Christians'', as adherents of Syriac Christianity. In its widest scope, Syriac Christianity encompass all Christian deno ...
,
Nestorians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...
, Jews,
Arab Christians Arab Christians ( ar, ﺍَﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, translit=al-Masīḥīyyūn al-ʿArab) are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic-speakers who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who l ...
, and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region. These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world. Baghdad was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with
Al-Jahiz Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري), commonly known as al-Jāḥiẓ ( ar, links=no, الجاحظ, ''The Bug Eyed'', born 776 – died December 868/Jan ...
contributing to the formation of
Mu'tazili Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
theology, as well as
Al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
culminating in the scholarship on the
Quranic exegesis Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...
.Gordon, M.S. (2006). Baghdad. In Meri, J.W. ed. ''Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia''. New York: Routledge. Baghdad is likely to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with Córdoba. Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. Many of the '' One Thousand and One Nights'' tales, widely known as the ''Arabian Nights'', are set in Baghdad during this period. It would surpass even Constantinople in prosperity and size. Among the notable features of Baghdad during this period were its exceptional libraries. Many of the Abbasid caliphs were patrons of learning and enjoyed collecting both ancient and contemporary literature. Although some of the princes of the previous Umayyad dynasty had begun to gather and translate Greek scientific literature, the Abbasids were the first to foster Greek learning on a large scale. Many of these libraries were private collections intended only for the use of the owners and their immediate friends, but the libraries of the caliphs and other officials soon took on a public or a semi-public character.Mackensen, Ruth Stellhorn . (1932). Four Great Libraries of Medieval Baghdad. ''The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy'', Vol. 2, No. 3 (July 1932), pp. 279-299. University of Chicago Press. Four great libraries were established in Baghdad during this period. The earliest was that of the famous Al-Ma'mun, who was caliph from 813 to 833. Another was established by
Sabur ibn Ardashir Sabur ibn Ardashir ( fa, شاپور بن اردشیر; also spelled Shapur) was a Persian statesman who served as the ''vizier'' of the Buyids of Iraq briefly in 990 and later from 996 to 999. Biography Of aristocratic origin, and of probable roy ...
in 991 or 993 for the literary men and scholars who frequented his academy. Unfortunately, this second library was plundered and burned by the Seljuks only seventy years after it was established. This was a good example of the sort of library built up out of the needs and interests of a literary society. The last two were examples of ''madrasa'' or theological college libraries. The
Nezamiyeh The Nezamiyeh ( fa, نظامیه) or Nizamiyyah ( ar, النظامیة) are a group of institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in Iran. The name ''nizamiyyah'' derives from his name. Founded a ...
was founded by the Persian Nizam al-Mulk, who was vizier of two early Seljuk sultans. It continued to operate even after the coming of the Mongols in 1258. The Mustansiriyah ''madrasa'', which owned an exceedingly rich library, was founded by Al-Mustansir, the second last Abbasid caliph, who died in 1242. This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghdad.


Stagnation and invasions (10th–16th centuries)

By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2 million George Modelski, ''World Cities: –3000 to 2000'', Washington, D.C.: FAROS 2000, 2003. . See als
Evolutionary World Politics Homepage
and 2 million. Baghdad's early meteoric growth eventually slowed due to troubles within the
Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, including relocations of the capital to
Samarra Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional ar ...
(during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the Iranian Buwayhids (945–1055) and
Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
(1055–1135). The Seljuks were a clan of the Oghuz Turks from Central Asia that converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1040, they destroyed the Ghaznavids, taking over their land and in 1055,
Tughril Beg Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghdad. The Seljuks expelled the
Buyid dynasty The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Cou ...
of Shiites that had ruled for some time and took over power and control of Baghdad. They ruled as
Sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
in the name of the Abbasid caliphs (they saw themselves as being part of the Abbasid regime). Tughril Beg saw himself as the protector of the Abbasid Caliphs. Sieges and wars in which Baghdad was involved are listed below: *
Siege of Baghdad (812–813) The siege of Baghdad was a part of a civil war between al-Amin and al-Ma'mun for the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad. The siege lasted from August 812 until September 813. The siege is described in great detail by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari in his ...
, Fourth Fitna (Caliphal Civil War) *Siege of Baghdad (865),
Abbasid civil war (865–866) The Abbasid civil war of 865–866, sometimes known as the Fifth Fitna, was an armed conflict during the "Anarchy at Samarra" between the rival caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz, fought to determine who would gain control over the Abbasid Cali ...
*
Battle of Baghdad (946) The Battle of Baghdad (946 AD) was fought between the forces of the Buyid Emirate of Iraq under Mu'izz al-Dawla and the Hamdanid Emirate of Mosul under Nasir al-Dawla within the city of Baghdad. The battle lasted for several months; it eventuall ...
, Buyid–Hamdanid War *
Siege of Baghdad (1157) The siege of Baghdad in 1157 was the last Seljuq attempt to capture Baghdad from the Abbasids. Caliph al-Muqtafi successfully defended his capital against the coalition armies of Seljuq Sultan Muhammad of Hamadan and Qutb ad-Din of Mosul. B ...
, Abbasid–Seljuq Wars * Siege of Baghdad (1258), Mongol conquest of Baghdad *Siege of Baghdad (1393), by
Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
*Siege of Baghdad (1401), by Tamerlane *
Capture of Baghdad (1534) The 1534 capture of Baghdad by Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire from the Safavid dynasty under Tahmasp I was part of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532 to 1555, itself part of a series of Ottoman–Persian Wars. The city was taken w ...
, Ottoman–Safavid Wars *
Capture of Baghdad (1623) The Capture of Baghdad by the Ottoman Army under Murad IV occurred on 14 January 1624, which was part of the ongoing war between Sultan Murad IV against Shah Abbas I. See also * Treaty of Nasuh Pasha * Treaty of Serav * List of conflicts in th ...
, Ottoman–Safavid Wars *
Capture of Baghdad (1638) The recapture of Baghdad was the second conquest of the city by the Ottoman Empire as a part of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639. Background Baghdad, once the capital of Arab Abbasid Caliphate, was one of the most important cities of t ...
, Ottoman–Safavid Wars In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the
Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyn ...
under the Turkish general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the
Ismailis Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh. Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghdad, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir to support him in conquering Baghdad on the Ismaili Imam's behalf. It has recently come to light that the famed Fatimid '' da'i'', al-Mu'ayyad al-Shirazi, had a direct role in supporting al-Basasiri and helped the general to succeed in taking Mawṣil, Wāsit and
Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
. Soon after,Daftary, Farhad. ''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 205-206. by December 1058, a Shi'i ''
adhān Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer ( salah) in a mo ...
'' (call to prayer) was implemented in Baghdad and a '' khutbah'' (sermon) was delivered in the name of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph. Despite his Shi'i inclinations, Al-Basasiri received support from Sunnis and Shi'is alike, for whom opposition to the Saljuq power was a common factor. On 10 February 1258, Baghdad was captured by the Mongols led by
Hulegu Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...
, a grandson of Chingiz Khan ( Genghis Khan), during the siege of Baghdad. Many quarters were ruined by fire, siege, or looting. The Mongols massacred most of the city's inhabitants, including the caliph
Al-Musta'sim Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir Billah (; 1213 – 20 February 1258), better known by his regnal name al-Musta'sim Billah ( ar, المستعصم بالله, al-Mustaʿṣim billāh, label=none) was the 37th and last caliph of the Abbasid dyna ...
, and destroyed large sections of the city. The
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...
s and dykes forming the city's irrigation system were also destroyed. During this time, in Baghdad, Christians and Shia were tolerated, while Sunnis were treated as enemies. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate. It has been argued that this marked an end to the Islamic Golden Age and served a blow from which Islamic civilization never fully recovered. At this point, Baghdad was ruled by the Ilkhanate, a breakaway state of the Mongol Empire, ruling from Iran. In August 1393, Baghdad was occupied by the Central Asian Turkic conqueror
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
("Tamerlane"), by marching there in only eight days from
Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 pe ...
. Sultan
Ahmad Jalayir Sultan Ahmad was the ruler of the Jalayirid Sultanate (ruled 1382–1410), he was son to the most accomplished ruler of the sultanate, Shaykh Uways Jalayir. Early in his reign, he was involved in conflicts with his brothers. He would later suffer fr ...
fled to Syria, where the Mamluk Sultan
Barquq Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq ( Circassian: Бэркъукъу аз-Захьир Сэфудин; ar, الملك الظاهر سيف الدين برقوق; ruled 1382–1389 and 1390–1399; born in Circassia) was the first Sultan of the ...
protected him and killed Timur's envoys. Timur left the
Sarbadar The Sarbadars (from fa, سربدار ''sarbadār'', "head on gallows"; also known as Sarbedaran ) were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of th ...
prince Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghdad, but he was driven out when
Ahmad Jalayir Sultan Ahmad was the ruler of the Jalayirid Sultanate (ruled 1382–1410), he was son to the most accomplished ruler of the sultanate, Shaykh Uways Jalayir. Early in his reign, he was involved in conflicts with his brothers. He would later suffer fr ...
returned. In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, by Timur. When his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads. Baghdad became a provincial capital controlled by the Mongol
Jalayirid The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', p.3: ...
(1400–1411), Turkic
Kara Koyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, Eng ...
(1411–1469), Turkic
Ak Koyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
(1469–1508), and the Iranian
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
(1508–1534) dynasties.


Ottoman era (16th–19th centuries)

In 1534, Baghdad was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Under the Ottomans, Baghdad continued into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Iranian Safavids, which did not accept the Sunni control of the city. Between 1623 and 1638, it returned to Iranian rule before falling back into Ottoman hands. Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
and
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
, and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out. For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century, under a
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...
government. Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by
Ali Rıza Pasha Ali Rıza Pasha (1860–1932) was an Ottoman military officer and statesman, who was one of the last Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire, under the reign of the last Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI, between 14 October 1919 and 2 March 1920.İsmail Hâm ...
in 1831. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by
Mehmed Namık Pasha Mehmed Emin Namık Pasha (1804 – 1892) was a prominent Ottoman statesman and military reformer, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the modern Ottoman Army. He served under five Sultans and acted as counsellor to at least fou ...
. The
Nuttall Encyclopedia Nuttall may refer to: People * Nuttall (name) * Nuttall baronets Nature * Nuttall's oak, a fast-growing large deciduous oak tree native to North America * Nuttall's woodpecker, a species of woodpecker found in oak woodlands of California * Nu ...
reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000. File:Baghdad Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (1609).png,
Baghdad Eyalet , common_name = Baghdad Eyalet , conventional_long_name =Eyalet of Baghdad , subdivision = Eyalet , nation = the Ottoman EmpireUnder Safavid occupation (1624–1638) , year_start = 1535 , year_end ...
in 1609 CE. File:Baghdad Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (1900).png,
Baghdad Vilayet ota, ولايت بغداد''Vilâyet-i Bagdad'' , conventional_long_name = Baghdad Vilayet , common_name = Baghdad Vilayet , subdivision = Vilayet , nation = Ottoman Empire , year_start = 186 ...
in 1900 CE. File:Market-Place of Bagdad.jpeg, Souk in Baghdad, 1876 CE.


Modern era

Baghdad and southern Iraq remained under Ottoman rule until 1917, when they were captured by the British during World War I. In 1920, Baghdad became the capital of the
British Mandate of Mesopotamia The Mandate for Mesopotamia ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by th ...
, with several architectural and planning projects commissioned to reinforce this administration. After receiving independence in 1932, the city became capital of the
Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...
. During this period, the substantial Jewish community (probably exceeding 100,000 people) comprised between a quarter and a third of the city's population. On 1 April 1941, members of the "Golden Square" and
Rashid Ali Rashid Ali al-Gaylaniin Arab standard pronunciation Rashid Aali al-Kaylani; also transliterated as Sayyid Rashid Aali al-Gillani, Sayyid Rashid Ali al-Gailani or sometimes Sayyad Rashid Ali el Keilany (" Sayyad" serves to address higher standing ...
staged a coup in Baghdad. Rashid Ali installed a pro-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and pro-
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
government to replace the pro-British government of Regent Abdul Ilah. On 31 May, after the resulting
Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The ca ...
and after Rashid Ali and his government had fled, the Mayor of Baghdad surrendered to British and Commonwealth forces. On June 1–2, during the ensuing
power vacuum In political science and political history, the term power vacuum, also known as a power void, is an analogy between a physical vacuum to the political condition "when someone in a place of power, has lost control of something and no one has r ...
, Jewish residents were attacked following rumors they had aided the British. In what became known as the
Farhud ''Farhud'' ( ar, الفرهود) was the pogrom or "violent dispossession" carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on June 1–2, 1941, immediately following the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War. The riots occurred in a ...
, over 180 Jews were killed, 1,000 injured and hundreds of Jewish properties were ransacked. Martin Gilbert
The atlas of Jewish history"> The atlas of Jewish history
William Morrow and Company, 1993. pg. 114. .
Between 300 and 400 non-Jewish rioters were killed in the attempt to quell the violence. The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950. On 14 July 1958, members of the
Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...
, under
Abd al-Karim Qasim Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown du ...
, staged a coup to topple the Kingdom of Iraq. King Faisal II, former Prime Minister Nuri as-Said, former Regent Prince
'Abd al-Ilah 'Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz, ( ar, عبد الإله; also written Abdul Ilah or Abdullah; 14 November 1913 – 14 July 1958) was a cousin and brother-in-law of King Ghazi of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq and was regent for his first-cousin once re ...
, members of the royal family, and others were brutally killed during the coup. Many of the victim's bodies were then dragged through the streets of Baghdad. During the 1970s, Baghdad experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the
price of petroleum The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC R ...
, Iraq's main export. New infrastructure including modern sewerage, water, and highway facilities were built during this period. The masterplans of the city (1967, 1973) were delivered by the Polish planning office Miastoprojekt-Kraków, mediated by Polservice. However, the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money was diverted by Saddam Hussein to the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of missile attacks against Baghdad in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's continuous bombardments of Tehran's residential districts. In 1991 and 2003, the Gulf War and the
US invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
caused significant damage to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure as the US-led coalition forces launched massive aerial assaults in the city in the two wars. Also in 2003, a minor riot in the city (which took place on 21 July) caused some disturbance in the population. The historic "Assyrian Quarter" of the city, Dora, which boasted a population of 150,000 Assyrians in 2003, made up over 3% of the capital's Assyrian population then. The community has been subject to
kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
s,
death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...
s, vandalism, and house burnings by
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and other
insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...
groups. As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora. The Iraq War took place from 2003 to 2011, but an Islamist
insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irreg ...
lasted until 2013. It was followed by another war from 2013 to 2017 and a
low-level High-level and low-level, as technical terms, are used to classify, describe and point to specific goals of a systematic operation; and are applied in a wide range of contexts, such as, for instance, in domains as widely varied as computer scienc ...
insurgency from 2017, which included
suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
s in January 2018 and January 2021. Priceless collection of artifacts in the
National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national muse ...
was looted by the Iraqi citizens during the 2003 US-led invasion. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed.


Reconstruction efforts

Most Iraqi reconstruction efforts have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure. More visible efforts at reconstruction through private development, like architect and urban designer
Hisham N. Ashkouri Hisham N. Ashkouri ( ar, هشام أشكري, born August 15, 1948) is a Boston and New York-based architect. Ealry Life Ashkouri was born August 15, 1948 in Baghdad, Iraq. He graduated first in class in 1970 with a Bachelor of Architecture Deg ...
's Baghdad Renaissance Plan and the Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center have also been made. A plan was proposed by a Government agency to rebuild a tourist island in 2008. Investors were sought to develop a "romantic island" on the River Tigris that was once a popular honeymoon spot for newlyweds. The project would include a six-star hotel, spa, an 18-hole golf course and a country club. In addition, the go-ahead has been given to build numerous architecturally unique skyscrapers along the Tigris that would develop the city's financial center in Kadhehemiah. In late 2009, a construction plan was proposed to rebuild the heart of Baghdad, but the plan was never realized because corruption was involved in it.The Baghdad Eye
ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
, proposed in August 2008, was installed at the Al-Zawraa Park in March 2011. In May 2010, a new large scale residential and commercial project called Baghdad Gate was announced. In August 2010, Iraqi-British architect
Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...
, was appointed to design a new headquarters for the Central Bank in Baghdad. Initial talks about the project were held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 14 August 2010, in the presence of the Central Bank Governor
Sinan Al Shabibi Sinan Al-Shabibi ( ar, سنان الشبيبي; 1 July 1941 – 8 January 2022) was an Iraqi economist who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq from September 2003 to October 2012. Early life and education Born in Baghdad on 1 ...
. On 2 February 2012, Zaha Hadid joined
Sinan Al Shabibi Sinan Al-Shabibi ( ar, سنان الشبيبي; 1 July 1941 – 8 January 2022) was an Iraqi economist who served as the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq from September 2003 to October 2012. Early life and education Born in Baghdad on 1 ...
at a ceremony in London to sign the agreement between the Central Bank of Iraq and
Zaha Hadid Architects Zaha Hadid Architects is a British architecture and design firm founded by Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), with its main office situated in Clerkenwell, London. Architectural work Conceptual projects *Price Tower extension hybrid project (2002), Ba ...
for the design stages of the new CBI Headquarters building. The construction was postponed in 2015 due to economical problems, but started again in 2019.


Climate

Baghdad has a hot desert climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BWh''), featuring extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers and mild to cool, slightly wet, short winters. In the summer, from June through August, the average maximum temperature is as high as and accompanied by sunshine. Rainfall has been recorded on fewer than half a dozen occasions at this time of year and has never exceeded . Even at night, temperatures in summer are seldom below . Baghdad's record highest temperature of was reached on 28 July 2020. The humidity is typically under 50% in summer due to Baghdad's distance from the marshy southern Iraq and the coasts of Persian Gulf, and
dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transport ...
s from the deserts to the west are a normal occurrence during the summer. Winter temperatures are typical of hot desert climates. From December through February, Baghdad has maximum temperatures averaging , though highs above are not unheard of. Lows below freezing occur a couple of times per year on average. Annual rainfall, almost entirely confined to the period from November through March, averages approximately , but has been as high as and as low as . On 11 January 2008, light snow fell across Baghdad for the first time in 100 years. Snowfall was again reported on 11 February 2020, with accumulations across the city.


Geography

The city is located on a vast plain bisected by the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
river. The Tigris splits Baghdad in half, with the eastern half being called " Risafa" and the Western half known as " Karkh". The land on which the city is built is almost entirely flat and low-lying, being of quaternary
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
origin due to the periodic large floods which have occurred on the river.


Administrative divisions

Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into
districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
which are further divided into sub-districts. Municipally, the governorate is divided into 9 municipalities, which have responsibility for local issues. Regional services, however, are coordinated and carried out by a mayor who oversees the municipalities. The governorate council is responsible for the governorate-wide policy. These official subdivisions of the city served as administrative centers for the delivery of municipal services but until 2003 had no political function. Beginning in April 2003, the U.S. controlled
Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = Arabic Kurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Ja ...
(CPA) began the process of creating new functions for these. The process initially focused on the election of neighborhood councils in the official neighborhoods, elected by neighborhood caucuses. The CPA convened a series of meetings in each neighborhood to explain local government, to describe the caucus election process and to encourage participants to spread the word and bring friends, relatives and neighbors to subsequent meetings. Each neighborhood process ultimately ended with a final meeting where candidates for the new neighborhood councils identified themselves and asked their neighbors to vote for them. Once all 88 (later increased to 89) neighborhood councils were in place, each neighborhood council elected representatives from among their members to serve on one of the city's nine district councils. The number of neighborhood representatives on a district council is based upon the neighborhood's population. The next step was to have each of the nine district councils elect representatives from their membership to serve on the 37 member Baghdad City Council. This three tier system of local government connected the people of Baghdad to the central government through their representatives from the neighborhood, through the district, and up to the city council. The same process was used to provide representative councils for the other communities in Baghdad Province outside of the city itself. There, local councils were elected from 20 neighborhoods (Nahia) and these councils elected representatives from their members to serve on six district councils (Qada). As within the city, the district councils then elected representatives from among their members to serve on the 35 member Baghdad Regional Council. The first step in the establishment of the system of local government for Baghdad Province was the election of the Baghdad Provincial Council. As before, the representatives to the Provincial Council were elected by their peers from the lower councils in numbers proportional to the population of the districts they represent. The 41 member Provincial Council took office in February 2004 and served until national elections held in January 2005, when a new Provincial Council was elected. This system of 127 separate councils may seem overly cumbersome; however, Baghdad Province is home to approximately seven million people. At the lowest level, the neighborhood councils, each council represents an average of 75,000 people. The nine District Advisory Councils (DAC) are as follows: *
Adhamiyah Al-Adhamiyah ( ar, الأعظمية, ''al-aʿẓamiyyah''; BGN: ''Al A‘z̧amīyah''), also Azamiya, is a neighborhood and east-central district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. Adhamiyah n ...
* Karkh (
Green Zone The Green Zone ( ar, المنطقة الخضراء, translit=al-minṭaqah al-ḫaḍrā) is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It was a area in the Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental ...
) * Karrada * Kadhimiya * Mansour * Sadr City (Thawra) * Al Rashid * Rusafa * New Baghdad (Tisaa Nissan) (9 April) The nine districts are subdivided into 89 smaller neighborhoods which may make up sectors of any of the districts above. The following is a ''selection'' (rather than a complete list) of these neighborhoods: *Al-
Ghazaliya Ghazaliya (Arabic: الغزالية) is a neighborhood in the western outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, in the city's Mansour district. To the north of Ghazaliya is the neighborhood of Al-Shu'ala, to the east is Al-Adel, to the south is Al Khadhraa, a ...
* Al-A'amiriya * Dora * Karrada *
Al-Jadriya Al-Jadriya is a neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq along the Tigris river. Al-Jadriya shares a significant but comparatively smaller part of the peninsula with Karrada Karrada ( ar, كرّادة ''Karrāda'') is an upper-class district of the cit ...
*
Al-Hebnaa Al-Hebnaa is a neighborhood of the Al- Kadhimyah District in northern Baghdad, Iraq. It is located on the Karkh Karkh or Al-Karkh (Arabic: الكرخ) is historically the name of the western half of Baghdad, Iraq, or alternatively, the western ...
* Zayouna *
Al-Saydiya Al-Saydiya ( ar, السيدية) is a neighborhood in the Al Rashid district of southwestern Baghdad, Iraq. Baiyaa is to the north and Dora to the east. A once middle-class district, much of Al-Saydiya was built within the last three decades on ...
*
Al-Sa'adoon Al-Sa'adoon is a neighborhood in the Rusafa District of Baghdad, Iraq. Sa'adoon {{Iraq-geo-stub ...
*
Al-Shu'ala Al-Shu'ala is a lower middle class district of Baghdad, Iraq. It is heavily populated and its inhabitants are working class families of limited income. There is a Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It ...
*
Al-Mahmudiyah Mahmoudiyah ( ar, المحمودية) (also transliterated Al-Mahmudiyah, Al-Mahmoudi, or Al-Mahmudiya, prefixed usually with Al-) is a rural city south of Baghdad. Known as the "Gateway to Baghdad," the city's proximity to Baghdad made it centra ...
*
Bab Al-Moatham Bab Al-Moatham (Bab Al-Muadham or Bab Al-Mu'azzam) is a neighborhood of the Rusafa district of Baghdad, Iraq, not far east of the Tigris River. It is the location of the Iraq National Library and Archive, a campus of the University of Baghdad, ...
** Al-Baya' *
Al-Za'franiya Al-Za'franiya city ( ar, مدينة الزعفرانية) is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. It is located in the south-east of Baghdad at the confluence of the Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Meso ...
*
Hayy Ur Hayy Ur is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the no ...
* Sha'ab * Hayy Al-Jami'a * Al-Adel * Al Khadhraa *
Hayy Al-Jihad Jihad (Al-Jihad or Hayy Al-Jihad) is a neighborhood (''hayy'') in the Al Rashid district in western Baghdad, Iraq. To the north is Al-A'amiriya (Amiriya) on the other side of Baghdad Airport Road, and to the east is Al-A'amel. ''The New York Time ...
*
Hayy Al-A'amel Hayy Al-A'amel (also written Amel or Amil) is a neighborhood (''hayy'') in the Al Rashid district of southwestern Baghdad, Iraq. Its northern boundary is the Baghdad Airport Road, the neighborhood of Baiyaa Al - Bayaa’ (Arabic: البياع) is ...
*
Hayy Aoor Hayy Aoor is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the no ...
*
Al-Hurriya Al-Hurriya, alternatively Al-Horaya is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is b ...
*
Hayy Al-Shurtta Hayy Al-Shurtta is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the Al Rashid district of Baghdad, Iraq. Shurta ''Shurṭa'' ( ar, شرطة) is the common Arabic term for police, although its precise meaning is that of a "picked" or elite f ...
* Yarmouk * Jesr Diyala *
Abu Disher Abu Disher, also known as Abu Disheer, is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is ...
* Raghiba Khatoun *
Arab Jibor Arab Jibor (or Jabour) is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq. It is a predominantly Sunni area to the immediate south-east of Baghdad that lies to the west of the Tigris River. It has an estimated population 12,00 of which 80% are Sunni. It is a ferti ...
*
Al-Fathel Al-Fathel is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the n ...
*
Al-Ubedy Al-Ubedy is a neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the ...
* Al-Washash *
Al-Wazireya Al-Wazireya or Waziriyah (Arabic: الوزيرية) is a neighborhood in the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, Iraq. It is at one end of the Al-Sarafiya bridge, across the Tigris River from Utafiyah Utafiyah (Arabic, العطيفية) is a neighbor ...


Notable streets

*
Haifa Street Haifa Street (or Hayfa Street) ( ar, شارع حيفا) is a two-mile-long street in Baghdad, Iraq, named after the port city of Haifa. It runs parallel to the Tigris and, along with Yafa Street (named after the port city of Jaffa), it leads to t ...
* Hilla Road – Runs from the north into Baghdad via Yarmouk (Baghdad) * Caliphs Street – site of historical mosques and churches * Sadoun Street – stretching from Liberation Square to Masbah *
Abu Nawas Street Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
– runs along the Tigris from the Jumhouriya Bridge to 14 July Suspended Bridge * Damascus Street – goes from Damascus Square to the
Baghdad Airport Road The Baghdad Airport Road is a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) stretch of highway in Baghdad, Iraq linking the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area at the centre of Baghdad, to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It also links different parts of Bagh ...
*
Mutanabbi Street Mutanabbi Street (Arabic: شارع المتنبي) is located in Baghdad, Iraq, near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It w ...
– A street with numerous bookshops, named after the 10th century Iraqi poet
Al-Mutanabbi Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī al-Kindī ( ar, أبو الطيب أحمد بن الحسين المتنبّي الكندي; – 23 September 965 AD) from Kufa, Abbasid Caliphate, was a famous Abbasid-era Arab poet at th ...
* Rabia Street * 14th July Street ( Mosul Road) * Muthana al-Shaibani Street * Bor Saeed (Port Said) Street * Thawra Street *
Al Qanat Street AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...
– runs through Baghdad north-south *Al Khat al Sare'a – Mohammed al Qasim (high speed lane) – runs through Baghdad, north–south *Industry Street runs by the University of Technology – center of the computer trade in Baghdad *
Al Nidhal Street AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...
*
Al Rasheed Street Al Rasheed Street or Al Rashid Street (Arabic: شارع الرشيد) is one of the main streets in downtown Baghdad. Its origin dates back to the Ottomans who ruled Iraq from 1534 to 1918. During that time, the only known public street in Bag ...
– city center Baghdad *
Al Jamhuriah Street AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...
– city center Baghdad * Falastin Street * Tariq el Muaskar – (Al Rasheed Camp Road) *
Akhrot street A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...
*
Baghdad Airport Road The Baghdad Airport Road is a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) stretch of highway in Baghdad, Iraq linking the Green Zone, a heavily fortified area at the centre of Baghdad, to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It also links different parts of Bagh ...


Demographics

Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22 million in 2015. The city historically had a predominantly Sunni population, but by the early 21st century around 52% of the city's population were Iraqi Shi'ites. At the beginning of the 21st century, some 1.5 million people migrated to Baghdad. Sunni Muslims make up 29–34% of Iraq's population and they are still a majority in west and north Iraq. As early as 2003, about 20 percent of the population of the city was the result of mixed marriages between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Following the
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
between the Sunni and Shia militia groups during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the population of Sunnis significantly decreased as they were pushed out of many neighborhoods. The War in Iraq following the Islamic State's invasion in 2014 caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city. The city has Shia, Sunni, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs, Armenians and mixed neighborhoods. The city was also home to a large Jewish community and regularly visited by Sikh pilgrims.


Religion

Baghdad is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups with an
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
majority, as well as Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians and
Mandaeans Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They ...
. The majority of the citizens are Muslims with minorities of
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
,
Yezidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...
and Mandeans also present. There are many religious centers distributed around the city including mosques, churches and Mashkhannas cultic huts. Masjid Al-Kadhimain is a shrine that is located in the Kādhimayn suburb of Baghdad. It contains the tombs of the seventh and ninth Twelver Shi'ite Imams,
Musa al-Kadhim Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after h ...
and
Muhammad at-Taqi Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ( ar, أحمد بن عبد اللّه بن محمد بن إسماعيل), better known as Muḥammad al-Taqī (born , died , Salamiyah, Syria, Imam: –) is the ninth Ismā� ...
respectively, upon whom the title of ''Kādhimayn'' ("Two who swallow their anger") was bestowed. Many Shi'ites travel to the mosque from far away places to commemorate those imams. File:Al-Kadhimiya Mosque 1.jpg, Kadhimiya Mosque File:مبنى كنيسة الارمن.jpg, Armenian Orthodox Church of Baghdad File:Al- Saray Mosque جامع السراي.jpg, Saray Mosque File:جامع الخلاني.jpg, Khilani Mosque In the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad, was the house of
Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...
, (Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith) also known as the "Most Great House" (Bayt-i-Azam) and the "House of God," where
Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Persia, and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Bábí Faith. In 1863, in I ...
mostly resided from 1853 to 1863. It is considered a holy place and a place of pilgrimage by Baha'i's according to their " Most Holy Book". On the 23rd of June 2013, the house was destroyed under unclear circumstances.


Economy

Baghdad accounts for 22.2% of Iraq's population and 40% of the country's gross domestic product (PPP).


Tourism

Baghdad was once one of the main destinations in the country and the region with a wealth of cultural attractions. Tourism has diminished since the Iraq-Iran war and later during the US invasion, but in recent years Baghdad has become a main tourist destination although it is still facing challenges. There are numerous historic, scientific and artistic museums in Baghdad which include,
Iraq Museum The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...
, Baghdadi Museum, Natural History Museum and several others. Baghdad is known for its famous
Mutanabbi street Mutanabbi Street (Arabic: شارع المتنبي) is located in Baghdad, Iraq, near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It w ...
which is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. The annual International Book Fair in Baghdad is well known to the international publishing world as a promising publishing event in the region after years of instability. File:بناية المتحف البغدادي.jpg, Baghdadi Museum File:Iraqi Museum.jpg, Iraq National Museum File:Al-Zawra'a Park.png, Al Zawra'a Park File:Al Salam Palace Iraq.jpg, Al Salam Palace File:DJK 8850tm.jpg,
Al Faw Palace The Al Faw Palace (also known as the ''Water Palace'') is located in Baghdad approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) from the Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. Saddam Hussein commissioned its construction in the 1990s to commemorate the Iraqi forces' r ...


Transport

Iraqi Airways Iraqi Airways Company, operating as Iraqi Airways ( ar, الخطوط الجوية العراقية ''al-Xuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-ʿIrāqiyyah, Kurdish: ھێڵی ئاسمانی عێراق''), is the national carrier of Iraq, headquartered ...
, the national airline of Iraq, has its headquarters on the grounds of
Baghdad International Airport Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport ( ar, مطار بغداد الدولي, Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the ...
in Baghdad.


Education

The House of Wisdom was a major academy and public center in Baghdad. The
Mustansiriya Madrasah Mustansiriya Madrasah () was a medieval-era scholarly complex that provided a universal system of higher education. It was established in 1227 CE and was named after and built by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir in Baghdad, Iraq. The Madrasa tau ...
was established in 1227 by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir. The name was changed to Al-Mustansiriya University in 1963. The University of Baghdad is the largest university in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab world. Prior to the Gulf War, multiple
international schools An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...
operated in Baghdad, including: *École française de Bagdad *Deutsche Schule Bagdad *Baghdad Japanese School (バグダッド日本人学校), a
nihonjin gakko The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は,旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来,現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島(南西諸島)に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Japa ...


Universities

* University of Baghdad * Mustansiriya University * Iraqi University * Nahrain University *
Albayan University Albayan University (Arabic:جامعة البيان) is a university in Baghdad, Iraq. Colleges * College of Dentistry * College of Pharmacy * College of Pathological Techniques Analysis * College of Nursing * College of Law * College of Busin ...
*
University of Technology, Iraq The University of Technology, Iraq is one of Iraq's largest universities. It is situated in the city of Baghdad, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komar ...
* American University of Iraq – Baghdad *
Al Turath University College Al-Turath University ( ar, جامعة التراث) is a private Iraqi university and the oldest of such type in Iraq. Established in 1988 in the Mansour district of Baghdad, The name ''al-turath'' (التراث) means "heritage" or "tradition". ...
* Dijlah University College


Culture

Baghdad has always played a significant role in the broader Arab cultural sphere, contributing several significant writers, musicians and visual artists. Famous
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
poets and singers such as Nizar Qabbani,
Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum ( ar, أم كلثوم, , also spelled ''Oum Kalthoum'' in English; born Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, ar, فاطمة إبراهيم السيد البلتاجي, Fāṭima ʾIbrāhīm es-Sayyid el-Beltāǧī, link=no; 31 Dece ...
,
Fairuz Nouhad Wadie' Haddad ( ar, نهاد وديع حداد, ; born November 21, 1934), known as Fairuz ( ar, فيروز, ; also spelled Fairouz, Feyrouz or Fayrouz), is a Lebanese singer. She is considered by many as one of the leading vocalists a ...
, Salah Al-Hamdani,
Ilham al-Madfai Ilham al-Madfai ( ar, إلهام المدفعي) (born 1942) is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. al-Madfai's synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a popular performer in his native country and th ...
and others have performed for the city. The dialect of Arabic spoken in Baghdad today differs from that of other large urban centers in Iraq, having features more characteristic of nomadic Arabic dialects (Versteegh, ''The Arabic Language''). It is possible that this was caused by the repopulating of the city with rural residents after the multiple sackings of the late Middle Ages. For poetry written about Baghdad, see
Reuven Snir Reuven Snir ( he, ראובן שניר; born 1953) is an Israeli Jewish academic, Professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Haifa, Dean of Humanities, and a translator of poetry between Arabic, Hebrew, and English. He is the ...
(ed.), ''Baghdad: The City in Verse'' (Harvard, 2013). Baghdad joined the
UNESCO Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.National Theater, which was looted during the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
, but efforts are underway to restore the theater. The live theater industry received a boost during the 1990s, when UN sanctions limited the import of foreign films. As many as 30 movie theaters were reported to have been converted to live stages, producing a wide range of
comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...
and dramatic productions. Institutions offering cultural education in Baghdad include The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad and the Institute of Fine Arts Baghdad. The
Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra began as the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra in 1944. It performed for approximately two years and was disbanded after Albert Chaffoo left Iraq and returned to London to continue his musical career. Many members of t ...
is a government funded symphony orchestra in Baghdad. The INSO plays primarily classical European music, as well as original compositions based on Iraqi and Arab instruments and music. Baghdad is also home to a number of museums which housed artifacts and relics of
ancient civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Civ ...
; many of these were stolen, and the museums looted, during the widespread chaos immediately after United States forces entered the city. During
US occupation of Iraq The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
AFN Iraq AFN Iraq was the American Forces Network of radio stations within Iraq. The network, nicknamed Freedom Radio, broadcast news, information, and entertainment programs, including adult contemporary music. Its mission was to "sustain and improve th ...
("Freedom Radio") broadcast news and entertainment within Baghdad, among other locations. There is also a private radio station called "Dijlah" (named after the Arabic word for the Tigris River) that was created in 2004 as Iraq's first independent talk radio station. Radio Dijlah offices, in the
Jamia Jamia (جامعة ''jāmi‘a''; also ''jamiya'' 'h'' is the Arabic word for ''gathering''. It can also refer to a book Al-Jami'a or a mosque, or more generally, a university. In the latter sense it refers in official usage to a modern university, ...
neighborhood of Baghdad, have been attacked on several occasions.


Sights of interest

*The
National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national muse ...
whose collection of artifacts was looted during the 2003 US invasion, and the iconic Hands of Victory arches. Multiple Iraqi parties are in discussions as to whether the arches should remain as historical monuments or be dismantled. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed under
Saddam Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
's command. *
Mutanabbi Street Mutanabbi Street (Arabic: شارع المتنبي) is located in Baghdad, Iraq, near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It w ...
is located near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdadi book-selling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It was named after the 10th-century classical Iraqi poet
Al-Mutanabbi Abū al-Ṭayyib Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Mutanabbī al-Kindī ( ar, أبو الطيب أحمد بن الحسين المتنبّي الكندي; – 23 September 965 AD) from Kufa, Abbasid Caliphate, was a famous Abbasid-era Arab poet at th ...
. This street is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literacy and intellectual community. *
Baghdad Zoo The Baghdad Zoo is a zoo originally opened in 1971 and located in Baghdad, Iraq, in the Al Zawra’a Gardens area along with the Al Zawra’a Dream Park (amusement park) and Zawra'a Tower. Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the zoo housed 650 anim ...
used to be the largest
zoological park A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...
in the Middle East. Within eight days following the 2003 invasion, however, only 35 of the 650 animals in the facility survived. This was a result of theft of some animals for human food, and starvation of caged animals that had no food. Conservationist
Lawrence Anthony Lawrence Anthony (17 September 1950 – 2 March 2012) was an international conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and bestselling author. He was the long-standing head of conservation at the Thula Thula animal reserve in Zululand, Sout ...
and some of the zoo keepers cared for the animals and fed the carnivores with donkeys they had bought locally. Eventually Paul Bremer, Director of the
Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = Arabic Kurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Ja ...
in Iraq after the invasion, ordered protection for the zoo and enlisted U.S. engineers to help reopen the facility. * Grand Festivities Square is the main square where public celebrations are held and is also the home to three important monuments commemorating Iraqi's fallen soldiers and victories in war; namely Al-Shaheed Monument, the
Victory Arch The Victory Arch ( ar, قوس النصر ''Qaws an-Naṣr''), officially known as the ''Swords of Qādisīyah''، and popularly called the ''Hands of Victory'' or the ''Crossed Swords'', are a pair of triumphal arches in central Baghdad, Iraq. ...
and the Unknown Soldier's Monument. *
Al-Shaheed Monument Martyr's Monument ( ar, نصب الشهيد), also known as the Martyr's Memorial, is a monument designed by Iraqi sculptor Ismail Fatah Al Turk and situated in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. It was originally dedicated to the Iraqi soldiers who di ...
, also known as the Martyr's Memorial, is a monument dedicated to the Iraqi soldiers who died in the Iran–Iraq War. However, now it is generally considered by Iraqis to be for all of the martyrs of Iraq, especially those allied with Iran and Syria fighting ISIS, not just of the Iran–Iraq War. The monument was opened in 1983, and was designed by the Iraqi architect Saman Kamal and the Iraqi sculptor and artist
Ismail Fatah Al Turk Ismail Fatah Al-Turk ("Ismail Fatah") (1934 or 1938–2004) was an Iraqi painter and sculptor born in Basra, Iraq, noted for his abstract art, monumental sculpture and public works and as part of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, which fostered a sen ...
. During the 1970s and 1980s, Saddam Hussein's government spent a lot of money on new monuments, which included the al-Shaheed Monument. * Qushla or Qishla is a public square and the historical complex located in Rusafa neighborhood at the riverbank of
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...
. Qushla and its surroundings is where the historical features and cultural capitals of Baghdad are concentrated, from the
Mutanabbi Street Mutanabbi Street (Arabic: شارع المتنبي) is located in Baghdad, Iraq, near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It w ...
, Abbasid-era palace and bridges, Ottoman-era mosques to the Mustansariyah Madrasa. The square developed during the Ottoman era as a military barracks. Today, it is a place where the citizens of Baghdad find leisure such as reading poetry in gazebos. It is characterized by the iconic clock tower which was donated by
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Quee ...
. The entire area is submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site
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