Baghdad
بَغْدَاد | |
---|---|
Mayoralty of Baghdad | |
Nickname: City of Peace (مَدِيْنَةُ السَّلَام)[1] | |
Coordinates: 33°18′55″N 44°21′58″E / 33.31528°N 44.36611°E | |
Country | Iraq |
Governorate | Baghdad |
Established | 30 July 762 AD |
Founded by | Caliph al-Mansur |
Districts | 11 |
Government | |
• Type | Mayor–council |
• Body | Baghdad City Advisory Council |
• Mayor | Ammar Moussa Kadhum |
Area | |
• Total | 673 km2 (260 sq mi) |
Elevation | 34 m (112 ft) |
Population | |
• Estimate (2024) | 7,921,134[2] |
• Rank | 1st in Iraq |
Demonym | Baghdadi |
Time zone | UTC+03:00 (Arabian Standard Time) |
• Summer (DST) | (Not Observed) |
Postal code | 10001 to 10090 |
Website | amanatbaghdad.gov.iq (in Arabic) |
Baghdad (/ˈbæɡdæd/ BAG-dad or /bəɡˈdæd/ bəg-DAD; Arabic: بَغْدَاد, romanized: Baghdād, [baɣˈdaːd] ) is capital and largest city of Iraq. Located on the Tigris, the city is part of the Baghdad Governorate. It has a population variously estimated at 6 or over 7 million. Compared to its large population, the city has a small area at just 673 square kilometers (260 sq mi).[note 1] Baghdad is popular for being a center in the Islamic world. Baghdad the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo and the second-largest city in West Asia after Tehran.
In 762 AD, Baghdad was founded as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, 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 multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". For much of the Abbasid era, during the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad was the largest city in the world. Its population peaked at more than one million people. 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.[7]
The city served as capital of the former British Mandate of Mesopotamia. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent monarchical state in 1932, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture. It went under rapid development in the 1970s. The city's fortune was changed by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Baghdad has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War, which began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq, the subsequent insurgency and renewed war, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. During this period, it had one of the highest rates of terrorist attacks in the world. However, terrorist attacks have gradually been on the decline since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq in 2017, and are very rare now.[8]
As capital of Iraq, Baghdad is home to government institution. It is home to numerous landmarks, popular as tourist spots, such mosques, churches, synagogues, shopping malls and hotels. The city serves as an important gateway hub to Iraq, through the Baghdad International Airport. It is one of the well-known cultural centers in the Arab and Islamic world. Ethnically, Baghdad is a diverse city, with Arabic-speaking Muslims as a majority, while Assyrians and Armenians Christians, Mandaeans and Jews are minority, making the city cosmopolitan.
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