| Baghdad | |
| Official Name: | Mayoralty of Baghdad |
| Native Name: | بَغْدَاد |
| Native Name Lang: | ar |
| Settlement Type: | Capital city and Metropolis |
| Nickname: | City of Peace (مَدِيْنَةُ السَّلَام)[1] |
| Pushpin Map: | Iraq#Asia#Earth |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Baghdad within Iraq |
| Coordinates: | 33.3153°N 44.3661°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Iraq |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Baghdad |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 30 July 762 AD |
| Founder: | Caliph al-Mansur |
| Government Type: | Mayor–council |
| Governing Body: | Baghdad City Advisory Council |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Ammar Moussa Kadhum |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 673 |
| Elevation M: | 34 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Est: | 7,921,134[2] |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2024 |
| Population Rank: | 1st in Iraq |
| Population Demonym: | Baghdadi |
| Timezone1: | Arabian Standard Time |
| Utc Offset1: | +3 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | No DST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 10001 to 10090 |
| Area Code Type: | (+964) 1 |
| Parts Type: | Districts |
| Parts: | 11 |
Baghdad (or ; Arabic: بَغْدَاد|translit=Baghdād, pronounced as /ar/) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo and the second-largest city in West Asia after Tehran. It is located on the Tigris river. 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.[3] 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) in 1932, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture, 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).
During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) and the Gulf War (1990–1991), Baghdad faced huge loses. The city has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War (2003–2011), which began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq, the subsequent insurgency (2011–2013) and renewed war (2013–2017), 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 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.[4]
As capital of Iraq, Baghdad is home to government offices and diplomatic missions. It is home to numerous landmarks, popular as tourist spots, such mosques, churches, synagogues, malls and hotels. The city serves as an important gateway hub to Iraq, through Baghdad International Airport. Ethnically Baghdad is diverse city, with Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims as majority, while Assyrians, Armenians and Jews as minority, making the city as cosmopolitan.
The name Baghdad is pre-Islamic, and its origin is disputed. The site where the city of Baghdad developed has been populated for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Baghdad was occupied by various peoples long before the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637 CE, and several ancient empires had capitals located in the surrounding area.[5]
Arab authors, realizing the pre-Islamic origins of Baghdad's name, generally looked for its roots in Middle Persian.[6] They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God".[6] [7] Modern scholars generally tend to favor this etymology,[6] which views the word as a Persian compound of bagh "god" and dād "given".[8] [9] In Old Persian the first element can be traced to boghu and is related to Indo-Iranian bhag and Slavic bog "god."[10] A similar term in Middle Persian is the name Mithradāt (Mehrdad 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 and Bagram in Afghanistan, Baghshan in Iran itself,[11] and Baghdati in Georgia, which likely share the same etymological Iranic origins.[12] [13] [14]
Other authors have suggested older origins for the name, in particular the name Bagdadu or Hudadu that existed in Old Babylonian (spelled with a sign that can represent both bag and hu), and the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic name of a place called Baghdatha (בגדתא).[15] [16] Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations.[6]
Another view, suggested by Christophe Wall-Romana, is that name of "Baghdad" is derived from "Akkad", as the cuneiform logogram for Akkad is pronounced "a-ga-dèKI" ("Agade") and its resemblance to "Baghdad" is compelling.[17] [18]
When the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name "City of Peace" (Arabic: مدینة السلام|links=no|translit=Madīnat as-Salām), 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.[19] [20] By the 11th century, Baghdad became almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis.
Christophe Wall-Romana has suggested that al-Mansur's choice to found his "new city" at Baghdad because of its strategic location was the same criteria which influenced Sargon's choice to found the original city of Akkad in the exact same location.[21] [22]
See main article: History of Baghdad.
After the fall of the Umayyads, the first Muslim dynasty, the victorious Abbasid 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[23] the caliph Al-Mansur commissioned the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the Iranian Barmakids.[24] 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 al-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".[25] 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, 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 (al-Karkh) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank).[26] Al-Mansur also planned out al-Karkh district so that he could separate the markets from the Round City in order to keep the turbulent populace away from the Round City to ensure that the gates would not be open at night for markets. Over time, the markets became diverse and a home to merchants and craftsmen. Officials with the title of “Muhtasib” were hired to look after markets to prevent cheating and check the weighs and measures of stocks.[27]
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, 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, 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 Hanbalis. Baghdad is also home to the grave of Abu Hanifa 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.[28]
In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the Qur'an, when it refers to Paradise. 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.[29] July was chosen as the starting time because two astrologers, Naubakht Ahvazi, an Iranian Zoroastrian, and Mashallah, an Iranian Jew, 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 and Leo's connection symbolically to Mithra.
The bricks used to make the city were on all four sides. Abu Hanifah 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.[30] Within the city there were many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades.[31] 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. 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 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. Storytelling became a profession called "al-Qaskhun" which survived until the modern era.[32]
Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of learning and commerce. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the Abbasid translation movement began under the second caliph Al-Mansur and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. Baytul-Hikmah or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies,[36] 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, mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and philosopher Al-Kindi.[36] Although Arabic was used as the international language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabs, but also Persians, Syriacs,[37] Nestorians, Jews, Arab Christians,[38] [39] and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region.[40] [41] [42] [43] These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world.[44] [45] [46] Baghdad was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with Al-Jahiz contributing to the formation of Mu'tazili theology, as well as Al-Tabari culminating in the scholarship on the Quranic exegesis.[47] 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.[48] Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak.[49] 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.[50] 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.[51] 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 in 991 or 993 for the literary men and scholars who frequented his academy.[51] 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.[51] The last two were examples of madrasa or theological college libraries. The Nezamiyeh was founded by the Persian Nizam al-Mulk, who was vizier of two early Seljuk sultans.[51] 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.[51] This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghdad.
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2 million[52] and 2 million.[53] Baghdad's early meteoric growth eventually slowed due to troubles within the Caliphate, including relocations of the capital to Samarra (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 (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, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghdad. The Seljuks expelled the Buyid dynasty of Shiites that had ruled for some time and took over power and control of Baghdad. They ruled as Sultans 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.[54]
Baghdad was captured in 1394, 1534, 1623 and 1638. The city has been sieged in 812, 865, 946, 1157, 1258 and in 1393 and 1401, by Tamerlane. In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh.[55] 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. Soon after,[56] by December 1058, a Shi'i adhān (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.[57]
On 10 February 1258, Baghdad was captured by the Mongols led by Hulegu, a grandson of Chingiz Khan (Genghis Khan), during the siege of Baghdad.[58] Many quarters were ruined by fire, siege, or looting. The Mongols massacred most of the city's inhabitants, including the caliph Al-Musta'sim, and destroyed large sections of the city. The canals 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.[59] The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate.[60] 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.[61]
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 ("Tamerlane"), by marching there in only eight days from Shiraz. Sultan Ahmad Jalayir fled to Syria, where the Mamluk Sultan Barquq protected him and killed Timur's envoys. Timur left the Sarbadar prince Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghdad, but he was driven out when Ahmad Jalayir returned.
In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, by Timur.[62] When his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads.[63] Baghdad became a provincial capital controlled by the Mongol Jalayirid (1400–1411), Turkic Kara Koyunlu (1411–1469), Turkic Ak Koyunlu (1469–1508), and the Iranian Safavid (1508–1534) dynasties.
See also: Baghdad Eyalet, Baghdad Vilayet and History of Baghdad (1831–1917). 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 and cholera,[64] and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.[65] The city became part of an eyalet and then a vilayet.
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 Mamluk government. Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by Ali Rıza Pasha in 1831. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha.[66] The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.
See also: Mandate for Mesopotamia, Kingdom of Iraq and Mandatory Iraq.
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, with several architectural and planning projects commissioned to reinforce this administration.[67] After receiving independence in 1932, the city became capital of the Kingdom of Iraq.
During this period, the substantial Jewish community (probably exceeding 100,000 people) comprised between a quarter[68] and a third of the city's population.[69] On 1 April 1941, members of the "Golden Square" and Rashid Ali staged a coup in Baghdad. Rashid Ali installed a pro-German and pro-Italian government to replace the pro-British government of Regent Abd al-Ilah. On 31 May, after the resulting Anglo-Iraqi War and after Rashid Ali and his government had fled, the Mayor of Baghdad surrendered to British and Commonwealth forces. On 1–2 June, during the ensuing power vacuum, Jewish residents were attacked following rumors they had aided the British. In what became known as the Farhud, over 180 Jews were killed, 1,000 injured and hundreds of Jewish properties were ransacked.[70] [71] Between 300 and 400 non-Jewish rioters were killed in the attempt to quell the violence.[72] According to Avi Shlaim, Israel was behind bombing of Jewish targets in Baghdad. However, by the 1970s, Jewish community was granted protection. 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, under Abd al-Karim Qasim, staged a coup to topple the Kingdom of Iraq.[73] King Faisal II, former Prime Minister Nuri al-Said, former Regent Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, 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, 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.[74] Saddam International Airport was opened in 1982. 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 and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of missile attacks against Baghdad in retaliation for Iraqi Army's continuous bombardments of Tehran's residential districts. Between 1990 and 1991, Baghdad was bombed during the Gulf War by the multinational alliance force.[75] [76] The U.S invasion of Iraq caused significant damage to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure.[77] The coalition forces launched massive aerial assaults in the city in the war. After the invasion, the airport was renamed as Baghdad International Airport. Following the fall of Baghdad, Saddam's government lost its power. Saddam's statue was toppled at Firdos Square, which marked overthrew of his regime. Also in 2003, a minor riot in the city, which took place on 21 July caused some disturbance in the population. Remaining Jews of the city also fled during the war.[78] The historic Jewish neighborhoods of Al–Turat Al–Bataween lost its glory.[79] 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 kidnappings, death threats, vandalism, and house burnings by al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups. As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora.[80]
The Iraq War took place from 2003 to 2011, but an Islamist insurgency lasted until 2013. It was followed by another war from 2013 to 2017 and a low-level insurgency from 2017, which included suicide bombings in January 2018 and January 2021.[81] Priceless collection of artifacts in the National Museum of Iraq was looted by Iraqi citizens during the 2003 US-led invasion. The Iraqi Film Archive was also bombed by the U.S. Air Force. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed. The city also hosts various protests and rallies. In December 2015, Baghdad was selected by UNESCO as the first Arab city of the center of literary creativity.[82] Baghdad attracted global media attention on 3 January 2020, when Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad Airport.
The city is located on a vast plain bisected by the Tigris 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 origin due to the periodic large floods which have occurred on the river.
Baghdad has a hot desert climate (Köppen 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 .[83] Even at night, temperatures in summer are seldom below . Baghdad's record highest temperature of was reached on 28 July 2020.[84] [85] 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 storms 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.[86]
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.[87] Snowfall was again reported on 11 February 2020, with accumulations across the city.[88]
See also: List of neighborhoods and districts in Baghdad.
Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into districts 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 (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:[89]
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:
The vast majority of Baghdad's population are Iraqi Arabs.[98] Minority ethnic groups include Feyli Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs and Armenians.[99] [100] The city was also home to a large Jewish community and regularly visited by Sikh pilgrims.[99]
Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22 million in 2015. The city historically has 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.[101] Following the civil war 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 2013–2017 war following the Islamic State's invasion in 2014 caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city.[99]
The majority of the citizens are Muslims with minorities of Christians, Yezidis, Jews and Mandeans also present. There are many religious centers distributed around the city including mosques, churches, synagogues 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 and Muhammad at-Taqi respectively, upon whom the title of Kādhimayn ("Two who swallow their anger") was bestowed.[102] [103] [104] Many Shi'ites travel to the mosque from far away places to commemorate those imams.
Prior to the 2003 invasion by the United States, Baghdad was home to tiny Jewish community of 450.[105] It started declining since 1940s, following establishment of Israel. The Jews of Baghdad faced restrictions until 1980s, when Saddam took power and granted freedom and protection to them. The Iraqi Jewish population decline after the 2003–2011 war and the subsequent 2013–2017 war.[106] The Meir Taweig Synagogue is the only synagogue remained in Baghdad. In the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad, was the house of Baháʼu'lláh, (Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith) also known as the "Most Great House" (Bayt-i-Aʻzam) and the "House of God," where Baháʼu'lláh 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".[107] On 23 June 2013, the house was destroyed under unclear circumstances.[108]
Baghdad accounts for 22.2% of Iraq's population and 40% of the country's gross domestic product (PPP). Most of the economic contribution of Iraq geographically is from Baghdad. During the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad emerged as a leading center of trade and commerce.[109] In the early Ba'athist period, Baghdad became a bustling metropolitan city in the Middle East and the Arab world. The Baghdad Stock Exchange (BSE) was opened in 1992 under the government of Saddam Hussein, to facilitate financial activities of the country.[110]
Baghdad was once one of the main destinations in the country and the region with a wealth of cultural attractions.[111] 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.[112] There are numerous historic, scientific and artistic museums in Baghdad which include, Iraq Museum, Baghdadi Museum, Natural History Museum and several others.[113] [114] Baghdad is known for its famous Mutanabbi street which is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community.[115] 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.
Iraqi companies including BaghTel, Fly Baghdad, Iraq National Oil Company, Trade Bank of Iraq and Central Bank of Iraq have established their headquarters in Baghdad.[116] [117] Multinational corporations — First Abu Dhabi Bank, SalamAir, Robert Bosch GmbH, Honeywell and Saudi National Bank operates regional headquarters in the city.[118] [119] [120] Subsequently, the city have produced a wide variety of consumer and industrial goods, including processed foods and beverages, tobacco, textiles, clothes, leather goods, wood products, furniture, paper and printed material, bricks and cement, chemicals, plastics, electrical equipment, and metal and nonmetallic products.[121]
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's Baghdad Renaissance Plan and the Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center have also been made.[122] A plan was proposed by a Government agency to rebuild a tourist island in 2008.[123] 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.[124]
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.[125] The Baghdad Eye Ferris wheel, proposed in August 2008,[126] [127] [128] [129] was installed at the Al-Zawraa Park in March 2011.[130] In May 2010, a new large scale residential and commercial project called Baghdad Gate was announced.[131] [132] In August 2010, Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, 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 bank governor Sinan al-Shabibi. On 2 February 2012, Hadid joined Sinan al-Shabibi at a ceremony in London to sign the agreement between the bank and her firm for the design stages of the new building. The construction was postponed in 2015 due to economical problems, but started again in 2019.
Baghdad lacks substantial public transportation, and taxis are the primary means of transportation in the city. Roads in Baghdad are noted to be especially congested.[133]
Iraqi Airways, the national airline of Iraq, operates out of Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad.[134] The airport was opened in 1982 by Saddam Hussein as Saddam International Airport. It was renamed when it came under control of the coalition forces during the country's invasion in 2003.
See main article: Baghdad Metro.
The Baghdad Metro project was first proposed during the 1970s but did not come into fruition due to wars and sanctions. After the Iraq war, Iraqi authorities intended to revive the project, but it was again delayed due to domestic instability.[135] In 2019, it was reported that Korean Hyundai and French Alstom would be commencing with the construction of the project,[136] however, the planned construction did not happen.
As of February 2024, the current proposed plan consist of fully electric and automated (driverless) trains running on an extensive railway network consisting of an underground railway portion as well as an elevated railway. The proposed Baghdad Metro system includes seven main lines with a total length of more than 148 kilometres, 64 metro stations, four workshops and depots for depot trains, several Operations Control Centers (OCC) and seven Main Power Stations (MPS) with a capacity of 250 mega-watts, and several Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) towers. The metro will be equipped with CCTV and internet as well as USB ports for charging, and special compartments will be allocated for women and children as well as seats for people with special needs, pregnant women, and the elderly. The metro stations will be connected to other public transportation networks such as buses and taxis, and 10 parking spaces will be available for commuters. The planned operating speed will be 80–140 km/hour with an estimated 3.25 million riders per day.[137]
In July 2024, it was announced that an international consortium consisting of French, Spanish, and Turkish companies as well as Deutsche Bank was awarded $17.5 billion to construct Baghdad's metro.[138] The consortium includes Alstom, Systra, SNCF, Talgo and SENER. The project is predicated upon the scheme of design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer, and is estimated to be completed in May 2029.[139]
The House of Wisdom was a major academy and public center in Baghdad. The Mustansiriya Madrasa 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 operated in Baghdad, including:
See also: Culture of Iraq, Baghdad Arabic and Café culture of Baghdad. Baghdad has always played a significant role in the broader Arab cultural sphere, contributing several significant writers, musicians and visual artists. Famous Arab poets and singers such as Nizar Qabbani, Umm Kulthum, Fairuz, Salah Al-Hamdani, Ilham al-Madfai 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 (ed.), Baghdad: The City in Verse (Harvard, 2013).[143] Baghdad joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature in December 2015.[144]
Some of the important cultural institutions in the city include the National Theater, which was looted during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but efforts are underway to restore the theater.[145] 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 and dramatic productions.[146] 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 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; 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, AFN Iraq ("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 neighborhood of Baghdad, have been attacked on several occasions.[147]
Baghdad is home to some of the most successful football (soccer) teams in Iraq, the biggest being Al-Shorta (Police), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Air Force), Al-Zawraa, and Al-Talaba (Students). The largest stadium in Baghdad is Al-Shaab Stadium, which was opened in 1966. In recent years, the capital has seen the building of several football stadiums which are meant be opened in near future. The city has also had a strong tradition of horse racing ever since World War I, known to Baghdadis simply as 'Races'. There are reports of pressures by the Islamists to stop this tradition due to the associated gambling.[160]
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya SC | 1931 | Iraq Stars League | |
| Al-Shorta SC | 1932 | Iraq Stars League | |
| Al-Zawraa SC | 1969 | Iraq Stars League | |
| Al-Talaba SC | 1969 | Iraq Stars League |
Tehran, Iran
