View source for Baghdad

{{Short description|Capital and largest city of Iraq}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Baghdad
| official_name = Mayoralty of Baghdad
| native_name = بَغْدَاد
| native_name_lang = ar
| settlement_type = [[Metropolis]]
| image_map1 = 
| image_skyline = {{Multiple image
| border            = infobox
| total_width       = 290
| image_style       = border:1;
| perrow            = 1/2/2/2
| image1            = 5628442718 b10fc2c47f o.jpg
| caption1          = The [[Republican Palace, Baghdad|Republican Palace]] in the [[Green Zone]]
| alt1              = 
| image2            = جامع الحيدر خانه 02.jpg
| caption2          = {{nowrap|[[Haydar-Khana Mosque]]}}
| alt2              = 
| image3            = Al-Mustansriah School - NW Door 2.jpg
| caption3          = [[Mustansiriyya Madrasa]]
| alt3              = 
| image4            = Bab al-Wastani northern gate.jpg
| caption4          = [[Bab al-Wastani]]
| alt4              = 
| image5            = ساعة القشلة 2024.jpg
| caption5          = [[Qushla]]
| alt5              = 
| image6 = ابو جعفر المنصور.jpg
| caption6 = {{nowrap|[[Statue of Abu Ja'far al-Mansur|Statue of al-Mansur]]}}
| image7 = Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Iraq - panoramio (7).jpg 
| caption7 = [[Kadhimiya]]
| alt7              = 
| footer            = 
| width             = 
| caption10         = 
}}
| image_caption = 
| image_flag = Flag of Baghdad.svg
| flag_size = 110
| image_seal = Seal of Baghdad.svg
| seal_size = 90
| nickname = City of Peace (مَدِيْنَةُ السَّلَام)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Petersen |first1=Andrew |title=Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam) |url=http://islamic-arts.org/2011/baghdad-madinat-al-salam/ |publisher=Islamic Arts & Architecture |date=13 September 2011 |access-date=23 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916131027/http://islamic-arts.org/2011/baghdad-madinat-al-salam/ |archive-date=16 September 2016 }}</ref>
| pushpin_map = Iraq#Asia
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_relief = yes
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Baghdad within Iraq
| coordinates = {{coord|33|18|55|N|44|21|58|E|region:IQ-BG_type:city(8,100,000)|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Iraq]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[Governorates of Iraq|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Baghdad Governorate|Baghdad]]
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 30 July 762 AD
| founder = [[Al-Mansur|Caliph al-Mansur]]
| government_type = [[Mayor–council government|Mayor–council]]
| governing_body = Baghdad City Advisory Council
| leader_title = [[List of mayors of Baghdad|Mayor]]
| leader_name = Ammar Moussa Kadhum
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_total_km2 = 
| elevation_m = 34
| population_density_km2 =
| population_est = 8080012
| pop_est_as_of = 2023
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/2013-01-31-08-43-38|language=ar|title=المؤشرات الديمغرافية والسكانية - هيأة الإحصاء ونظم المعلومات الجغرافية|publisher=هيأة الاحصاء ونظم المعلومات الجغرافية}}</ref>
| population_metro = 8,141,000
| population_rank = [[List of cities in Iraq|1st in Iraq]]<br/>[[List of largest cities in the Arab world|2nd in the Arab world]]
| population_demonym = Baghdadi
| timezone = [[Arabian Standard Time|AST]]
| utc_offset = +03:00
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = 10001 to 10090
| area_code_type = (+964) 1
| website = {{URL|1=https://amanatbaghdad.gov.iq/index.php?lang=en|2=amanatbaghdad.gov.iq}} {{in lang|ar}}
| parts_type = Districts
| parts = [[Administrative districts in Baghdad|11]]
}}
'''Baghdad'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|æ|g|d|æ|d|audio=En-Baghdad.wav}} {{respell|BAG|dad}} or {{IPAc-en|b|ə|g|ˈ|d|æ|d}} {{respell|bəg|DAD}}; {{langx|ar|بَغْدَاد|translit=Baghdād}}, {{IPA|ar|baɣˈdaːd||Baghdad.ogg}}}} is the capital and largest city in [[Iraq]]. It is located on the banks of the [[Tigris]] in central Iraq. The city has an estimated population of 8 million. It ranks among the [[List of largest cities in the Arab world|most populous and largest cities]] in the [[Middle East]] and the [[Arab world]] and constitutes 22% of the [[Demographics of Iraq|country's population]]. Baghdad is a primary financial and commercial center in the region.

Founded in 762 AD by [[Al-Mansur]], Baghdad was the capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] and became its most notable development project. The city evolved into an intellectual and cultural center. 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 one of the largest cities in the world and rivaled [[Chang'an]], as the population peaked at more than one million. It was largely [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|destroyed]] at the hands of the [[Mongol Empire]] in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues, shift in power and multiple successive empires. Later, Baghdad served as the [[Baghdad Eyalet|administrative center]] of [[Ottoman Iraq]],<ref name="Ceylan 2009 61">{{Cite journal |last=Ceylan |first=Ebubekir |year=2009 |title=Namık Paşa'nın Bağdat Valilikleri |journal=Toplumsal Tarih |language=tr |issue=186 |page=61}}</ref> exercising authority over the provinces of [[Basra Eyalet|Basra]], [[Mosul Eyalet|Mosul]], and [[Shahrizor Eyalet|Shahrizor]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ceylan |first=Ebubekir |title=The Ottoman Origins of Modern Iraq: Political Reform, Modernization and Development in the Nineteenth Century Middle East |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2011 |location=London |page=121}}</ref>

During the First World War, Baghdad was made the capital of Mandatory Iraq. With the recognition of Iraq as an [[Kingdom of Iraq|independent monarchy]] in 1932, it gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of [[Arab culture]]. During the Ba'ath Party rule, the city experienced a period of relative prosperity and growth. However, it faced [[Damage to Baghdad during the Iraq War|severe infrastructural damage]] due to the [[Iraq War]], which began with the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]] in 2003, resulting in a [[Archaeological looting in Iraq|substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts]]. During the [[Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)|insurgency]] and renewed [[War in Iraq (2013–2017)|war]] from 2013 to 2017, it had one of the highest rates of [[List of massacres in Iraq|terrorist attacks]] in the world. However, these attacks have gradually declined since the territorial defeat of the [[Islamic State]] militant group in Iraq in 2017, and are now [[Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present)|rare]]. Since the end of the war, numerous reconstruction projects have been underway to induce stability.

Iraq's largest city, Baghdad is the seat of government. It generates 40% of the [[economy of Iraq]]. A major center of [[Islamic history]], Baghdad is home to [[List of mosques in Baghdad|numerous historic mosques]], as well as churches, [[Mandi (Mandaeism)|mandis]] and [[List of Jewish sites in Iraq|synagogues]], highlighting the city's historical diversity. Religious sites such as [[Al-Kazimiyya Mosque|Masjid al-Kadhimayn]], [[Buratha Mosque]], the [[Mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani|Shrine of Abdul-Qadir Gilani]] and [[Abu Hanifa Mosque]] are visited by millions of people annually. It was once home to a large [[Jewish]] community and was regularly visited by [[Sikh]] pilgrims from India.<ref name="Baghdad2" /> Baghdad is a regional cultural hub. The city is well known for its coffeehouses.

==Name==
The name Baghdad is pre-Islamic, and its origin is disputed.<ref name=EI2 /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baghdad, Foundation and early growth |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Baghdad |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009070155/https://www.britannica.com/place/Baghdad |archive-date=9 October 2015 |access-date=21 October 2015 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=[...] the site located between present-day Al-Kāẓimiyyah and Al-Karkh and occupied by a Persian village called Baghdad, was selected by al-Manṣūr, the second caliph of the Abbāsid dynasty, for his capital.}}</ref>

Arab authors, realizing the pre-Islamic origins of Baghdad's name, generally looked for its roots in [[Middle Persian]].<ref name=EI2>{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Duri, A.A. |title=Bag̲h̲dād |year=2012 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition=2nd |publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0084}}</ref> They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God".<ref name=EI2/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Everett-Heath |first=John |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191882913.001.0001/acref-9780191882913;jsessionid=7E75D9FF952E16EB73A7CFDF54E367A4 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names |date=24 October 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-188291-3 |language=en-US |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191882913.001.0001}}</ref> Modern scholars generally tend to favor this etymology,<ref name=EI2/> which views the word as a Persian compound of ''bagh'' ([[File:baghpahlavi.png|25px]]) "god" and ''dād'' ([[File:dadpahlavi.png|30px]]) "given".<ref>Mackenzie, D. (1971). A concise Pahlavi Dictionary (p. 23, 16).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baghdad-iranian-connection-1-pr-Mongol |title=BAGHDAD i. Before the Mongol Invasion – Encyclopædia Iranica |publisher=Iranicaonline.org |access-date=16 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117020537/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baghdad-iranian-connection-1-pr-Mongol |archive-date=17 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Old Persian]] the first element can be traced to ''boghu'' and is related to [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Iranian]] ''bhag'' and [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] ''bog'' "god."<ref name=EI2 /><ref name="Strange pg 10">Guy Le Strange, "Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate from Contemporary Arabic and Persian", pg 10</ref> 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''),<ref name=EI2 /> 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,<ref>Joneidi, F. (2007). متن‌های پهلوی. In Pahlavi Script and Language (Arsacid and Sassanid) نامه پهلوانی: آموزش خط و زبان پهلوی اشکانی و ساسانی (second ed., p. 109). Tehran: Balkh (نشر بلخ).</ref> and [[Baghdati]] in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], which likely share the same etymological Iranic origins.<ref>{{cite news |title=Persimmons surviving winter in Bagdati, Georgia |url=http://www.georgianjournal.ge/image-page.html?view=item&id=300 |access-date=22 September 2016 |agency=Georgian Journal |date=22 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160923104427/http://www.georgianjournal.ge/image-page.html?view=item&id=300 |archive-date=23 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="books.google.nl">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5U3AAAAIAAJ&q=baghdad+aramaic+christian+villages&pg=PA564 |title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936 |publisher=BRILL |year=1987 |isbn=978-90-04-08265-6 |access-date=4 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204231802/https://books.google.com/books?id=p5U3AAAAIAAJ&q=baghdad+aramaic+christian+villages&pg=PA564 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BRILL1987">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5U3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA564 |title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936 |date=1987 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-08265-6 |pages=564– |oclc=1025754805 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004095341/https://books.google.com/books?id=p5U3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA564 |archive-date=4 October 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other authors have suggested older origins for the name, in particular the name ''Bagdadu'' or ''Hudadu'' that existed in [[Akkadian language|Old Babylonian]] (spelled with a sign that can represent both ''bag'' and ''hu''), and the [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic]] name of a place called ''Baghdatha'' ({{lang|tmr|בגדתא}}).<ref name=EI2 /><ref>{{cite book |editor1=John Block Friedman |editor2=Kristen Mossler Figg |date=4 July 2013 |title=Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages= |isbn=978-1-135-59094-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OmCfNI_SxAC |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128003749/https://books.google.com/books?id=-OmCfNI_SxAC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Brinkmann J.a. |date=1968 |title=Political history of Post-Kassite Babylonia (1158-722 b. C.) (A) |publisher=Pontificio Istituto Biblico |pages= |isbn=978-88-7653-243-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iykVSxTD7usC |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=23 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723204246/https://books.google.com/books?id=iykVSxTD7usC |url-status=live }}</ref> Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations.<ref name=EI2/>

Another highly recommended view is that Baghdad is a reference to Bagh and Dad as in Dadan, Dedan, and Dad as in Hadad, Adad. Another view suggested by Christophe Wall-Romana, is that name of "Baghdad" is derived from "[[Akkad (city)|Akkad]]", as the cuneiform logogram for Akkad ({{lang|akk|𒀀𒂵𒉈𒆠}}) is pronounced "''a-ga-dè''<sup>KI</sup>" ("Agade") and its resemblance to "Baghdad" is compelling.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wall-Romana |first=Christophe |date=1990 |title=An Areal Location of Agade |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=205–245, 244 |doi=10.1086/373442 |jstor=546244 |s2cid=161165836 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref><ref name="Sallaberger-1999">{{Cite book |last=Sallaberger |first=Walther |title=Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit |date=1999 |publisher=Universitätsverlag |others=Aage Westenholz |isbn=978-3-7278-1210-1 |location=Freiburg, Schweiz |page=245 |oclc=43521617}}</ref> It is argued that, throughout all the various spellings of the city's name, whether ''Baghdad'' [بغداد], ''Baghdadh'' [بغداذ], ''Baghdan'' [بغدان], ''Maghdad'' [مغداد], ''Maghdadh'' [مغداذ], or ''Maghdan'' [مغدان], the only phonetically definite segment of the name appears to be ''Aghda'' [ىَغْدَا], which could be equated with the pronunciation of the name Agade.<ref name="Sallaberger-1999" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Le Strange |first=Guy |title=Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate from Contemporary Arabic and Persian Sources |url=https://archive.org/details/BaghdadDuringTheAbbasidCaliphateFromContemporaryArabicAndPersian/page/n49/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |pages=10–11}}</ref>

When the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mansur]] founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name "City of peace" ({{langx|ar|مدینة السلام|links=no|translit=Madīnat as-Salām}}), which now refers to the [[Round City of Baghdad]] proper. 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 of Akkad|Sargon]]'s choice to found the original city of [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]] in the exact same location.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wall-Romana |first=Christophe |date=1990 |title=An Areal Location of Agade |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=234–238, 244–245 |doi=10.1086/373442 |jstor=546244 |s2cid=161165836 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sallaberger |first=Walther |title=Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit |date=1999 |publisher=Universitätsverlag |others=Aage Westenholz |isbn=978-3-7278-1210-1 |location=Freiburg, Schweiz |page=32 |oclc=43521617}}</ref>
==History==
{{Main|History of Baghdad}}

{{For timeline}}

=== Foundation ===
[[File:Baghdad_150_to_300_AH.png|thumb|The [[Round City of Baghdad]] between 767 and 912&nbsp;AD|left]]
After the fall of the Umayyads, the victorious Abbasids sought a new capital.<ref name="Corzine-2005" /><ref name="Times Books-2000" /> On 30 July 762, the Caliph Al-Mansur commissioned Baghdad's construction, guided by the [[Barmakids|Iranian Barmakids]]. He believed Baghdad was ideal for ruling the Islamic Empire. Historian [[al-Tabari]] recorded a prophecy from [[Christian monk]]s about a leader named [[Miklas]] building a great city in the area, and Al-Mansur, who was once called Miklas, saw this as a good omen. He expressed deep affection for the site, declaring it would be the home of his dynasty.<ref name="Corzine-2005">{{cite book |last=Corzine |first=Phyllis |title=The Islamic Empire |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |pages=68–69}}</ref><ref name="Times Books-2000">{{Cite book |title=Times History of the World |publisher=[[Times Books]] |year=2000 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiet |first=Gastron |url=https://archive.org/details/baghdadmetropoli00wiet |title=Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-8061-0922-0 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The two designers who were hired by [[Al-Mansur]] to plan the city's design were [[Naubakht]], a Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and [[Mashallah ibn Athari|Mashallah]], a Jew from [[Khorasan province|Khorasan]], [[Iran]].<ref name="ref2">{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Donald R. |title=Islamic Science and Engineering |publisher=Edinburgh Univ. Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7486-0457-9 |location=Edinburgh |page=10}}</ref><ref>Islam's Contribution to Science By Husain Muzzafar, S. Muzaffar Husain, pg. 31</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Māshāʾallāh ibn Atharī (Sāriya) {{!}} ISMI |url=https://ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/biography/Masha'allah_ibn_Athari_BEA.htm |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=ismi.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de |language=en}}</ref> They determined the city's auspicious founding date under the sign of [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]] the [[Asiatic lion|lion]], symbolizing strength and expansion.{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=12}}

The city's layout consisted of two large semicircles, with a 2&nbsp;km-wide circular core known as the "Round City." It had parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. Unlike European cities of the time, Baghdad had a [[Sanitation|sanitation system]], [[fountains]], and [[Public bathing|public baths]], with thousands of [[Hammam|''hammams'']] enhancing hygiene. The mosque and guard headquarters stood at the center, though some central space's function remains unknown. Baghdad's circular design reflected ancient Near Eastern urban planning, similar to the Sasanian city of [[Gaur (city)|Gur]] and older Mesopotamian cities like Mari.<ref name="ox">{{cite web |title=Abbasid Ceramics: Plan of Baghdad |url=http://islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Abbasid/baghdad.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325090348/http://islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Abbasid/baghdad.htm |archive-date=25 March 2003 |access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=65}}</ref><ref name="Bobrick 2012 67">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=67}}</ref> While [[Tell Chuera]] and [[Al-Rawda (tell)|Tell al-Rawda]] also provide examples of this type of urban planning existing in Bronze Age [[Syria (region)|Syria]].<ref>Jan-Waalke Meyer, Tell Chuera: Vorberichte zu den Grabungskampagnen 1998 bis 2005, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden,  2010 ,{{ISBN|978-3-447-06182-7}}</ref><ref>Helms, Tobias, and Philippe Quenet, "The Fortifiction of Circular Cities: The Examples of Tell Chuēra and Tell al-Rawda", Circular Cities of Early Bronze Age Syria, pp. 77-99, 2020</ref> This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles.{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=13}}{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=12}}<ref name="ox" />

Baghdad was designed to symbolize [[paradise]] as described in the [[Qur'an]].<ref>{{Cite web |title='Soul Of Old Baghdad': City Centre Sees Timid Revival |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/soul-of-old-baghdad-city-centre-sees-timid-revival/94371/1 |access-date=14 April 2025 |website=Forbes India |language=en}}</ref> It took four years (764–768) to build, with over 100,000 workers involved.{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=13}}<ref name="Na">[http://www.narjesmag.com/news.php?action=view&id=2230 الباب الوسطاني حكاية بغداد المدوّرة وأقدم مدفع عراقي] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723013948/http://www.narjesmag.com/news.php?action=view&id=2230|date=23 July 2022}}. ''Narjes Magazine''. Retrieved 3 January 2018.</ref> Al-Mansur recruited engineers and artisans worldwide. Astrologers Naubakht Ahvazi and Mashallah advised starting construction under Leo, associated with fire, productivity, and expansion. Bricks for the city were 18 inches square, and [[Abu Hanifah]] supervised their production. A canal supplied water for drinking and construction.<ref>"Yakut: Baghdad under the Abbasids, c. 1000CE"</ref> Marble was used extensively, including steps leading to the river.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corzine |first=Phyllis |title=The Islamic Empire |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |page=69}}</ref> The Golden Gate Palace, home of the caliph, stood at Baghdad's center with a grand 48-meter green dome. Only the caliph could approach its esplanade on horseback. Nearby were officer residences and a guardhouse. After Caliph [[Al-Amin]]'s death in 813, the palace ceased to be the caliph's residence. It was divided into three judicial districts: Round City (''Madinat al-Mansur''), al-Karkh (''al-Sharqiyya''), and Askar al-Mahdi. The city had four walls named after major destinations—[[Kufa]], [[Basra]], [[Khurasan]], and [[Syria]]; [[Gates of Baghdad|their gates]] pointed in on these destinations.<ref>See:

* {{cite book |last=Hattstein |first=Markus |title=Islam Art and Architecture |author2=Peter Delius |publisher=Könemann |year=2000 |isbn=3-8290-2558-0 |page=96}}
* [[Encyclopædia Iranica]], [[Columbia University]], p.413.</ref> The gates were 2.4&nbsp;km apart, with massive iron doors requiring several men to operate and walls, up to 44m thick and 30m high, were reinforced with a second wall, towers, and a moat for added defense.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marozzi |first=Justin |date=16 March 2016 |title=Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation |access-date=14 April 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> 

===Center of learning (8th–9th centuries)===
{{Further|Islamic Golden Age}}
[[File:Abbasid Palace1.jpg|thumb|250x250px|Courtyard of the [[Abbasid Palace|Abbasid palace]], built by caliph [[al-Nasir]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ceylan |first=Ebubekir |title=The Ottoman Origins of Modern Iraq: Political Reform, Modernization and Development in the Nineteenth Century Middle East |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2011 |location=London |page=121}}</ref>]]
Baghdad's strategic location along the Tigris and its abundant water supply contributed to its rapid growth. To prevent disturbances, Al-Mansur moved markets to al-Karkh. Over time, Baghdad became a hub for merchants and craftsmen. Officials called "Muhtasib" monitored trade to prevent fraud.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tillier |first=Mathieu |url=https://books.openedition.org/ifpo/673 |title=Les cadis d'Iraq et l'État Abbasside (132/750-334/945) |date=2009 |publisher=Presses de l'Ifpo |isbn=978-2-35159-028-7 |doi=10.4000/books.ifpo.673}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB4uSVt3ulUC |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-15388-2 |language=en}}</ref> Baghdad surpassed [[Ctesiphon]], the former Sassanid capital, located 30&nbsp;km southeast. The ruins of Ctesiphon remain in [[Salman Pak]], where [[Salman the Persian]] is believed to be buried.<ref name="aljayyash1">{{cite web |title=سلمان الفارسي - الصحابة - موسوعة الاسرة المسلمة |url=http://islam.aljayyash.net/encyclopedia/book-9-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191728/http://islam.aljayyash.net/encyclopedia/book-9-28 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |access-date=25 December 2012 |publisher=Islam.aljayyash.net |language=ar}}</ref> Ctesiphon itself had replaced [[Seleucia]], which had earlier succeeded [[Babylon]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080505055518/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/g/gibbon/edward/g43d/chapter8.html#fn8.37 ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', by Edward Gibbon]</ref><ref name="OP2011">[https://www.academia.edu/1904365/Excavated_and_Unexcavated_Libraries_in_Babylon] Pedersén, Olof, "Excavated and Unexcavated Libraries in Babylon", Babylon: Wissenskultur in Orient und Okzident, edited by Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Margarete van Ess and Joachim Marzahn, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 47-68, 2011</ref> According to the traveler [[Ibn Battuta]], Baghdad was one of the largest cities,<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2005|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Defrémery|Sanguinetti|1854|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA142 142 Vol. 2]}}</ref> not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly [[Hanbali]]s.<ref name="KassamBlomfield">{{citation |author1=[[Zayn Kassam]] |title=The Shi'i World |year=2015 |editor=Farhad Daftory |chapter=Remembering Fatima and Zaynab: Gender in Perspective |publisher=[[I.B Tauris]] Press |author2=Bridget Blomfield}}</ref> Most residents were Hanbali Muslims. The city housed [[Abu Hanifa Mosque|Abu Hanifa's grave]], marked by a mosque and cell.<ref name="Elders of Time and Neighbors of Nu'man">{{cite book |last1=al-Aadhamy |first1=Waleed |title=Elders of Time and Neighbors of Nu'man |date=2001 |publisher=al-Raqeem Library |location=Baghdad}}</ref> Its ruler, [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Said Bahadur Khan]], was a [[Tatars|Tatar]] who had embraced Islam.<ref>Battuta, pg. 75{{full citation needed|date=July 2020}}</ref>[[File:المدرسة المستنصرية في بغداد (3).jpg|thumb|Courtyard of [[Mustansiriyya Madrasa]], established in 1227. Its building survived the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Mongol invasion]] of 1258. The modern [[Al-Mustansiriya University|Mustansiriyah University]] was established in 1963.]]
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]].<ref name="Meri" /> ''[[House of Wisdom|Baytul-Hikmah]]'' or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies,<ref name="Kh">[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/26/baghdad-centre-of-scientific-world When Baghdad was centre of the scientific world] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214120137/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/26/baghdad-centre-of-scientific-world |date=14 December 2019 }}. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 16 February 2019.</ref> and had the largest selection of books in the world by the middle of the 9th century.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} Notable scholars based in Baghdad during this time include translator [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]], mathematician [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|al-Khwarizmi]], and philosopher [[Al-Kindi]].<ref name="Kh" /> Baghdad was lively, with attractions like cabarets, chess halls, live plays, concerts, and acrobatics.<ref name="iranica-baghdad-iranian">{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=H. |title=BAGHDAD i. Before the Mongol Invasion – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baghdad-iranian-connection-1-pr-Mongol |access-date=24 January 2018 |website=Iranicaonline.org |language=en}}</ref> Storytelling flourished, with professional storytellers (''al-Qaskhun'') captivating crowds, inspiring the tales of ''Arabian Nights''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2007 |title=Arabian Nights |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |editor=Kate Fleet |edition=3rd |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_0021 |quote=Arabian Nights, the work known in Arabic as ''Alf layla wa-layla'' |author=Marzolph, Ulrich |editor2=Gudrun Krämer |editor3=Denis Matringe |editor4=John Nawas |editor5=Everett Rowson}}</ref> 

Although Arabic was used as the language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabs, but also [[Persians]], [[Syriac Christianity|Syriacs]],<ref>{{Cite book |quote=The population of Hira comprised its townspeople, the 'Ibad "devotees", who were Nestorian Christians using Syriac as their liturgical and cultural language, though Arabic was probably the language of daily intercourse. |date=1983 |editor-last=Yarshater |editor-first=E. |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |doi=10.1017/chol9780521200929 |isbn=978-1-139-05494-2}}</ref> [[Church of the East|Nestorians]], [[Jews]], [[Ibad|Arab Christians]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=Early Islam – The hidden origins of Islam: new research into its early history |last=Ohlig |first=Karl-Heinz |publisher=Prometheus Books |quote=The 'Ibad are tribes made up of different Arabian families that became connected with Christianity in al-Hira. |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-61614-825-6 |page=32 |oclc=914334282}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Beeston |first1=A.F.L. |last2=Shahîd |first2=Irfan |title=al-ḤĪRA |year=2012 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition=2nd |publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_2891}}</ref> and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meri |first=Josef |date=12 January 2018 |title=Routledge Revivals: Medieval Islamic Civilization (2006) |doi=10.4324/9781315162416 |isbn=978-1-315-16241-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=July 1933 |title=Sir Henry Lyons, F.R.S |journal=Nature |volume=132 |issue=3323 |page=55 |doi=10.1038/132055c0 |issn=0028-0836 |bibcode=1933Natur.132S..55. |s2cid=47244046|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Medieval Islamic medicine |last=Pormann |first=Peter E. |date=2007 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |others=[[Savage-Smith, Emilie]]. |isbn=978-1-58901-160-1 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=71581787}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://humanitieswest.net/baghdad-in-its-golden-age-762-1300/ |title=Baghdad in Its Golden Age (762–1300) {{!}} 25–26 April 2014|last=HumWest|date=14 March 2015|website=Humanities West |access-date=5 February 2019 |archive-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020302/http://humanitieswest.net/baghdad-in-its-golden-age-762-1300/ |url-status=live}}</ref> These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Falagas |first1=Matthew E. |last2=Zarkadoulia |first2=Effie A. |last3=Samonis |first3=George |date=1 August 2006 |title=Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today |journal=The FASEB Journal |volume=20 |issue=10 |pages=1581–1586 |doi=10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm |doi-access=free |pmid=16873881 |s2cid=40960150 |issn=0892-6638 |url=http://www.fasebj.org/content/20/10/1581.full.pdf |access-date=14 September 2022 |archive-date=21 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821205855/http://www.fasebj.org/content/20/10/1581.full.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Saliba |first=George |date=2007 |title=Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance |doi=10.7551/mitpress/3981.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-28288-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization |first=Jonathan |last=Lyons |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-60819-190-1 |oclc=1021808136}}</ref> Baghdad was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with [[Al-Jahiz]] contributing to the formation of [[Muʿtazila|Mu'tazili]] theology, as well as [[Al-Tabari]] culminating in the scholarship on the [[Tafsir|Quranic exegesis]].<ref name="Meri">Gordon, M.S. (2006). Baghdad. In Meri, J.W. ed. ''Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia''. New York: Routledge.</ref> Baghdad is likely to have been the [[Historical urban community sizes|largest city in the world]] from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with [[Córdoba, Andalusia|Córdoba]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |title=Largest Cities Through History |publisher=Geography.about.com |date=2 November 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527095609/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |archive-date=27 May 2005 |url-status=live}}</ref> Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak.<ref>Matt T. Rosenberg, [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm ''Largest Cities Through History''.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527095609/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |date=27 May 2005 }}</ref> 

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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bobrick |first1=Benson |title=The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad |date=2012 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-6762-2 |page=65}}</ref>
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.<ref name="mackensen">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.</ref>

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.<ref name="mackensen" /> 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.<ref name="mackensen" /> 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.<ref name="mackensen" /> It continued to operate even after the coming of the Mongols in 1258. The [[Mustansiriyya Madrasa]], which owned an exceedingly rich library, was founded by [[Al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|Al-Mustansir]], the second last Abbasid caliph, who died in 1242.<ref name="mackensen" /> This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghdad.

===Stagnation and invasions (10th–16th centuries)===
[[File:Bab al-Wastani northern gate.jpg|left|thumb|[[Bab al-Wastani]] (built in 1121 AD) is the only surviving historic [[Gates of Baghdad|gate of Baghdad]]]]
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2&nbsp;million<ref name=Modelski>[[George Modelski]], ''World Cities: –3000 to 2000'', Washington, D.C.: FAROS 2000, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-9676230-1-6}}. See also [http://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/ Evolutionary World Politics Homepage] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520065457/http://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/ |date=20 May 2007}}</ref> and 2&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite book |title=International dictionary of historic places, Volume 4: Middle East and Africa |author1=Trudy Ring |author2=Robert M. Salkin |author3=K. A. Berney |author4=Paul E. Schellinger |year=1996 |publisher=[[Taylor and Francis]] |page=116}}</ref> Baghdad's early meteoric growth eventually slowed due to troubles within the [[Caliphate]], including relocations of the capital to [[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]] (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the [[Iran]]ian [[Buwayhid]]s (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.<ref>''Atlas of the Medieval World'' pg. 170</ref>
[[File:Zubaida tomb.JPG|thumb|[[Zumurrud Khatun Mosque|Zumurrud Khatun Tomb]] (built in 1202&nbsp;AD)]]
Baghdad was captured in [[Capture of Baghdad (1394)|1394]], [[Capture of Baghdad (1534)|1534]], [[Capture of Baghdad (1624)|1623]] and [[Capture of Baghdad (1638)|1638]]. The city has been sieged in [[Siege of Baghdad (812–813)|812]], [[Abbasid civil war (865–866)|865]], [[Battle of Baghdad (946)|946]], [[Siege of Baghdad (1157)|1157]], [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|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.<ref>Virani, Shafique N. ''The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation'', (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 6.</ref> Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghdad, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph [[Al-Mustansir Billah|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 [[Mosul|Mawṣil]], [[Wasit, Iraq|Wāsit]] and [[Kufa]]. Soon after,<ref name="Daftary, Farhad 1990">Daftary, Farhad. ''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 205-206.</ref> 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.<ref name="Daftary, Farhad 1990" /> 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.<ref>Daftary, Farhad. ''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 206.</ref>

[[File:Fall Of Baghdad (Diez Albums).jpg|thumb|left|[[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Conquest of Baghdad]] by the Mongols in 1258 CE|220x220px]]
On 10 February 1258, Baghdad was captured by the [[Mongols]] led by [[Hulegu]], a grandson of [[Genghis Khan]] (''Chingiz Khan''), during the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|siege of Baghdad]].<ref>[https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/CAWC.htm Central Asian world cities] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118121401/https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/CAWC.htm |date=18 January 2012}}, George Modelski</ref> 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 [[canal]]s and [[Levee|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.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C.E. |editor2-last=Donzel |editor2-first=E. van |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W.P. |editor4-last=Pellat |editor4-first=Ch. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Volume VII (Mif-Naz) |date=1998 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09419-2 |page=1032|title-link=Encyclopaedia of Islam}}</ref> The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/baghdad-sacked-mongols |title=Baghdad Sacked by the Mongols {{!}} History Today|website=historytoday.com |access-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910014525/https://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/baghdad-sacked-mongols |archive-date=10 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3qwuhK3BBH8C&pg=PA215 |title=Challenges of the Muslim World: Present, Future and Past |last1=Cooper |first1=William W. |last2=Yue |first2=Piyu |date=15 February 2008 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-0-444-53243-5 |access-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909223531/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3qwuhK3BBH8C&pg=PA215 |archive-date=9 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

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"),<ref>{{Citation |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, US |editor1=Michael R.T. Dumper |editor2=Bruce E. Stanley |chapter=Baghdad |title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa |date=2008}}</ref> 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 [[Capture of Baghdad (1394)|was driven out]] when [[Ahmad Jalayir]] returned.

[[File:Khan Murjan.jpg|thumb|[[Khan Murjan]], built in the 14th century as a [[caravanserai]]]]
In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, by [[Timur]], a [[Central Asia]]n Turko-Mongol figure.<ref>Ian Frazier, [https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/25/050425fa_fact4?currentPage=5 Annals of history: Invaders: Destroying Baghdad] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607053406/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/25/050425fa_fact4?currentPage=5 |date=7 June 2011 }}, ''[[The New Yorker]]'' 25 April 2005. p.5</ref> When his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads.<ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav042806.shtml New Book Looks at Old-Style Central Asian Despotism] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118203132/http://eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav042806.shtml |date=18 January 2009 }}, EurasiaNet Civil Society, Elizabeth Kiem, 28 April 2006</ref> Baghdad became a provincial capital controlled by the Mongol [[Jalayirid]] (1400–1411), Turkic [[Kara Koyunlu]] (1411–1469), Turkic [[White Sheep Turkmen|Ak Koyunlu]] (1469–1508), and the Iranian [[Safavid]] (1508–1534) dynasties.

===Ottoman and Mamluks (16th–19th centuries)===
{{see also|Baghdad Eyalet|Baghdad Vilayet|History of Baghdad (1831–1917)}}
The Safavids took control of the city in 1509 under the leadership of Shah Ismail I. It remained under Safavid rule until the Ottomans seized it in 1535, but the Safavids regained control in 1624. A massacre occurred when the Shah's army entered the city. It remained under Safavid rule until 1639 when Sultan Murad IV recaptured it in 1638.

In 1534, Baghdad was [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55)|captured]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]],<ref>{{Citation |title=Ottoman Iraq: Geography, People and History |date=2011 |work=The Ottoman Origins of Modern Iraq |publisher=I.B.Tauris |doi=10.5040/9780755610983.ch-001 |isbn=978-1-84885-425-3}}</ref> becoming the administrative capital of [[Ottoman Iraq]].<ref name="Ceylan 2009 61"/> Under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], Baghdad continued into a [[History of Baghdad (1831–1917)|period of decline]], partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and [[Iran]]ian [[Safavids]], which did not accept the [[Sunni]] control of the city. [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639)|Between 1623 and 1638]], it returned to Iranian rule before falling back into Ottoman hands.<ref>{{Citation |last=Güngörürler |first=Selim |title=Settings and Trends of the Ottoman–Safavid Detente |date=1 March 2024 |work=The Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, 1639-1683 |pages=15–35 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |doi=10.3366/edinburgh/9781399510103.003.0002 |isbn=978-1-3995-1010-3}}</ref> Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the [[plague (disease)|plague]] and [[cholera]],<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=F2TGkO7G43oC&pg=PA99 The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914: a documentary economic history] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504154243/https://books.google.com/books?id=F2TGkO7G43oC&pg=PA99 |date=4 May 2016 }}''". Charles Philip Issawi (1988). [[Oxford University Press US]]. p.99. {{ISBN|978-0-19-504951-0}}</ref> and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.<ref>Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil İnalcık, Donald Quataert (1997). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA651 An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513231157/https://books.google.com/books?id=c00jmTrjzAoC&pg=PA651 |date=13 May 2016 }}''". [[Cambridge University Press]]. p.651. {{ISBN|978-0-521-57455-6}}</ref> The city became part of an [[Baghdad Eyalet|eyalet]] and then a [[Baghdad vilayet|vilayet]].<ref>{{Citation |title=vilayet, n. |date=2 March 2023 |work=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oed/4317922580 }}</ref>

For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East.<ref name="Cetinsaya-1890" /> The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century, under [[Mamluk dynasty of Iraq|Mamluk]] government.<ref name="Cetinsaya-1890" /> Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by [[Ali Rıza Pasha (governor of Baghdad)|Ali Rıza Pasha]] in 1831.<ref name="Cetinsaya-1890" /> From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by [[Mehmed Namık Pasha]].<ref name="Cetinsaya-1890">Cetinsaya, Gokhan. ''Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890–1908''. London and New York: Routledge, 2006.</ref> The [[Nuttall Encyclopedia]] reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.<ref name="Cetinsaya-1890" />

The city's municipality was established in 1868, and Ibrahim al-Daftari was appointed its first mayor.<ref name="neelwafurat-2025">{{Cite web |title=Nwf.com: الإدارة العثمانية في ولاية بغداد: جميل موسى النجا: كتب |url=https://www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.aspx?id=lbb146642-108021&search=books |access-date=15 February 2025 |website=www.neelwafurat.com}}</ref> The year 1869 is of great importance in the history of Baghdad in the Ottoman era, as it was the beginning of what can be considered a distinct era of the Ottoman eras, the foundations of which were laid by Governor [[Midhat Pasha]], who implemented a number of reform systems and laws that the state legislated during the era of reforms and reconstruction, which was called the Tanzimat era.<ref name="neelwafurat-2025" /> The overall importance of Baghdad to the Ottomans was that they made the headquarters of the Sixth Corps of the Ottoman Army in the city.<ref name="neelwafurat-2025" />

By the 19th century, Baghdad emerged as a leading center for Jewish learning.<ref name="issuu-1846">{{Cite news |title=EIGHT YEARSI NASIA AND AFRICAFROM 1846 TO 1855. |url=https://issuu.com/dsegal2k/docs/ben2/260?ff=true |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=issuu |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320194322/https://issuu.com/dsegal2k/docs/ben2/260?ff=true }}</ref> The city had Jewish population of over 6,000 and had numerous yeshivas.<ref name="issuu-1846" /> The Jewish population has grown so rapidly that by 1884, there were 30,000 Jews in Baghdad and by 1900, around 50,000, comprising over a quarter of the city's total population.<ref name="issuu-1846" /> Large-scale Jewish immigration from Kurdistan to Baghdad continued throughout this period.<ref name="issuu-1846" /> By the mid-19th century, the religious infrastructure of Baghdad grew to include a large yeshiva which trained up to sixty rabbis at time.<ref name="issuu-1846" /> Religious scholarship flourished in Baghdad, which produced great rabbis, such as Joseph Hayyim ben Eliahu Mazal-Tov, known as the [[Ben Ish Chai]] (1834–1909) or Rabbi [[Abdallah Somekh]] (1813–1889). During this time, Baghdadi Jews established a successful trade diaspora in China, India and Singapore.

<gallery widths="200" heights="160" mode="packed">
File:Baghdad Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (1609).png|[[Baghdad Eyalet]] in 1609
File:Baghdad Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (1900).png|[[Baghdad Vilayet]] in 1900
File:Market-Place of Bagdad.jpeg|Souk in Baghdad, 1876
</gallery>

=== Modern era ===
{{see also|Mandate for Mesopotamia|Kingdom of Iraq|Mandatory Iraq|Iraqi Republic (1958-1968)|Ba'athist Iraq}}
[[File:Baghdad LOC 13186.jpg|left|thumb|[[Al-Rashid Street]] in 1932]]Baghdad and southern Iraq remained under Ottoman rule until 1918, when they were captured by the British during World War I.<ref name="Jackson-2016">{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Iain |date=2 April 2016 |title=The architecture of the British Mandate in Iraq: nation-building and state creation |journal=The Journal of Architecture |language=en |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=375–417 |doi=10.1080/13602365.2016.1179662 |issn=1360-2365 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1920, a revolt erupted in Baghdad against new British policies.<ref name="atiyyah">Atiyyah, Ghassan R. ''Iraq: 1908–1921, A Socio-Political Study''. The Arab Institute for Research and Publishing, 1973, 307</ref> It began in summer with mass demonstrations by Iraqis, including protests by embittered officers from the old [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman Army]].<ref>''Glubb Pasha and the Arab Legion: Britain, Jordan and the End of Empire in the Middle East'', p7.</ref> The revolt gained momentum and spread to the middle and lower Euphrates.<ref>Wilson: vol2.p371.</ref> The British authorities retaliated by air bombing across Baghdad, which killed thousands of residents.<ref name="BBC News-2014">{{Cite news |date=6 October 2014 |title=The 1920s British air bombing campaign in Iraq |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29441383 |access-date=23 March 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1921, under the Mandate of Mesopotamia, Baghdad became the capital of the British-protected monarchy. Baghdad was made capital of the independent kingdom of Iraq in 1932.

Several architectural and planning projects were commissioned to reinforce this administration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Iain |date=2016-04-02 |title=The architecture of the British Mandate in Iraq: nation-building and state creation |journal=The Journal of Architecture |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=375–417 |doi=10.1080/13602365.2016.1179662 |issn=1360-2365|doi-access=free }}</ref> During this period, the substantial Jewish community (probably exceeding 100,000 people) comprised between a quarter and a third of the city's population. The [[National Museum of Iraq]] and the [[University of Baghdad]] were built by King Faisal, who laid foundation for the modern Iraqi state. The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950.<ref name="ReferenceA">This section depends on Levine, 397-402.</ref> A development plan came in 1957, visioned by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]].<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The plan proposed to build a cultural hub on an island on the river, with an opera house, museums, a university, shopping malls, and a 300-foot statue of the fifth Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid.

On 1 April 1941, members of the "[[Golden Square (Iraq)|Golden Square]]" led by former minister [[Rashid Ali al-Gaylani]] staged [[1941 Iraqi coup d'état|a coup in Baghdad]] and installed a pro-[[Nazi Germany|German]] and pro-[[Kingdom of Italy|Italian]] government to replace the pro-British government of [[Regent]] [[Abd al-Ilah]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=On this day 31st May {{!}} Royal Signals Museum |url=https://www.royalsignalsmuseum.co.uk/on-this-day-31st-may/ |access-date=3 October 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Warfare History Network-2024">{{Cite web |title=The Nazi March on Baghdad |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/wwii-the-nazi-march-on-baghdad/ |access-date=3 October 2024 |website=Warfare History Network |language=en-US}}</ref> The British forces intervened in the resulting [[Anglo-Iraqi War]].<ref name="Churchill, p. 234">Churchill, p. 234.</ref> Fearing the advancement, Gaylani and his government had fled, and the mayor of Baghdad surrendered to the British and Commonwealth forces.<ref name="Warfare History Network-2024" /><ref name="Lyman, p. 862">Lyman, p. 86.</ref> On 1–2 June, during the ensuing [[power vacuum]], Jewish residents were attacked following rumors they had aided the British.<ref name="Tsimhoni-2001">{{cite book |last=Tsimhoni |first=D. |title=Remembering for the Future |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-333-80486-5 |editor-last=Roth |editor-first=J. K. |location=London |chapter=The Pogrom (Farhud) against the Jews of Baghdad in 1941 |editor2-last=Maxwell |editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Levy |editor3-first=M. |editor4-last=Whitworth |editor4-first=W.}}</ref> In what became known as the ''[[Farhud]]'', over 180 Jews were killed and 1,000 injured, 900 Jewish homes were destroyed, and hundreds of Jewish properties were ransacked.<ref name="Tsimhoni-2001" /><ref name="gilbert">[[Martin Gilbert]]. [[iarchive:atlasofjewishhis00mart|<!-- quote="Jewish property destroyed June 1941 During riots following collapse of pro- Nazi Government of Rashid Ali, 175 Jews killed and 1000 injured. Much looting of Jewish property. 900 Jewish houses destroyed. Many Jews tortured July 1946". --> The atlas of Jewish history]], William Morrow and Company, 1993. pg. 114. {{ISBN|978-0-688-12264-5}}.</ref> Many Jewish girls were raped and children maimed in front of their families.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Ali |date=2021-11-01 |title=Farhud: The forgotten ordeal of Iraqi Jews {{!}} Stanford Humanities Center |url=https://shc.stanford.edu/arcade/interventions/farhud-forgotten-ordeal-iraqi-jews |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=shc.stanford.edu |language=en}}</ref> Between 300 and 400 non-Jewish rioters were killed in the attempt to quell the violence.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaplan |first=Robert D |date=April 2014 |title=In Defence of Empire |work=[[The Atlantic]] |pages=13–15 |language=en-US |type=Print}}</ref> Between 1950 and 1951, Jews were targeted in [[1950–1951 Baghdad bombings|series of bombings]].<ref name="Middle East Eye-1950">{{Cite web |title=Avi Shlaim says he has 'proof of Zionist involvement' in 1950s attack on Iraqi Jews |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/avi-shlaim-proof-israel-zionist-involvement-iraq-jews-attacks |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref> According to [[Avi Shlaim]], [[Israel and state-sponsored terrorism|Israel was behind bombings]].<ref name="Middle East Eye-1950" />

On 14 July 1958, a significant portion of the [[Iraqi Army]] under [[Abdul-Karim Qasim]], [[14 July Revolution|staged a coup to topple the Kingdom of Iraq]].<ref name="bataween-2022">{{Cite web |last=bataween |date=3 August 2022 |title=Memories of the 1958 Iraqi revolution – Point of No Return |url=https://www.jewishrefugees.org.uk/2022/08/memories-of-the-1958-iraqi-revolution.html |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=jewishrefugees.org.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> The army seized control over Baghdad and stormed the radio station and the [[Al-Rehab Palace]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Iraqi Revolution — of 1958 – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training |url=https://adst.org/2014/07/the-iraqi-revolution-of-1958/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=60 years on, Iraqis reflect on the coup that killed King Faisal II |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1339046/amp |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref> Many people were brutally killed during the coup, including King Faisal II, former Regent [[Abd al-Ilah]] and former Prime Minister [[Nuri al-Said]] and members of the royal family.<ref name=":3" /> Many of the royal figures' bodies were dragged through the streets and mutilated. Mob violence emerged and several foreign nationals staying at the [[Baghdad Hotel]], including [[Americans]] and [[Jordanians]] were killed.<ref name=":3" /> New principles were adopted for the city's development. New Baghdad and Sadr City were developed during the reign of Qasim. In 1960, Baghdad hosted an international conference with dignitaries from [[Iran]], [[Venezuela]] and [[Saudi Arabia]], that founded [[OPEC|Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]] (OPEC).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OPEC: OPEC to celebrate its 60th Anniversary in Baghdad on 16 June |url=https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/press_room/7164.htm |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=opec.org}}</ref>[[File:Fonds André Raymond (1925-2011) - Irak - Bagdad - Le Tigre (MédiHAL 4971868).jpg|thumb|Baghdad in 1982]]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.<ref name="Stanek-2020">Stanek, Łukasz (2020). ''Architecture in global socialism : Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War''. Princeton. {{ISBN|978-0-691-19455-4}}.</ref> New [[infrastructure]] including oil pipelines, modern sewerage, and highways were built.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |title=New Silk Roads - Azadeh Mashayekhi et al. - Consuming Baghdad |url=https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/new-silk-roads/624665/consuming-baghdad |access-date=2025-09-10 |language=en}}</ref> Master plans of the city (1967 and 1973) were delivered by the Polish planning office Miastoprojekt-Kraków, mediated by Polservice.<ref name=":4" /> [[Saddam Hussein]] sponsored architectural and artwork events, that attracted world's popular architects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ouroussoff |first=Nicolai |date=2003-12-15 |title=Patron of fear |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-et-ouroussoff15dec15-story.html |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The city had a vibrant lifestyle.<ref name="Iddon">{{cite web |last1=Iddon |first1=Paul |title=Baghdad's four decades of conflict and strife |url=https://www.newarab.com/analysis/baghdads-four-decades-conflict-and-strife |work=The New Arab}}</ref> Baghdad was called as "[[Nuremberg]] of 1930s" and "[[Las Vegas]] of the 1980s".<ref name="Iddon" />

However, the [[Iran–Iraq War]] of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money was diverted to the military and thousands of residents endured devastations.<ref name="wilsoncenter-2024">{{Cite web |date=25 October 2011 |title=The Iran-Iraq War: The View from Baghdad |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/the-iran-iraq-war-the-view-baghdad |access-date=3 October 2024 |website=wilsoncenter.org |language=en}}</ref> Iran launched a number of missiles and rockets on Baghdad, some of them hitting dangerously close to [[Al-Rashid Street]] and the [[Bataween|Jewish Quarter]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=12 September 1986 |title=Baghdad Area Struck By an Iranian Missile |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/12/world/baghdad-area-struck-by-an-iranian-missile.html |access-date=12 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dickey |first=Christopher |date=29 May 1985 |title=Iranian Missile Hits Baghdad |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/05/29/iranian-missile-hits-baghdad/658c708f-bae3-49fe-be6c-8e6cf5f15c5c/ |access-date=12 March 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web  |date=29 February 1988 |title=Many Killed, Wounded as 2 Iran Missiles Hit Baghdad |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-29-mn-285-story.html |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Power plants and oil refineries were damaged.<ref name=":5" /> A nuclear reactor near Baghdad was destroyed in an airstrike by Israel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peace mission to Baghdad, May 1988 |url=http://www.hanskoechler.com/HK-peace_mission-1988.htm |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=www.hanskoechler.com}}</ref> Despite the war, preparations were underway for Baghdad to host a Non-Alignment Movement summit.<ref name=":4" /> Conference centers and hotels such as [[Palestine Hotel]], [[Al-Mansour Hotel]] and [[Ishtar Hotel]] were built.<ref name=":4" /> However, the summit was later shifted to New Delhi, due to deteriorating security.<ref name="UPI-2025">{{Cite web |title=Iraq concedes non-aligned summit - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/11/Iraq-concedes-non-aligned-summit/4531397886400/ |access-date=23 March 2025 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Dictatorship, Imperialism and Chaos: Iraq Since 19892">{{cite book |author=Thabit Abdullah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeMehH-JadMC&pg=PA82 |title=Dictatorship, Imperialism and Chaos: Iraq Since 1989 |publisher=Zed Books |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84277-787-9 |page=82}}</ref>

During the [[Gulf War]], Baghdad was the most heavily defended area of Iraq.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shales |first=Tom |date=18 January 1991 |title=THE GRIM NEWS FROM BEHIND A MASK |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/01/18/the-grim-news-from-behind-a-mask/e5f8eb20-8ffe-4a00-81c6-aa338a07aaca/ |access-date=12 March 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ABC Evening News for 1991-01-17 {{!}} Vanderbilt Television News Archive |url=https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/programs/131211 |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=tvnews.vanderbilt.edu}}</ref> Initially, U.S. airstrikes on Baghdad failed and resulted a tactical victory for the Iraqi Air Force.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=17 January 2018 |title=Bombing of Iraq begins, Jan. 17, 1991 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/17/shock-and-awe-bombing-of-iraq-begins-jan-17-1991-340599 |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=Politico |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=30 Years After the Gulf War, Emad Levy Recounts Iraqi-Jewish Perspective |url=https://en.davar1.co.il/276670/ |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=Davar |language=en}}</ref> Later, the [[Coalition_of_the_Gulf_War|Coalition forces]] proceeded with aerial bombings.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clarity |first=James F. |date=17 January 1991 |title=WAR IN THE GULF: BAGHDAD; From TV Reporters in Iraq, News an Attack Has Begun |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/17/world/war-in-the-gulf-baghdad-from-tv-reporters-in-iraq-news-an-attack-has-begun.html |access-date=12 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Air defense, communication systems, bridges, chemical weapon facilities, and artilleries were damaged.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=17 January 1991 |title=1991: 'Mother of all Battles' begins |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_2530000/2530375.stm |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Oil refineries and airport were targeted.<ref name=":6" /> On 13 February 1991, an [[Amiriyah shelter bombing|aerial bombing attack]] in [[Amiriya]] killed at least 408 civilians.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 February 1991 |title=1991: US bombers strike civilians in Baghdad |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541107.stm |access-date=12 March 2025 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Jeenah |first=Na'eem |author-link=Na'eem Jeenah |date=July 2001 |title=Al-Amariyah – A Graveyard of unwilling martyrs |url=http://naeemjeenah.shams.za.org/amariyah.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080128175408/http://naeemjeenah.shams.za.org/amariyah.htm |archive-date=28 January 2008 |access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref> Shortly after the end of the war, ethnic Kurds and Shi'a Muslims led uprisings against the government.<ref name="Dictatorship, Imperialism and Chaos: Iraq Since 19892" /> Clashes took place Shi'a rebels and the Republican Guard led by Qusay Hussein.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baram |first=Amatzia |date=June 1998 |title=Between Impediment and Advantage: Saddam's Irag |url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR34.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302122533/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR34.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2016 |access-date=20 June 2023 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |page=6}}</ref> Sadr City was besieged until the order restored.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baram |first=Amatzia |date=June 1998 |title=Between Impediment and Advantage: Saddam's Irag |url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR34.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302122533/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR34.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2016 |access-date=20 June 2023 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |page=6}}</ref> Another [[1999 Shia uprising in Iraq|uprising occurred in 1999]], after Ayatollah [[Muhammad al-Sadr (jurist)|Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr]] was assassinated in [[Najaf]].<ref name="DavidBlair">{{cite news |author=David Blair |date=17 December 2002 |title=Attack could be spark for Shia Muslim uprising |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1416418/Attack-could-be-spark-for-Shia-Muslim-uprising.html |access-date=1 February 2013 |newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> Unrest began as large scale protests took place in Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, specially [[Saddam City]].<ref name="DavidBlair" /> The Republican Guard deployed in the district suppressed the demonstration, leaving between 27 and 100 dead.<ref name="DavidBlair" />

Baghdad was targeted in frequent U.S. airstrikes.<ref name="weiner">{{Cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Tim |date=25 October 1993 |title=Plot by Baghdad to Assassinate Bush is Questioned |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/25/world/plot-by-baghdad-to-assassinate-bush-is-questioned.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> On 26 June 1993, cruise missiles were launched into downtown Baghdad, targeting the intelligence headquarters in the [[Mansour district]].<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=Cruise Missile Strike - June 26, 1993. Operation Southern Watch |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/strike_930626.htm |access-date=19 March 2011 |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref> The attack killed nine civilians nearby, including actress and painter [[Layla Al-Attar]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hersh |first=Seymour |date=1 Nov 1993 |title=A Case Not Closed |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/11/01/a-case-not-closed |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> During the 1998 bombing of Iraq, missiles struck multiple locations across Baghdad, including presidential palaces, several Republican Guard barrakcs, and offices of the Ministry of Defense and the Military industry. On February 16, 2001, the U.S. launched air strikes on five military targets at Taji.<ref>{{Cite web |last=agencies |first=Staff and |date=February 16, 2001 |title=US and British aircraft attack Iraq |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/feb/16/iraq |website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-08-03 |title=Rumsfeld: Iraq Is Rebuilding  |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rumsfeld-iraq-is-rebuilding/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
With decades of economic sanctions, the city experienced stangnation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-12-26 |title=THREATS AND RESPONSES: LIFE IN IRAQ; In Baghdad, There's Little Romance in Music by Candlelight (Published 2002) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/26/world/threats-responses-life-iraq-baghdad-there-s-little-romance-music-candlelight.html |access-date=2025-09-11 |language=en}}</ref> By the of the 1990s, the government efforts resulted in reconstruction of Baghdad.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-10-22 |title=Iraq: Baghdad, a city dislocated from the outside world - Iraq {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iraq-baghdad-city-dislocated-outside-world |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=reliefweb.int |language=en}}</ref> Damaged government offices, presidential palaces, bridges and road were restored.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=CNN - Inside Saddam's world - May 6, 2002 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/06/time.saddam/index.html |access-date=2025-09-11 |work=CNN}}</ref> The airport was reopned with flights from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.<ref name=":7" /> Numerous mosques and Islamic institutions were built under the Faith Campaign. In 2001, a broad initiative was launched to revive Baghdad's cultural heritage.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Whitaker |first=Brian |date=3 January 2001 |title=The great survivor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jan/03/iraq.brianwhitaker |access-date=12 March 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Older mosques, churches, synagogues, mandis were rebuilt. However, these efforts were interrupted by the war.<ref name="Al-Jazeera">{{Cite news |date=12 December 2001 |title=Baghdad Municipality is preparing to restore al-Rashid Street to its historical status |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/culture/2001/12/12/%d8%a3%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a8%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b9%d8%af-%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b9%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a9-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%b4%d9%8a%d8%af |work=Al-Jazeera |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Scranton |first=Roy |date=2014-07-17 |title=Back to Baghdad: Life in the City of Doom |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/back-to-baghdad-life-in-the-city-of-doom-99814/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2013-03-20 |title=Dying Iraq War Veteran Writes Last Letter to Bush and Cheney |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tomas-young-dying-iraq-war-veteran-writes-last-letter-to-bush-and-cheney-95283/ |access-date=2025-09-11 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Marines in Saddams palace DM-SD-04-12222.jpg|thumb|U.S Marine in one of the palaces of Saddam Hussein, 2003]]
Between 2003 and 2020, the city was disturbed by series of violence and terrorist activities.<ref name="Tunzelmann-2021">{{Cite news |last=Tunzelmann |first=Alex von |date=8 July 2021 |title=The toppling of Saddam's statue: how the US military made a myth |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/08/toppling-saddam-hussein-statue-iraq-us-victory-myth |access-date=27 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2003, the United States-led coalition invaded Iraq.<ref name="Tunzelmann-2021" /> On 9 April, the U.S forces captured Baghdad.<ref name="Tunzelmann-2021" /> A statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled at the Firdous Square, symbolizing the end of his rule.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=20 May 2003 |title=Iraqis Killing Former Baath Party Members |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/05/20/iraqis-killing-former-baath-party-members/23a5fd36-e6eb-4cc6-bec4-87fca79bc571/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Shortly after the overthrow of the regime, an insurgency began against the U.S-led rule in Iraq.<ref name="Karon-2005">{{Cite magazine |last=Karon |first=Tony |date=29 March 2005 |title=A Power Vacuum in Iraq? |url=https://time.com/archive/6938882/a-power-vacuum-in-iraq/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref> Also two minor riots took place, causing some distrubance in the population.<ref>{{Cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=12 April 2003 |title=Chaos in Baghdad |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/apr/12/iraq6 |access-date=2 October 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Vick-2023">{{Cite news |date=24 February 2024 |title=Riots Erupt as Iraqis Await Payment |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/10/05/riots-erupt-as-iraqis-await-payment/6e577fcd-6250-469a-abee-a9ef478d950e/ |access-date=2 October 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Religious and ethnic minorities such as Kurds, Assyrians, Mandaeans and Jews were subjected to kidnappings, death threats and violence.<ref name="ISW-2025">{{Cite web |title=Institute for the Study of War |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/region/baghdad-city-%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF |access-date=6 February 2025 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}</ref> On the eve of Ashura on 2 March 2004, one of the deadliest bombings took place in Baghdad, where at least 80–100 people were killed and 200 were injured.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sectarian Conflict: Who's to Blame? |url=https://archive.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/sectarian/2008/0408sectconflict.htm |access-date=2025-12-28 |website=archive.globalpolicy.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2004-03-03 |title=Shiites Massacred in Iraq Blasts |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/03/03/shiites-massacred-in-iraq-blasts/7a475b40-811b-4b7a-bf0c-a2eb0200e709/ |access-date=2025-12-28 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Over 965 people were killed in a bridge disaster on [[Al-Aimmah Bridge]]. Violence escalated into a civil war consisting of Shia and Sunni insurgents and coalition forces. Shi'a militias were [[Muqtada al-Sadr|Muqtada as-Sadr]]'s [[Mahdi Army|Jaysh al-Mahdi]] and the [[Axis of Resistance|Iranian-backed Special Groups]] and among Sunni insurgents, the largest was [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq|Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)]].<ref name="ISW-2025" /> 

Mansour district, before 2003, was home to wealthy Sunnis. It quickly became stronghold for the Sunni insurgency. While Shia militias were based in [[Sadr City]], [[Kadhimiya]]h, and West Rasheed, with [[Bab Al-Sharqi]] becoming stronghold for the Mahdi Army.<ref name="ISW-2025" /> Later, they also expanded into the surrounding districts of eastern Baghdad. 9 Nissan, Karadah, and Rusafa were dominated by Shias.<ref name="ISW-2025" /> In 2007, coalition forces and Iraqi Army successfully defeated the insurgents.<ref name="ISW-2025" /> By 2009, the level of violence decreased.<ref name="ISW-2025" /> The period surrounding Provincial Elections was remarkably peaceful.<ref name="ISW-2025" /> But Baghdad witnessed an uptick in attacks in early April 2009, when a series of suicide bomb and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks were perpetrated.&nbsp;<ref name="ISW-2025" /> The war caused [[Damage to Baghdad during the Iraq War|huge damage]] to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure.<ref name="Tunzelmann-2021" /> Though the war ended in 2011, instability continued. Baghdad was rocked by the Arab Spring protests. An insurgency lasted till 2013. It was followed by another war from 2013 to 2017, which included [[suicide bombing]]s in [[2018 Baghdad bombings|January 2018]] and [[2021 Baghdad bombings|January 2021]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 January 2021 |title=At least 32 killed as first suicide bombing in nearly 2 years rocks Baghdad |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/21/middleeast/iraq-baghdad-explosion-intl/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122065840/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/21/middleeast/iraq-baghdad-explosion-intl/index.html |archive-date=22 January 2021 |access-date=21 January 2021}}</ref> The city attracted global media attention on 3 January 2020, when Iranian general [[Qasem Soleimani]] was [[Assassination of Qasem Soleimani|assassinated in a U.S. drone strike]] near Baghdad Airport.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 July 2020 |title=Qasem Soleimani: US strike on Iran general was unlawful, UN expert says |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53345885 |access-date=2 October 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref> 

Most [[Reconstruction of Iraq|reconstruction]] [[Reconstruction of Iraq|efforts]] have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure. More visible efforts at reconstruction through private development have also been made. 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. Various projects have commenced in Baghdad to induce stability. A large number of historical sites has been restored. Modern-scale development projects such as shopping malls, hotels and office spaces are now in Baghdad. The area surrounding the airport and presidential complex has emerged as new investment hospot and expansion of Baghdad. In December 2015, Baghdad was selected by [[UNESCO]] as the first Arab city of the center of literary creativity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 December 2015 |title=UNESCO chooses Baghdad as the first Arab city for literary creativity – Union of News Agencies of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation |url=https://una-oic.org/en/culture-and-arts/2015/12/13/7e63d4ee-4ff2-4611-aa32-b4a3ea257972/ |access-date=18 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Zawra Park landscape.jpeg|thumb|Al-Zawraa Park in Baghdad]]
[[File:Bagdad-sat.JPG|thumb|Baghdad as seen from the [[International Space Station]]]]
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 "[[Al-Rusafa, Iraq|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]] [[alluvium|alluvial]] origin due to periodic large flooding of the Tigris river. The [[Diyala river]] is a tributary of the Tigris, flowing southeast of the city and bordering its eastern suburbs.

Baghdad is {{Convert|529.8|km|mi}} northwest of [[Basra]], {{Convert|402.9|km|mi}} south of [[Mosul]], {{Convert|366.8|km|mi}} south of [[Erbil]] and {{Convert|103.8|km|mi}} northeast of [[Karbala]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baghdad · Baghdad Governorate, Iraq |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Baghdad,+Baghdad+Governorate,+Iraq/@33.1458711,44.2274836,41106m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x15577f67a0a74193:0x9deda9d2a3b16f2c!8m2!3d33.315241!4d44.3660671!16zL20vMDFmcW0?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTEyNC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw== |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=Baghdad · Baghdad Governorate, Iraq |language=en}}</ref> Located to the south is [[Mahmoudiyah, Iraq|Mahmoudiyah]], which serves as the gateway to Baghdad.
{{wide image|Tigris River in Baghdad (2016).jpg|700px|align-cap=center|Panoramic view of the Tigris as it flows through Baghdad}}

=== Climate ===
Baghdad has a [[hot desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|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 {{cvt|44|°C|°F|0}} and accompanied by sunshine. Rainfall has been recorded on fewer than half a dozen occasions at this time of year and has never exceeded {{cvt|1|mm|in|2|sp=us}}.<ref name="Geert">{{cite web |url=http://www.knmi.nl/~oldenbor/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711043252/http://www.knmi.nl/~oldenbor/ |title=Geert Jan van Oldenborgh @ KNMI |date=11 July 2012 |archive-date=11 July 2012 |website=archive.is |access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref> Even at night, temperatures in summer are seldom below {{cvt|24|°C|°F}}. Baghdad's record highest temperature of {{cvt|51.8|°C|°F}} was reached on 28 July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie-mensuelle/40650/juillet/2020/baghdad.html |title=Climatologie mensuelle en juillet 2020 à Baghdad &#124; climatologie depuis 1900 – Infoclimat |website=infoclimat.fr |access-date=28 July 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728224224/https://www.infoclimat.fr/climatologie-mensuelle/40650/juillet/2020/baghdad.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="record">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/29/baghdad-iraq-heat-record/ |title=Baghdad Soars to 125 Blistering Degrees, Its Highest Temperature on Record |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 July 2020 |access-date=31 July 2020 |last1=Cappucci |first1=Matthew |last2=Salim |first2=Mustafa |language=en-US |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731032954/https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/29/baghdad-iraq-heat-record/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Humidity]] is under 50% in summer, due to Baghdad's distance from both the marshes in southern Iraq and the coasts of the [[Persian Gulf]]. [[Dust storm]]s from the deserts to the west are a normal occurrence during the summer.

Its winter temperatures are those of a [[hot desert climate]]. From December through February, Baghdad has maximum temperatures averaging {{cvt|16|to|19|C|F|0}}, with highs possible above {{cvt|21|C|F|0}}. Lows below freezing occur [[statistical]]ly a couple of times per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=1464 |title=World Weather Information Service |date=26 October 2016 |website=worldweather.wmo.int |access-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027054505/http://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=1464 |archive-date=27 October 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Annual rainfall, almost entirely confined to the period from November through March, averages approximately {{cvt|150|mm|in|2}}, but has been as high as {{cvt|338|mm|in|2}} and as low as {{cvt|37|mm|in|2}}.<ref name="Geert" /> On 11 January 2008, light snow fell across Baghdad for the first time in 100 years.<ref>{{cite web |author=(AFP) – 11 January 2008 |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5huPkYk4bGVvo1Sa1tWeH-tgENiFw |title=Afp.google.com, First snow for 100 years falls on Baghdad |date=11 January 2008 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929173506/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5huPkYk4bGVvo1Sa1tWeH-tgENiFw |archive-date=29 September 2010}}</ref> Snowfall was again reported on 11 February 2020, with accumulations across the city.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1855239/ultra-rare-snowfall-carpets-baghdad |title=Ultra-rare snowfall carpets Baghdad |newspaper=Bangkok Post |date=11 February 2020 |access-date=29 May 2020 }}</ref>
{{Weather box
| width = auto
| location = Baghdad (1991-2020)
| metric first = Yes
| single line = Yes
| Jan high C = 16.2
| Feb high C = 19.3
| Mar high C = 24.5
| Apr high C = 30.5
| May high C = 37.1
| Jun high C = 42.2
| Jul high C = 44.7
| Aug high C = 44.5
| Sep high C = 40.3
| Oct high C = 34.0
| Nov high C = 23.9
| Dec high C = 18.0
| Jan mean C = 10.0
| Feb mean C = 12.8
| Mar mean C = 17.5
| Apr mean C = 23.4
| May mean C = 29.5
| Jun mean C = 33.4
| Jul mean C = 35.8
| Aug mean C = 35.3
| Sep mean C = 31.2
| Oct mean C = 25.1
| Nov mean C = 16.5
| Dec mean C = 11.7
| Jan low C = 4.7
| Feb low C = 6.5
| Mar low C = 10.5
| Apr low C = 15.7
| May low C = 21.1
| Jun low C = 24.9
| Jul low C = 26.9
| Aug low C = 26.2
| Sep low C = 22.2
| Oct low C = 17.2
| Nov low C = 10.2
| Dec low C = 6.0
| Jan record high C = 24.8
| Feb record high C = 28.2
| Mar record high C = 36.6
| Apr record high C = 42.0
| May record high C = 46.7
| Jun record high C = 49.6
| Jul record high C = 51.8
| Aug record high C = 50.0
| Sep record high C = 48.4
| Oct record high C = 40.2
| Nov record high C = 35.6
| Dec record high C = 25.3
| year record high C = 51.8
| year high C = 30.6
| year low C = 14.9
| Jan record low C = -11.0
| Feb record low C = -10.0
| Mar record low C = -5.5
| Apr record low C = -0.6
| May record low C = 8.3
| Jun record low C = 14.6
| Jul record low C = 22.4
| Aug record low C = 20.6
| Sep record low C = 15.3
| Oct record low C = 6.2
| Nov record low C = -1.5
| Dec record low C = -8.7
| year record low C = -11.0
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 24.6
| Feb precipitation mm = 16.6
| Mar precipitation mm = 15.7
| Apr precipitation mm = 16.2
| May precipitation mm = 3.3
| Jun precipitation mm = 0
| Jul precipitation mm = 0
| Aug precipitation mm = 0
| Sep precipitation mm = 0.1
| Oct precipitation mm = 7.6
| Nov precipitation mm = 23.6
| Dec precipitation mm = 17.0
| unit precipitation days = 
| Jan precipitation days = 5
| Feb precipitation days = 5
| Mar precipitation days = 6
| Apr precipitation days = 4
| May precipitation days = 2
| Jun precipitation days = 0
| Jul precipitation days = 0
| Aug precipitation days = 0
| Sep precipitation days = 0
| Oct precipitation days = 1
| Nov precipitation days = 5
| Dec precipitation days = 6
| Jan humidity = 69.1
| Feb humidity = 58.9
| Mar humidity = 48.7
| Apr humidity = 41.1
| May humidity = 31.4
| Jun humidity = 24.4
| Jul humidity = 23.8
| Aug humidity = 25.7
| Sep humidity = 30.9
| Oct humidity = 41.6
| Nov humidity = 57.9
| Dec humidity = 68.0
| Jan sun = 192.2
| Feb sun = 203.4
| Mar sun = 244.9
| Apr sun = 255.0
| May sun = 300.7
| Jun sun = 348.0
| Jul sun = 347.2
| Aug sun = 353.4
| Sep sun = 315.0
| Oct sun = 272.8
| Nov sun = 213.0
| Dec sun = 195.3
| Jan uv = 3
| Feb uv = 4
| Mar uv = 6
| Apr uv = 8
| May uv = 10
| Jun uv = 11
| Jul uv = 11
| Aug uv = 10
| Sep uv = 8
| Oct uv = 6
| Nov uv = 4
| Dec uv = 3
| source 1 = [[WMO]] (precipitation days 1976-2008)<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/Iraq/CSV/BAGHDAD_40650.csv
| title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Baghdad |format=CSV
| publisher = [[NOAA|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = 2 August 2023}}</ref><ref name=WMO>{{cite web |url=http://worldweather.wmo.int/154/c01464.htm |title=World Weather Information Service – Baghdad |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |access-date=20 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625022518/http://worldweather.wmo.int/154/c01464.htm |archive-date=25 June 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| source 2 = Climate & Temperature<ref name=climatetemp>{{cite web |url=http://www.climatetemp.info/iraq/baghdad.html |title=Baghdad Climate Guide to the Average Weather & Temperatures, with Graphs Elucidating Sunshine and Rainfall Data & Information about Wind Speeds & Humidity |access-date=25 December 2011 |publisher=Climate & Temperature |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106135651/http://www.climatetemp.info/iraq/baghdad.html |archive-date=6 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/iraq/baghdad-climate#uv_index |title=Monthly weather forecast and climate for Baghdad, Iraq |access-date=27 April 2020 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919180124/https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/iraq/baghdad-climate#uv_index |url-status=live}}</ref>
| date = August 2010
}}

== Governance ==
{{see also|List of neighborhoods and districts in Baghdad}}
[[File:Palace in Baghdad.jpg|left|thumb|Government office in the [[Green Zone]], government precinct ]]
Administratively, [[Baghdad Governorate]] is divided into [[Kaza|districts]] which are further divided into [[nahiyah|sub-districts]].<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> Municipally, the governorate is divided into 9 municipalities, which have responsibility for local issues.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> Regional services, however, are coordinated and carried out by a [[mayor]] who oversees the municipalities.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> The governorate council is responsible for the governorate-wide policy.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> These official subdivisions of the city served as administrative centers for the delivery of municipal services but until 2003 had no political function.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> Beginning in April 2003, the U.S—controlled [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] (CPA) began the process of creating new functions for these.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> The process initially focused on the election of neighborhood councils in official neighborhoods, elected by neighborhood caucuses.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> 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.<ref name="USA Today-2007" />

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.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> Once all 88 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.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> The number of neighborhood representatives on a district council is based upon the neighborhood's population.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> 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.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> Later, the number of official neighborhoods were increased to 89.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> 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.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> The same process was used to provide representative councils for the other communities in Baghdad Province outside of the city itself.<ref name="USA Today-2007" /> There, local councils were elected from 20 neighborhoods (''Nahia'') and these councils elected representatives from their members to serve on six district councils (''Qada'').<ref name="USA Today-2007" />

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:<ref name="USA Today-2007">{{cite news |title=New troops to move into Iraq |url=http://images.usatoday.com/news/graphics/troop_surge/flash.swf |work=USA Today |access-date=22 April 2007 |archive-date=5 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605012753/http://images.usatoday.com/news/graphics/troop_surge/flash.swf |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Div col|content=*[[Adhamiyah]]
* [[Karkh]] ([[Green Zone]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27637 |title=DefenseLink News Article: Soldier Helps to Form Democracy in Baghdad |publisher=Defenselink.mil |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090831135357/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27637 |archive-date=31 August 2009 |url-status= live}}</ref>
* [[Karrada]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/june2005/a060105la2.html |title=Zafaraniya Residents Get Water Project Update – DefendAmerica News Article |publisher=Defendamerica.mil |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228064722/http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/june2005/a060105la2.html |archive-date=28 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-03-26-councils-work_x.htm |work=USA Today |title=Basics of democracy in Iraq include frustration |first1=Thomas |last1=Frank |date=26 March 2006 |access-date=26 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515193647/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-03-26-councils-work_x.htm |archive-date=15 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Kadhimiya]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/mar2004/a031804d.html |title=DefendAmerica News – Article |publisher=Defendamerica.mil |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227233739/http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/mar2004/a031804d.html |archive-date=27 December 2008}}</ref>
* [[Mansour district|Mansour]]
* [[Sadr City]] (Thawra)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1205/p01s04-woiq.html |title=Democracy from scratch |publisher=csmonitor.com |date=5 December 2003 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100403220914/http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1205/p01s04-woiq.html |archive-date= 3 April 2010 |url-status= live}}</ref>
* [[Al Rashid, Baghdad|Al Rashid]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/sept2006/a091906dg2.html |title=Leaders Highlight Successes of Baghdad Operation – DefendAmerica News Article |publisher=Defendamerica.mil |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228012249/http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/sept2006/a091906dg2.html |archive-date=28 December 2008}}</ref>
* [[Al-Rusafa, Iraq|Rusafa]]
* [[New Baghdad]] (Tisaa Nissan) (9 April)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=5&nid=235 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212142736/http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=5&nid=235 |title=NBC 6 News – 1st Cav Headlines |archive-date=12 December 2007}}</ref>}}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:
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* Al-[[Ghazaliya]]
* [[Al-A'amiriya]]
* [[Dora, Baghdad|Dora]]
* [[Karrada]]
* [[Al-Jadriya]]
* [[Al-Hebnaa]]
* [[Zayouna]]
* [[Al-Saydiya]]
* [[Al-Sa'adoon]]
* [[Al-Shu'ala]]
* [[Al-Mahmudiyah]]
* [[Bab Al-Moatham]]
** [[Baiyaa|Al-Baya']]
* [[Al-Za'franiya]]
* [[Hayy Ur]]
* [[Sha'ab, Baghdad|Sha'ab]]
* [[Jamia|Hayy Al-Jami'a]]
* [[Al-Adel]]
* [[Al Khadhraa]]
* [[Hayy Al-Jihad]]
* [[Hayy Al-A'amel]]
* Hayy Aoor
* [[Al-Hurriya, Baghdad|Al-Hurriya]]
* [[Haydar-Khana]]
* [[Hayy Al-Shurtta]]
* [[Yarmouk, Baghdad|Yarmouk]]
* [[Jesr Diyala]]
* [[Abu Disher]]
* [[Al-Maidan Square|Al-Maidan]]
* [[Raghiba Khatoun]]
* [[Arab Jibor]]
* [[Al-Fathel]]
* [[Al-Ubedy]]
* [[Al-Washash]]
* [[Al-Wazireya]]
* [[Bataween]]
{{div col end}}

==Notable streets==
[[File:شارع المتنبي صباحا.jpg|thumb|[[Mutanabbi Street]], part of old Baghdad, and the center of Baghdad bookselling, named after the Abbasid poet [[Al-Mutanabbi]]]]
[[File:شارع ابو نؤاس.jpg|thumb|Abu Nuwas Street]]
* [[Haifa Street]]
* [[Hilla Road]] – Runs from the north into Baghdad via [[Yarmouk (Baghdad)]]
* [[Caliphs Street]] – site of historical mosques and churches
* [[Al-Sa'doun Street]] – stretching from [[Liberation Square, Baghdad|Liberation Square]] to [[Masbah]]
* [[Abu Nuwas Street]] – runs along the Tigris from the [[Jumhouriya Bridge]] to 14 July Suspended Bridge
* [[Damascus Street]] – goes from [[Damascus Square]] to the [[Baghdad Airport Road]]
* [[Mutanabbi Street]] – A street with numerous bookshops, named after the 10th century Iraqi poet [[Al-Mutanabbi]]
* [[Rabia Street]]
* [[Arbataash Tamuz (14th July) Street|14 July Street]] ([[Mosul Road]])
* [[Muthana al-Shaibani Street]]
* [[Bor Saeed (Port Said) Street]]
* [[Thawra Street]]
* [[Al-Qanat Street]] – 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, Baghdad|University of Technology]] – center of the computer trade in Baghdad
* [[Al Nidhal Street]]
* [[Al-Rasheed Street]] – city center Baghdad
* [[Al-Jumhuriya Street]] – city center Baghdad
* [[Falastin Street]]
* [[Tariq al-Muaskar]] – (Al-Rasheed Camp Road)
* [[Akhrot street]]
* [[Baghdad Airport Road]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dcswift.com/military/ntc/Baghdad%20Tourist%20Map.pdf |title=PowWeb |work=dcswift.com |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429050421/http://www.dcswift.com/military/ntc/Baghdad%20Tourist%20Map.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2014 }}</ref>

==Demographics==
Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22&nbsp;million in 2015. The surrounding metropolitan region's population is estimated to be 10,500,000.<ref name="Baghdad2" /> It is second largest city in the Arab world after [[Cairo]] and [[List of largest metropolitan areas in the Middle East|fourth largest metropolitan area]] in the Middle East after [[Istanbul]].<ref name="Baghdad2" /> At the beginning of the 21st century, some 1.5&nbsp;million people migrated to Baghdad.<ref name="Baghdad2">{{Cite web |title=Baghdad |url=https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-iraq-2021/baghdad |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=European Union Agency for Asylum |language=en}}</ref> The [[War in Iraq (2013–2017)|2013–2017 civil war]] following the [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|Islamic State's invasion in 2014]] caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city.<ref name="Baghdad2" />

=== Ethnicity ===
[[File:Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral in Baghdad.jpg|left|thumb|[[Assyrians]] praying at [[Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral]] in Baghdad]]
The vast majority of Baghdad's ethnic population are Iraqi [[Arabs]], while minority groups include Kurds, [[Feyli (tribe)|Feyli]], Kurdish, [[Iraqi Turkmen|Turkmen]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Kawliya]], [[Circassians]], [[Mandaeans]], and [[Armenians]].<ref name="Baghdad2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=6 November 2017 |title=Faili kurds |url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/faili-kurds/ |language=en-GB |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=Minority Rights Group}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq – Arabs, Mesopotamia, Tigris-Euphrates |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq/Arabs |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Post-2003 have left an impact of Baghdad's ethnic composition.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Kurds of Baghdad |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref> In 2003, approximately 500,000 Kurds lived in Baghdad.<ref name=":0" /> As of 2016, around 300,000 remained in Baghdad.<ref name=":0" /> Among them, about 150,000 are Shi'a mostly of [[Luri language|Luri]] origin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 October 2023 |title=Kurds in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/kurds-3/ |language=en}}</ref> The main Kurdish neighborhood is situated in central Baghdad, known as the Quarter of Kurds (''Akd al–Akrad'').<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Salim |first1=Mustafa |last2=El-Ghobashy |first2=Tamer |last3=Kessler |first3=Glenn |last4=Bhattarai |first4=Abha |last5=Ovide |first5=Shira |last6=staff |first6=Washington Post |last7=Blake |first7=Aaron |last8=Vynck |first8=Gerrit De |date=31 October 2017 |title=For Kurds in Baghdad, the failed Kurdish independence bid provokes an identity crisis |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/31/for-kurds-in-baghdad-the-failed-kurdish-independence-bid-provokes-an-identity-crisis/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> It is itself home to more than 200 Kurdish families that have lived for generations.<ref name="www.rudaw.net-2025">{{Cite web |title=ERROR |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=23 March 2025 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ghassemlou |first1=A. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplewithoutcou00elat |title=A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan |date=1993 |publisher=Olive Branch Press |isbn=978-1-56656-114-3 |pages=142–143 |language=en |orig-date=1978}}</ref>

Christians in Baghdad are predominantly ethnic Assyrians and Armenians.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0001252339/0001252339_0005.gif |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015180905/http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0001252339/0001252339_0005.gif |archive-date=15 October 2012 |access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref> Assyrians began moving to Baghdad by the mid 20th century from northern Iraq and Iran.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=تاريخ الاشوريين |url=https://www.betnahrain.net/Arabic/Books/wmbooks/william1.htm |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=www.betnahrain.net}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=بغداد – جمعية إغاثة الأيتام الأرمن (SOAR) |url=https://www.soar-us.org/ar/%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |language=ar}}</ref> The historic "Assyrian Quarter" of the city – [[Dora, Baghdad|Dora]], which boasted a population of 150,000 [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] in 2003, made up over 3% of the capital's Assyrian population then.<ref name="Spencer-2014">{{Cite news |last=Spencer |first=Richard |date=22 December 2014 |title=Iraq crisis: The last Christians of Dora |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11307515/Iraq-crisis-The-last-Christians-of-Dora.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413063147/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11307515/Iraq-crisis-The-last-Christians-of-Dora.html |archive-date=13 April 2018 |access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref>  The community has been subject to [[kidnapping]]s, [[death threat]]s, vandalism, and [[arson|house burnings]] by [[al-Qaeda]] and other [[insurgent]] groups.<ref name="Spencer-2014" /> As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora and others in Karrada district.<ref name="Spencer-2014" /> Before the war, 25,000 Armenians lived in Iraq, with majority them concentrated in Baghdad.<ref name=":2" /> Although the Armenian population has reduced, Baghdad is still home to the largest community of [[Armenians in Iraq]], primarily concentrated in the Armenian quarter of [[Bab Al-Sharqi|Bab al-Sharqi]] area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=معلومات عامة عن الجالية |url=https://iraq.mfa.am/ar/community-overview |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=iraq.mfa.am |language=hy}}</ref>

An estimated 60,000 [[Iraqi Turkmen]] live in Baghdad, with significant population in the neighborhoods of [[Adhamiyah]] and [[Raghiba Khatoun|Ragheba Khatun]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=تركمان العراق من هم وما هي مطاليبهم؟ |url=https://www.mafhoum.com/press7/197S22.htm |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=www.mafhoum.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=30 July 2004 |title=Report |url=http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/G-28-04-R-6.pdf |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=turkmen.nl}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Oğuzlu |first=Tarik H. |year=2004 |title=Endangered community:The Turkoman identity in Iraq |url=http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/11693/49129/1/Endangered_community_the_Turkoman_identity_in_Iraq.pdf |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |publisher=[[Routledge]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=313 |doi=10.1080/1360200042000296681 |hdl=11693/49129 |s2cid=56385519 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> There is a Circassian neighborhood in the city, which is home to the largest [[Circassians in Iraq|Circassian community of Iraq]].<ref name="ORSAM">{{cite journal |author1=Ahmet Katav |author2=Bilgay Duman |date=November 2012 |title=Iraqi Circassians (Chechens, Dagestanis, Adyghes) |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |journal=ORSAM Reports |issue=134 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403142200/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2013 |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="ORSAM2">{{cite journal |author1=Ahmet Katav |author2=Bilgay Duman |date=November 2012 |title=Iraqi Circassians (Chechens, Dagestanis, Adyghes) |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |journal=ORSAM Reports |issue=134 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403142200/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2013 |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Circassian candidate: We number 50,000 citizens, and we do not have a representative in the government. |url=https://www.rudawarabia.net/notfound.html |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=www.rudawarabia.net |archive-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203085110/https://www.rudawarabia.net/notfound.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The metropolitan area and the adjoining governorate is also home to [[Kawliya]], [[Afro-Iraqis|African Iraqis]],  [[Chechens]] and other groups.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 October 2023 |title=Roma in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/roma-19/#:~:text=Roma%2C%20sometimes%20referred%20to%20as,of%20Baghdad%2C%20Basra%20and%20Mosul}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Shadid |first1=Anthony |date=3 April 2004 |title=In a Gypsy Village's Fate, An Image of Iraq's Future |url=http://www.domresearchcenter.com/news/iraq/iraq2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223112039/http://www.domresearchcenter.com/news/iraq/iraq2.html |archive-date=23 February 2017 |access-date=23 October 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq |url=http://www.nowherepeople.org/iraq |access-date=14 March 2025 |website=NOWHERE PEOPLE |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
[[File:Khulafa Central Mosque, the Coptic church, Baghdad, 1964.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Khulafa Mosque]], Baghdad's oldest surviving mosque by foundation date (est. 908), next to the [[Latin Cathedral of St. Joseph]] (est. 1871) (pictured in 1964)]]
The majority of the citizens are Muslims with minorities of [[Christianity in Iraq|Christians]], [[Yazidism|Yezidis]], [[Jews]] and [[Mandaeism|Mandeans]] also present.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092">{{cite web |script-title=ar:البدء بإعمار وتذهيب قبة الإمام الكاظم عليه السلام |url=http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813105330/http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=20 |archive-date=13 August 2009 |access-date=27 April 2009 |work=aljawadain.org |language=ae}}</ref> There are many religious centers distributed around the city including mosques, churches, synagogues and Mashkhannas cultic huts.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092" /> The city historically has a predominantly [[Sunni]] population, but by the early 21st century around 52% of the city's population were [[Shia Islam in Iraq|Shi'ites]].<ref name="Baghdad2" /> Sunni Muslims make up 29–34% of Iraq's population and they are still a majority in west and north Iraq.<ref name="Kamal-2016" /> As early as 2003, about 20% of the population of the city was the result of mixed marriages between Shi'ites and Sunnis.<ref name="Kamal-2016">{{Cite news |last1=Kamal |first1=Nesrine |date=18 June 2016 |title='Sushi' children defy Sunni-Shia divide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36528536 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010175830/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36528536 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |access-date=21 July 2018 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Baghdad2" /> Following the [[Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)|civil war]] between Sunni and Shia militia groups during the [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)|occupation of Iraq]], the population of Sunnis significantly decreased as they were pushed out of many neighborhoods.<ref name="Baghdad2" /> Today majority of the neighborhoods are either entirely Sunni or Shi'ite. While few localities are mixed, such as [[Yarmouk, Baghdad|Yarmouk]].

The [[Christianity in Iraq|Christian community in Baghdad]] is divided among various denominations, mainly the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] and the [[Syriac Catholic Church]].<ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017">{{Cite book |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584 |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity |date=1 September 2017 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Ken |location=Oxford, UK |pages=122–3 |language=en |chapter=Church of the East |doi=10.1002/9781405166584 |orig-date=1999 |editor2-last=Melling |editor2-first=David J. |editor3-last=Brady |editor3-first=Dimitri |editor4-last=Griffith |editor4-first=Sidney H. |editor5-last=Healey |editor5-first=John F.}}</ref> There is also a significant presence of followers of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] and the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], along with the largest [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]] and Protestant communities in Iraq, which is also located in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=William B. |title=The Middle East: A Physical, Social and Regional Geography |publisher=Routledge |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-416-71520-0 |location=London |page=363}}</ref> The city serves as the headquarters of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], with its see located in the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Church of Mary Mother of Sorrows, Baghdad, Iraq (Chaldean) |url=http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/asia/3393.htm |website=gcatholic.org}}</ref> while the [[Ancient Church of the East]] has its see in the Cathedral of the Virgin.<ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017" /> Before the [[Iraq War]] in 2003, Baghdad was home to 300,000–800,000 Christians,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walling |first1=Michael G. |title=Iraq Full Circle: From Shock and Awe to the Last Combat Patrol in Baghdad and Beyond |last2=Darron |first2=L. Wright |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78200-282-6 |pages=168}}</ref><ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017" /> primarily concentrated in several neighborhoods with a Christian majority or significant minority, the most notable being [[Karrada]] and [[Dora, Baghdad|al–Dora]], which had around 150,000 Christians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanoosh |first=Yasmeen |title=The Chaldeans: Politics and Identity in Iraq and the American Diaspora |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-78672-596-7 |page=174}}</ref> After 2003, a large number of Christians were displaced in wars and many of them fled to Baghdad after ISIS's takeover of Mosul. Today about 100,000 Christians remained in Baghdad, primarily in Karrada and [[Mansour district]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christians in Baghdad close to Extinction |url=https://www.kirkuknow.com/en/news/65368 |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=Kirkuknow |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nabeel |first=Gilgamesh |title=Christians in Post-2003 Iraq: Fragmentation Dynamics, Ethnic and Sectarian Fault Lines |url=https://eismena.com/en/article/christians-in-post-2003-iraq-fragmentation-dynamics-ethnic-and-sectarian-fault-lines-2023-08-11 |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=cfri-irak.com |language=en}}</ref>

Baghdad was once home to [[History of the Jews in Baghdad|one of the world's most significant Jewish communities]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reclaiming Iraq's Jewish Heritage {{!}} The Washington Institute |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/reclaiming-iraqs-jewish-heritage |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=washingtoninstitute.org |language=en}}</ref> In 1948, Jews numbered approximately 150,000, constituting 33% of the city's population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Studies |first=Stroum Center for Jewish |date=12 February 2021 |title=The Jews of medieval Iraq and Kurdistan: Surprising insights from Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela's 12th-century geography |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/jewish-history-and-thought/jews-medieval-iraq-kurdistan-benjamin-of-tudela/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |language=en-US}}</ref> Persecution forced most Jews to flee Iraq.<ref name="journeyman-2024">{{Cite web |title=Saddam's Iraq {{!}} Journeyman Pictures |url=https://www.journeyman.tv/film_documents/1181/transcript/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=journeyman.tv}}</ref> Even after 1948, up to 100,000 Jews remained, which decreased.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 2003 |title=Now Baghdad's last Jews have some hope |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/now-baghdads-last-jews-have-some-hope/28042122.html |access-date=7 December 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Majority of 15,000 Iraqi Jews lived in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's rule and their population dwindled, not due to persecution but because of lifted travel restrictions that allowed many to emigrate.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> By 2003, Iraq still had a Jewish community of about 1,500 people, majority of whom resided in Baghdad.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> But the population decreased sharply after the war.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> Today, an estimated 160 Jews live in Baghdad out of spotlight, primarily in the old Jewish quarters of [[Bataween]] and [[Shorja]], which was once home to vibrant Jewish community.<ref name="Amwaj-2024">{{Cite web |title=Once thriving, Iraq's Jews on verge of vanishing |url=https://amwaj.media/article/once-thriving-iraq-s-jews-on-verge-of-vanishing |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=Amwaj.media |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Miri-2024">{{cite web | url=https://www.chaldeannews.com/culture-and-history/2021/6/29/the-jewish-community-of-iraq-history-and-influence | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722215536/https://www.chaldeannews.com/culture-and-history/2021/6/29/the-jewish-community-of-iraq-history-and-influence | archive-date=22 July 2024 | title=The Jewish Community of Iraq - History and Influence | work=Chaldean News }}</ref> The city was historically home to over [[List of Jewish sites in Iraq|60 synagogues, cemeteries, and shrines]], many of which were preserved before 2003.<ref name="Amwaj-2024" /> However, their condition deteriorated after the war, and only a few sites, such as the [[Meir Taweig Synagogue]] and [[Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery]], remain today.<ref name="Amwaj-2024" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=ERROR |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref>

Beyond their traditional homelands, around [[Amarah]] and [[Basra]], Mandaeans are also found in Baghdad.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate">{{cite web |author=Baghdad Governorate |date=20 July 2019 |title=محافظ بغداد يزور مندى الصابئة المندائية ويهنئهم بالعيد الأكبر |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiipVzPN1oU |access-date=13 December 2023 |via=YouTube}}</ref> By the late 20th century, Mandaeans began settling in Baghdad for better opportunities.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" /> Most of them live primarily around al-Qadisiyah and Dora, which is location to their place of worship and cultural centers.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" /> However, persecution of Mandaeans have been greatly decreased since 2003.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" />  There is also a small of community of [[Baha'is]] and [[Sikhism in Iraq|Sikhs]], who live in Baghdad.<ref name="BWNS-2013">{{Cite web |date=28 June 2013 |title=Sacred site in Baghdad destroyed {{!}} BWNS |url=https://news.bahai.org/story/961/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131104128/https://news.bahai.org/story/961/ |archive-date=31 January 2022 |access-date=31 January 2022 |website=Bahá'í World News Service |language=en}}</ref> The Sikhs are mostly Indians.<ref name="Baghdad2" /> Before 2003, Baghdad was regularly visited by Sikh pilgrims from India.<ref name="Baghdad2" /><gallery mode="packed">
File:Al- Saray Mosque جامع السراي.jpg|[[Al-Sarai Mosque]]
File:جامع الخلاني.jpg|[[Al-Khilani Mosque]]
File:مندى ديانة الصابئة المندائية في بغداد 01.jpg|[[Sabian–Mandaean Mandi of Baghdad|Mandaean Mandi]] of Baghdad
File:مبنى كنيسة الارمن.jpg|[[St. Gregory Armenian Church|Armenian Orthodox Church of Baghdad]]
File:Assyrian Church.png|Interior of the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows]] (headquarter of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]])
</gallery>

== Economy ==
{{Panorama
| image = File:View on Baghdad 2017.jpg
| height = 150
| caption = View of Central Business district
}}
Baghdad serves as the commercial and financial hub, home to 22% of the population, and generating 40% of Iraq's GDP.<ref name="sjsu-2024">{{Cite web |title=The Economic History of Baghdad |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/baghdad2.htm |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=sjsu.edu}}</ref> It connects trade routes between Turkey, Syria, India, and Southeast Asia.<ref name="rawabet-2025a">{{Cite web |title=Economy of the largest cities of Iraq "Baghdad" – rawabt center |url=https://rawabetcenter.com/en/?p=6609 |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=rawabetcenter.com}}</ref> As the capital, it hosts government institutions and state enterprises, key sources of employment.<ref name="rawabet-2025a" /> The public education system follows [[Saddamism|Ba'athist socialist ideologies]], for employment in the public sector.<ref name="Equal Times-2023">{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=A new era of opportunity is opening up in Iraq with the development of the private sector and the creation of start-ups |url=https://www.equaltimes.org/a-new-era-of-opportunity-is?lang=en |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=Equal Times |language=en}}</ref> Since 2003, the public sector has struggled to provide jobs, and the private sector hasn't grown sufficiently, leading companies to hire mainly foreigners.<ref name="Equal Times-2023" /> To address this, NGOs are establishing incubation centers in the city.<ref name="equaltimes.org">{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=A new era of opportunity is opening up in Iraq with the development of the private sector and the creation of start-ups |url=https://www.equaltimes.org/a-new-era-of-opportunity-is?lang=en |access-date=28 September 2024 |website=Equal Times |language=en}}</ref>

Baghdad serves as headquarters for important companies of Iraq, such as [[Iraq National Oil Company]], [[State Organization for Marketing of Oil]] and [[Iraqi Airways]].<ref name="rawabet-2025a" /> Baghdad is home to large insurance companies and banks — [[Central Bank of Iraq]], [[Rafidain Bank]], and [[Rasheed Bank|Rashid Bank]] and regional headquarters for [[First Abu Dhabi Bank]], [[Fransabank]] and [[Saudi National Bank]].<ref name="rawabet-2025b">{{Cite web |title=Economy of the largest cities of Iraq "Baghdad" – rawabt center |url=https://rawabetcenter.com/en/?p=6609 |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=rawabetcenter.com}}</ref> Multinational companies such as [[Honeywell]], [[Shell plc|Shell]], [[General Electric]], [[SalamAir]] and [[Robert Bosch GmbH]] have established their regional base.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" /> Baghdad is also home to Iraq Stock Exchange, that was established in 1992. Most of these establishments are located in [[Al-Rasheed Street]], [[Karrada]] and [[Mansour district]].<ref name="rawabet-2025a" />

It was once one of the main destinations in the region with a wealth of cultural attractions.<ref name="Lebanon-2022">{{Cite news |date=25 October 2022 |title=Lebanon: Iraqi tourists provide unlikely boost for failing economy |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63329846 |access-date=3 June 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Tourism has diminished due to wars, but in recent years the city has a revival in tourism although still facing challenges.<ref name="France 24-2022">{{Cite web |date=27 March 2022 |title=In a 'dangerous' land: tourists trickle back to Iraq |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220327-in-a-dangerous-land-tourists-trickle-back-to-iraq |access-date=3 June 2024 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref> There are numerous historic, scientific and artistic museums in Baghdad.<ref name="Shane-2023">{{Cite web |last=Shane |date=10 June 2023 |title=Is it safe to travel to Iraq as a tourist? |url=https://www.rockyroadtravel.com/is-it-safe-to-travel-to-iraq-as-a-tourist/ |access-date=3 June 2024 |website=Rocky Road Travel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Travers-2024">{{Cite web |last=Travers |first=Alannah |title=Mutanabbi Street: An intellectual haven overcomes Iraq's pain |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/3/17/mutannabi-street-slowly-re-emerges-20-years-on-from-iraq-war |access-date=3 June 2024 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Religious tourism in Baghdad has grown since 2003, with sites like [[Al-Kadhimiya Mosque]], [[Abu Hanifa Mosque]], [[Mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani]], and [[Buratha Mosque]] attracting visitors from [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], and [[India]], while non-religious tourists mainly come from [[Turkey]], [[France]], and the United States.<ref name="Al Arabiya -2013">{{Cite web |date=4 April 2013 |title=Iraq's holy cities enjoy boom in religious tourism |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/life-style/art-and-culture/2013/04/04/Iraq-s-holy-cities-enjoy-boom-in-religious-tourism |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en}}</ref> Around 1 million people visit the city annually for religious purposes.<ref name="Al Arabiya -2013" /> The pilgrims are both Shia and Sunni Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Religious tourism is failing Iraq's economy {{!}} Ahmed Twaij {{!}} AW |url=https://thearabweekly.com/religious-tourism-failing-iraqs-economy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108173511/https://thearabweekly.com/religious-tourism-failing-iraqs-economy |archive-date=8 November 2022 |access-date=31 January 2025 |work=AW |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

The city contains the factories of [[carpets]], [[leather]] and [[textiles]], workshops, [[cement]] and [[tobacco]] factories.<ref name="EB-2024">{{Cite web |date=20 December 2024 |title=Baghdad - Mosques, Palaces, Gardens {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Baghdad/Architecture-and-monuments#ref24875 |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Industrial areas extend from the city center to outside and suburbs in the metropolitan area, such as [[Taji]] and northern Baghdad.<ref name="EB-2024" /> Subsequently, it has produced a wide variety of consumer and industrial goods, including processed foods and beverages, clothes, footwear, wood products, furniture, paper and printed material, bricks, chemicals, plastics, electrical equipment, and metal and nonmetallic products.<ref name="EB-2024" /> [[Bismayah New City|Bismayah]], southeast of Baghdad, is home to world's largest precast factory.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" /> In agricultural aspect, palm groves are spread in the city, and many of its people depends on the cultivation of many yields.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" />

Baghdad, like other provinces such as [[Babylon]], [[Karbala]] and [[Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate|Qadissiya]], contains metals such as [[aluminum]], [[ceramics]], [[nickel]], [[manganese]] and [[chromium]], whose size is not yet known, being recently discovered by local Iraqi cadres lacking experience and mechanisms to determine the size of these explorations.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" /> An [[oilfield]] is located in eastern Baghdad.<ref name="孙汝-2025">{{Cite web |last=孙汝 |title=Huge oil reserves discovered in central Iraq |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202501/21/WS678f5b34a310a2ab06ea85d0.html |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref> It was believed that the quantities of oil is modest, but the drilling disclosed that its size exceeds the initial estimates, and has northern extensions in the province of [[Saladin Governorate|Salah al-Din]], and southern province of [[Wasit Governorate|Wasit]].<ref name="孙汝-2025" /> The city is also home to Dora Refinery, a large oil refinery in [[Dora, Baghdad|Dora]], which is the 3rd largest in Iraq in terms of production.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" /> The production of it exceeds {{convert|200000|oilbbl|m3}} per day, while its total production estimated if it was developed up to {{convert|120,000|oilbbl|m3}} per day.<ref name="rawabet-2025b" />

Most [[Reconstruction of Iraq|reconstruction]] efforts have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure.<ref name="ARCADD-2008">{{Cite web |title=ARCADD |url=http://www.arcadd.com/baghdad-cbd.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220055610/http://www.arcadd.com/baghdad-cbd.htm |archive-date=20 December 2008}}</ref> Some of the private projects includes  [[Reconstruction of Iraq#Proposed Baghdad Renaissance Plan|Baghdad Renaissance Plan]], [[Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center]], and [[Central Bank of Iraq Tower]]. Other project proposed includes Romantic Island and Baghdad Gate.<ref name="MSNBC/id/264259112">{{Cite news |last=Yacoub |first=Sameer |title=Baghdad plans to build giant Ferris wheel |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26425911 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211141049/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26425911/ |archive-date=11 December 2013 |access-date=27 August 2008 |publisher=NBC News}}</ref><ref name="Baghdad Governorate Website-2010">{{cite web |year=2010 |title=Baghdad Investment: Creating (1824) housing units in Baghdad. |url=http://www.baghdadgov.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178:baghdad-investment-createing-of-1824-housing-units-in-baghdad&catid=25:the-project&Itemid=95 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323164726/http://www.baghdadgov.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=178:baghdad-investment-createing-of-1824-housing-units-in-baghdad&catid=25:the-project&Itemid=95 |archive-date=23 March 2010 |access-date=9 July 2010 |work=Baghdad Governorate Website}}</ref> Numerous projects have been also impacted due to corruption.<ref name="nytimes22">{{cite news |last1=Mohammed |first1=Riyadh |last2=Leland |first2=John |date=29 December 2009 |title=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/middleeast/30baghdad.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006200141/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/middleeast/30baghdad.html |archive-date=6 October 2014 |access-date=5 October 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> According to a report published by [[CNBC]], there are around 150 entertainment projects planned for the city.<ref name="موقع نبض-2025">{{Cite web |title=الغد برس {{!}} شبكة |url=https://nabd-com.translate.goog/s/116166814-da4f17/%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%A9-cnbc-%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-2022-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B9-%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%AB%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-3-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86?_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=موقع نبض |language=ar}}</ref> Many of them were delayed due to government policies.<ref name="موقع نبض-2025" /> Also Baghdad has witnessed the opening of dozens of tourist complexes annually with areas reaching {{Convert|20000|m2|acre}} in addition to some major tourism projects with areas exceeding {{Convert|50000|m2|acre}} with the aim of investment combining trade and tourism as a distinctive economic model.<ref name="موقع نبض-2025" /> In recent years, Baghdad has also adopted modern economic trends like, establishment of startup hubs, office space and incubation centers, as well as development of shopping malls such as [[Baghdad Mall]] and Dijlah Village.<ref name="equaltimes.org"/>

==Transportation==
[[File:Highway in Baghdad-2024.jpg|thumb|Highway in Baghdad - 2024]]
Baghdad lacks substantial public transportation, and [[taxi]]s are the primary means of transportation in the city. Roads in Baghdad have been known to be especially congested since at least 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pegasus |title=Public Transport in Baghdad |url=https://www.flypgs.com//en/city-guide/public-transport-in-baghdad |access-date=17 July 2023 |website=flypgs.com |language=en |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717172417/https://www.flypgs.com//en/city-guide/public-transport-in-baghdad }}</ref> According to MP Jassim Al-Bukhati in 2021, "Baghdad's roads are designed to accommodate 700,000 cars, while now there are between 2.5 and 3 million cars on them".<ref name="web-archive-org.translate.goog-2021">{{Cite web |date=25 February 2021 |title=العراق: معاناة الازدحام المروري |url=https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20210225054954/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/society/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AF%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A?_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=web-archive-org.translate.goog }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This is because, since 2003, car imports have increased.<ref name="web-archive-org.translate.goog-2021" /> Since then, river-based water transport has become a popular mode of transport. Use of boats crossing across the river saves time for travelers escaping congestion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www-youtube-com.translate.goog/watch?v=M5rT5WO2hwM&_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=www-youtube-com.translate.goog | date=5 January 2010 }}</ref> Private organizations are working to improve the transport system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 July 2024 |title=TransitLab Aims To Transform Public Transport in Baghdad – Iraqi Innovators |url=https://iraqtech.io/how-transitlab-aims-to-transform-public-transport-in-baghdad/ |access-date=4 December 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mohamedmeki |first1=Mohammed Zuhair |last2=Al-Mumaiz |first2=Maha |date=1 February 2021 |title=Improving the transportation system in Baghdad city |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=1067 |issue=1 |article-number=012087 |doi=10.1088/1757-899x/1067/1/012087 |issn=1757-8981|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021MS&E.1067a2087Z }}</ref>
Among the major bridges connecting [[Karkh]] and [[Al-Rusafa, Iraq|Rusafa]] are [[14th of July Bridge]], [[Al-Aimmah Bridge]] and [[Al-Sarafiya Bridge]].<ref name="Writer-2024">{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->  |title=Iraq to build 19 bridges in Baghdad |url=https://www.zawya.com/en/projects/construction/iraq-to-build-19-bridges-in-baghdad-pd1siuyj |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=zawya.com |language=en}}</ref> In 2023, the authorities announced plans to build 19 bridges in Baghdad.<ref name="Writer-2024" /> This is a part of its post-war reconstruction efforts, as many bridges were damaged during the war.<ref name="Writer-2024" /> Streets, avenues and alleys form an important part of the transport network.<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> [[Al-Sa'doun Street]] stretches from [[Liberation Square, Baghdad|Liberation Square]] to Masbah.<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> Abu Nuwas Street runs along the Tigris from the Jumhouriya Bridge to 14 July Suspended Bridge.<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> [[Damascus Street]] goes from [[Damascus Square]] to the [[Baghdad Airport Road]].<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> [[Hilla Road]] runs from the north into Baghdad via [[Yarmouk (Baghdad)|Yarmouk]].<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> [[Mutanabbi Street]] is a street with numerous bookshops, named after the 10th century Iraqi poet [[Al-Mutanabbi]].<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023" /> [[Caliphs Street]] is the site of historical mosques and churches.<ref name="ITCHY FEET TRAVELS-2023">{{Cite web |date=27 May 2023 |title=The Streets of Baghdad |url=https://itchyfeetravels.com/the-streets-of-baghdad/ |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=ITCHY FEET TRAVELS |language=en}}</ref>

=== Air transport ===
[[Iraqi Airways]], the national airline of Iraq, operates out of [[Baghdad International Airport]] in Baghdad.<ref name="AAC-2008">{{cite web |url=http://www.aaco.org/airlines_iraqi.asp |title=Iraqi Airways. |access-date=7 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518015038/http://www.aaco.org/airlines_iraqi.asp |archive-date=18 May 2008 |website=[[Arab Air Carriers Organization]]}}</ref> The airport was opened by Saddam Hussein in 1982 as Saddam International Airport.<ref name="AAC-2008" /> It was closed as result of the Gulf War and subsequent embargo.<ref name="Woznicki-2024">{{Cite web |title=Saddam International Airport/Baghdad International Airport – springerin {{!}} Hefte für Gegenwartskunst |url=https://www.springerin.at/en/2003/2/saddam-international-airportbagdad-international-airport/ |access-date=4 December 2024 |website=springerin.at}}</ref> The airport was reopened in August 2000.<ref name="Woznicki-2024" /> The airport adopted its current name after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.<ref name="Woznicki-2024" />

=== Planned Baghdad Metro ===
{{Main|Baghdad Metro}}

The [[Baghdad Metro]] project was first proposed during the 1970s but did not come to 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/18/iraq-baghdad-underground-train-network|title=Baghdad goes underground with $3bn metro plan|work=The Guardian|date=18 November 2008 |last1=Chulov |first1=Martin }}</ref> In 2019, it was reported that Korean [[Hyundai Rotem|Hyundai]] and French [[Alstom]] would be building the metro.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> Writer |last2=Projects |first2=Zawya |title=Iraq approves 2023 budget funds for Baghdad metro |url=https://www.zawya.com/en/projects/construction/iraq-approves-2023-budget-funds-for-baghdad-metro-fzub7skp |access-date=17 July 2023 |website=zawya.com |language=en}}</ref> However, the planned construction did not happen.

As of February 2024, the current plan consisted of fully electric and automated (''driverless'') trains running on an extensive railway network including 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 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. 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 transport networks such as buses and taxis, and 10 parking spaces will be available for commuters. The planned operating speed will be 80–140&nbsp;km/hour with an estimated 3.25 million riders per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://investpromo.gov.iq/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/3.-RFI-English-%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B0%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-E-20.2.2024.pdf|title=Baghdad Metro Rail Project|publisher=Investpromo.gov.iq}}</ref>

In July 2024, it was announced that an international consortium of German, French, Spanish, and Turkish companies was awarded $17.5 billion contract to construct Baghdad's metro.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Muhsen |first1=Majda |last2=Projects |first2=Zawya |title=Iraq's Ministry of Transport to include Baghdad Metro in 2023 budget |url=https://metrorailtoday.com/news/iraq-appointed-a-consortium-for-construction-of-175-billion-baghdad-metro-rail-project |access-date=26 July 2024 |website=metrorailtoday.com/}}</ref> The consortium includes Alstom, [[Systra]], [[SNCF]], [[Talgo]], [[Deutsche Bank]] and [[SENER]]. The consortium was then to negotiate the technical, financial and operational details of the project which is now estimated to be completed in May 2029.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/metros/baghdad-metro-project-consortium-selected/67035.article|title=Baghdad metro project consortium selected|publisher=Railwaygazette}}</ref>

== Cityscape ==
[[File:Bahallah path in Baghdad.jpg|left|thumb|Restored historical quarter of Baghdad]]
The Round City was the core of the city, during the establishment of Baghdad. It ceased to exist, as a result of the Mongolian siege. Urban features such as streets, avenues, alleyways and squares clusters a large number of landmarks, which itself creates an identity of cultural or intellectual hubs and define the beauty of Baghdad.

[[Al-Rasheed Street]] is one of the most significant landmarks in Baghdad. Located in al-Rusafa area, the street was an artistic, intellectual and cultural center for many Baghdadis. It also included many prominent theaters and nightclubs such as the Crescent Theatre where Egyptian Singer [[Umm Kulthum]] sang during her visit in 1932 as well as the Chakmakji Company that recorded the music of various Arab singers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=جواد |first=قحطان جاسم |title=أم كلثوم ونجيب الريحاني وبديعة مصابني قدموا أبرز أعمالهم على مسارحه.. جولة في شارع الرشيد في بغداد في ذكرى تأسيسه |work=الجزيرة نت |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/arts/2021/7/23/%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%89-%d8%aa%d8%a3%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%b3%d9%87-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%b4%d9%8a%d8%af-%d8%a3%d9%8a%d9%82%d9%88%d9%86%d8%a9 |access-date=23 July 2023 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=ar}}</ref> The street also contains famous and well-known landmarks including the ancient [[Haydar-Khana Mosque]] as well as numerous well-known cafés such as [[al-Zahawi Café]] and the [[Brazilian Café]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=الحيدر خانة تتكسر معالمه ووزارة الثقافة تعلّق بإحباط على إعمار محتضن قادة ثورة العشرين! » وكالة بغداد اليوم الاخبارية |url=https://baghdadtoday.news/155095-.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=وكالة بغداد اليوم الاخبارية |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=الگاردينيا – مجلة ثقافية عامة – مقاهي بغداد ... ذاكرة المكان وملتقى الثقافة |url=https://www.algardenia.com/2015-09-17-21-42-52/35437-2018-05-15-08-52-14.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=algardenia.com}}</ref>

[[Mutanabbi Street]] 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]].<ref name="NYTimes2008">{{cite news |last=Owles |first=Eric |date=18 December 2008 |title=Then and Now: A New Chapter for Baghdad Book Market |url=http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/then-and-now-a-new-chapter-for-baghdad-book-market/?hp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221035319/http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/then-and-now-a-new-chapter-for-baghdad-book-market/?hp |archive-date=21 December 2008 |access-date=19 May 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NYTimes2008" /> [[Firdos Square]] is a public open space in Baghdad and the location of two of the best-known hotels, the Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton Ishtar, which are both also the tallest buildings in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 December 2006 |title=Iraq: A Guide to the Green Zone |url=http://www.newsweek.com/iraq-guide-green-zone-105823 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127084118/http://www.newsweek.com/iraq-guide-green-zone-105823 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=27 January 2018 |newspaper=Newsweek}}</ref> The square was the site of the statue of Saddam Hussein that was pulled down by the coalition forces in a widely televised event during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

[[Qushla]] or Qishla is a public square and the historical complex located in [[Al-Rusafa, Iraq|al-Rusafa]] neighborhood at the riverbank of [[Tigris]].<ref name="Arraf-2018">[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/12/al-qushla-iraq-oasis-free-expression-201412287593144958.html Al-Qushla: Iraq's oasis of free expression.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116193419/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/12/al-qushla-iraq-oasis-free-expression-201412287593144958.html|date=16 January 2018}} ''Al-Jazeera''. Retrieved 16 January 2018.</ref> The place and its surroundings is where the historical features and cultural capitals of Baghdad are concentrated, from the [[Mutanabbi Street]], Abbasid-era palace and bridges, Ottoman-era mosques to the [[Mustansariyah Madrasa]].<ref name="Arraf-2018" /> The square developed during the Ottoman era as a military barracks.<ref name="Arraf-2018" /> Today, it is a place where the citizens of Baghdad find leisure such as reading poetry in gazebos.<ref name="Arraf-2018" /> It is characterized by the iconic clock tower which was donated by [[George V]].<ref name="Arraf-2018" /> The entire area is submitted to the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] [[List of World Heritage Sites in Iraq|Tentative list]].<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5880/ 5880] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073321/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5880/|date=4 January 2018}}. ''UNESCO''. Retrieved 16 January 2018.</ref>

=== Architecture ===
During the 1970s and 1980s, [[Saddam Hussein]]'s government spent a lot of money on new monuments, mosques, palaces and hotels.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ouroussoff |first=Nicolai |date=15 December 2003 |title=Patron of fear |url=https://www.latimes.com/la-et-ouroussoff15dec15-story.html |access-date=20 May 2025 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The Street is also notable for its architecture and aesthetic which was inspired by [[Renaissance architecture]] and also includes the famous Iraqi [[Mashrabiya|shanasheel]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2017 |title=عراقٌ انا {{!}} الشـناشـيل ج2 |url=https://iraqonana.com/2017/06/21/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b4%d9%80%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b4%d9%80%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%ac2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614022127/https://iraqonana.com/2017/06/21/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%80%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%80%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AC2/ |archive-date=14 June 2023 |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=عراقٌ انا |language=ar}}</ref>

==== Modern Landmarks ====
[[File:Al-Faw palace on the Victory Base Complex in Baghdad, Iraq.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Faw Palace|Al-Faw palace]], today serves as the [[American University of Iraq - Baghdad|American University of Baghdad]]|left]]The [[National Museum of Iraq]] whose collection of artifacts was looted during the invasion, and the iconic [[Hands of Victory]] arches.<ref name="Burkeman-2003">{{Cite news |last=Burkeman |first=Oliver |date=15 April 2003 |title=Ancient archive lost in Baghdad library blaze |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/apr/15/education.books |access-date=28 November 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Multiple political parties are in discussions as to whether the arches should remain as historical monuments or be dismantled.<ref name="Burkeman-2003" /> Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the [[Iraq National Library and Archive|National Library]] were destroyed under [[Saddam]]'s command.<ref name="Burkeman-2003" />

[[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]] and the [[The Monument to the Unknown Soldier|Unknown Soldier's Monument]].<ref name="Makiya">{{citation |last1=Makiya |first1=K. |title=The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Saddam Hussein's Iraq |page=29 |last2=Al-Khalilm |first2=S.}}</ref> [[Al-Shaheed Monument]], also known as the Martyr's Memorial, is a monument dedicated to the Iraqi soldiers who died in the [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name="Makiya" /> 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.<ref name="Makiya" /> 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]].<ref name="Makiya" /> Though these works symbolize the ruling entity.<ref name="Stanek-2020" /> Neverthelsess, they have remained part of architectural legacy, which beautified Baghdad.<ref name="Stanek-2020" />

[[Al-Kazimiyya Mosque|Masjid Al-Kadhimain]] is a shrine that is located in the [[Kadhimiyyah|Kādhimayn suburb]] of Baghdad.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092"/><ref name="dome">{{cite web |script-title=ar:افتتاحية قبة الامام الجواد عليه السلام |url=http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813105435/http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=5 |archive-date=13 August 2009 |access-date=27 April 2009 |work=aljawadain.org |language=ar}}</ref> It contains the tombs of the seventh and ninth [[Twelver]] [[Imamah (Shia doctrine)|Shi'ite Imam]]s, [[Musa al-Kadhim]] and [[Muhammad at-Taqi]] respectively, upon whom the title of ''Kādhimayn'' ("Two who swallow their anger") was bestowed.<ref name="KazemOmmolKitab">{{cite web |title=تاریخچه حرم کاظمین |url=http://kazem.ommolketab.ir/تاريخچه-حرم-كاظمين/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310210746/http://kazem.ommolketab.ir/%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE%DA%86%D9%87-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%85-%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%86/ |archive-date=10 March 2018 |access-date=15 June 2017 |publisher=kazem.ommolketab.ir |language=fa}}</ref><ref name="dome" /><ref name="Al-Jawadain20092"/> Many Shi'ites travel to the mosque from far away places to commemorate those imams.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092"/><ref name="dome" /> [[A'dhamiyyah]] is a predominantly Sunni area with a [[Abu Hanifa Mosque|Mosque]] that is associated with the Sunni Imam [[Abu Hanifa]]. The name of ''Al-Aʿẓamiyyah'' is derived from Abu Hanifa's title, ''al-Imām al-Aʿẓam'' (the Great Imam).<ref name="al-Aadhamy – p.29">{{cite book |last1=al-Aadhamy |title=History of the Great Imam mosque and al-Adhamiyah mosques 1 |page=29}}</ref><ref name="History of the Mosque of Abu Hanifa and its school">{{cite web |last1=Al Shakir |first1=Osama S. |date=20 October 2013 |title=History of the Moof Abu Hanifa and its school |url=http://abu-hanefa.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_30.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831083952/https://abu-hanefa.blogspot.com/2013/10/blog-post_30.html |archive-date=31 August 2017 |access-date=20 June 2017 |website=Abu Hanifa An-Nu'man Mosque}} (in [[Arabic]])</ref>

The historic Jewish quarters of [[Bataween]] and [[Shorja]] is home to numerous sites that are associated with Jews.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mahmoud |first1=Sinan |last2=Al-Ameri |first2=Aymen |title=Restoring Al Bataween – a symbol of Baghdad's lost diversity |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/06/21/restoring-al-bataween-a-symbol-of-baghdads-lost-diversity/ |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref> These sites were preserved during the Ba'athist regime.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021">{{Cite web |last=Al-Ahmed |first=Zeyad |date=11 March 2021 |title=Iraqi Jews share a deeply rooted heritage |url=https://www.jns.org/iraqi-jews-share-a-deeply-rooted-heritage/ |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}</ref> However, after 2003, many of them are in poor conditions.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> [[Meir Taweig Synagogue]] is the only active synagogue of Iraq, which have a large compound, that consist of community center, Jewish school and library.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> [[Shorja|Daniel Market]] (''Souq Danial''), which was named after [[Menahem Saleh Daniel]], still bears the same name. It is popular for fabrics and shoes.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> The [[Great Synagogue of Baghdad]], the oldest synagogue of Iraq, is now restored as a museum.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> [[Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery|Al-Habibiyah Cemetery]] is the largest Jewish cemetery in Baghdad, home to around 1,000 graves.<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> The Tomb of Joshua, now a Muslim shrine, is believed to be the burial site of [[Joshua]].<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" /> Shaykh Yitzhak Tomb and Synagogue was preserved until 2003. Today it is neglected. Other sites includes House of [[Sassoon Eskell]] and library of [[Mir Basri]].<ref name="Al-Ahmed-2021" />

The [[Sabian–Mandaean Mandi of Baghdad]] is a Mandaen temple in al-Qadisiyyah.<ref name="Cese-2024">{{Cite web |title=مندى الصابئة / الصابئة المندائية – بغداد |url=https://www-cese-iq.translate.goog/churchesAndConvents/SabianCon/MandaAlSabaa-Baghdad/MandaAlSabaa-Baghdad.html?_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=2 October 2024 |website=www-cese-iq.translate.goog}}</ref> It is the main community center for Mandaeans in Iraq.<ref name="Cese-2024"/> Plans are underway to demolish and build a larger one to accommodate more worshippers.<ref name="Cese-2024"/> A cultural institute for Mandeans is also in Baghdad.<ref>{{Cite web |title=المندائيون يحتفلون بافتتاح أول صرح معرفي وثقافي لهم في بغداد |url=https://aawsat-com.translate.goog/home/article/41856?_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=1 December 2024 |website=Asharq Al-Awsat |language=ar}}</ref> The city is home to [[Baba Nanak Shrine]], a sacred site in Sikhism.<ref name="Baghdad2"/> It was destroyed during the Iraq War in 2003.<ref name="Baghdad2"/> In the [[Kadhimiya]] district of Baghdad, was the house of [[Baháʼu'lláh]], (Prophet Founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith|Baha'i Faith]]) also known as the "Most Great House" (Bayt-i-A{{okina}}zam) and the "House of God", where Baháʼu'lláh mostly resided from 1853 to 1863. It is considered a holy place and a [[Baháʼí pilgrimage|place of pilgrimage by Baha'is]] according to their "[[Kitáb-i-Aqdas|Most Holy Book]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Peter |title="Baghdad: the House of Baháʼu'lláh" A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |publisher=Oxford: Oneworld Publications |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-85168-184-6 |location=Oxford |pages=66–67 |language=English}}</ref> On 23 June 2013, the house was destroyed under unclear circumstances.<ref name="BWNS-2013" />
[[Baghdad Zoo]] used to be the largest [[zoological park]] in the [[Middle East]]. Within eight days following the 2003 invasion, however, only 35 of the 650 animals in the facility survived.<ref name="BBC radio 4, zoo">{{cite news |date=4 September 2007 |title=''The Choice'', featuring Lawrence Anthony |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/4a456893b10c4c55a2d0fbda730485c5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010055656/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/4a456893b10c4c55a2d0fbda730485c5 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=4 September 2007 |publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]}}</ref> This was a result of theft of some animals for human food, and starvation of caged animals that had no food.<ref name="BBC radio 4, zoo" /> Conservationist [[Lawrence Anthony]] and some of the zoo keepers cared for the animals and fed the carnivores with donkeys they had bought locally.<ref name="BBC radio 4, zoo" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Anthony |first1=Lawrence |url=https://archive.org/details/babylonsarkincre0000anth |title=Babylon's Ark; The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo |author2=Spence Grayham |date=3 June 2007 |publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]] |isbn=978-0-312-35832-7 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Eventually [[Paul Bremer]], Director of the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] in Iraq after the invasion, ordered protection for the zoo and enlisted U.S. engineers to help reopen the facility.<ref name="BBC radio 4, zoo" /> Al-Zawraa Park is also part of the zoo, which is main urban park of the city.<ref name="BBC radio 4, zoo" /><gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Al Salam Palace Iraq.jpg|[[As-Salam Palace|Al-Salam Palace]]
File:بناية المتحف البغدادي.jpg|[[Baghdadi Museum]]
File:المتحف الوطني العراقي 03.jpg|[[Iraq Museum|Iraq National Museum]]
File:تمثال رئيس الوزراء العراقي الأسبق عبد الكريم قاسم في شارع الرشيد بجانب الرصافة من بغداد.jpg|[[Abd al-Karim Qasim Museum]]
File:Mosque - panoramio (6).jpg|[[Al-Zawraa Park]] with [[Al-Rahman Mosque, Baghdad|Al-Rahman Mosque]] in background
</gallery>

==Education==
[[File:EISB School-Baghdad.jpg|thumb|English International School in Baghdad, 2025]]
The [[House of Wisdom]] was a major academy and public center in Baghdad. The [[Mustansiriya Madrasah|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:
* École française de Bagdad<ref>"[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=48EBDAFC7537D1AC2D3A91935C198BBD.tpdila11v_2?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000352605&dateTexte= Arrêté du 22 novembre 1990 complétant l'arrêté du 23 août 1990 fixant la liste des établissements d'enseignement prévue à l'article 1er du décret no 90-469 du 31 mai 1990]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160410154907/https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=48EBDAFC7537D1AC2D3A91935C198BBD.tpdila11v_2?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000352605&dateTexte= Archive]). Legislature of France. Retrieved on 12 March 2016.</ref>
* Deutsche Schule Bagdad<ref>"[http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160312191648/http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Archive]). [[Bundestag]] (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 35/51.</ref>
* Baghdad Japanese School (バグダッド日本人学校), a [[nihonjin gakko]]<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/19990221170431/http://www.naec.go.jp/kaigai/jmideast.html 中近東の日本人学校一覧]" (). National Education Center (国立教育会館) of Japan. 21 February 1999. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. "バクダッド 休 校 中 " (means "Baghdad School Closed")</ref>

===Universities===
* [[University of Baghdad]]
* [[Al-Mustansiriya University|Mustansiriya University]]
* [[Iraqi University]]
* [[Nahrain University]]
* [[Albayan University]]
* [[University of Technology, Iraq|University of Technology]]
* [[American University of Iraq - Baghdad]]
* [[Al Turath University College|Al-Turath University College]]
* [[Dijlah University College]]

==Culture==
{{See also|Culture of Iraq|Baghdad Arabic|Café culture of Baghdad}}
[[File:Iraqi National Orchestra.jpg|thumb|The [[Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra]] performing in July 2007]]
[[File:Iraq-National unity ballet2 600.jpg|thumb|The National Ballet performing in 2007]]
[[File:Baghdad Convention Center inside.jpg|thumb|The Baghdad Convention Center]]
[[File:Al-Ma'mun's Telecommunication Center.jpg|thumb|Al-Ma'mun's Telecommunication Center in downtown Baghdad]]
Baghdad has always played a significant role in the broader [[Arab culture|Arab cultural sphere]], contributing several significant writers, musicians and visual artists. Historically, the city had a vibrant modern culture and lifestyle.<ref name="Iddon" /> 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 [[Baghdad Arabic|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).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/baghdad/ |title=Baghdad: The City in Verse, translated and edited by Reuven Snir |publisher=Harvard University Press |access-date=8 September 2019 |archive-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819190324/https://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/baghdad/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Baghdad joined the [[Creative Cities Network|UNESCO Creative Cities Network]] as a City of Literature in December 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baghdad celebrates selection as UNESCO City of Literature {{!}} Nermeen Mufti |url=https://thearabweekly.com/baghdad-celebrates-selection-unesco-city-literature |access-date=25 January 2021|website=AW|language=en |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130145309/https://thearabweekly.com/baghdad-celebrates-selection-unesco-city-literature |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some of the important cultural institutions in the city include the [[National Theater (Iraq)|National Theater]], which was looted during the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], but efforts are underway to restore the theater.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://csmonitor.com/2003/0716/p01s04b-woiq.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828071929/http://csmonitor.com/2003/0716/p01s04b-woiq.htm |title=Five women confront a new Iraq &#124; csmonitor.com |website=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |archive-date=28 August 2009}}</ref> The live theater industry received a boost during the 1990s, when UN [[Economic sanctions|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 [[Comedy|comedies]] and dramatic productions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0102-04.htm |title=In Baghdad, Art Thrives As War Hovers |publisher=Commondreams.org |date=2 January 2003 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627162352/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0102-04.htm |archive-date=27 June 2010}}</ref> 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. Mandaeans had cultural club in Al-Zawraa, where poetry evenings and cultural seminars were held, attended by poets, writers, artists, officials, and dignitaries of the communities.<ref name="algardenia.com-2024">{{Cite web |title=الگاردينيا – مجلة ثقافية عامة – "الصابئة المندائية عراقيون، منهم العلماء.. والشعراء والمهنيين والصاغة، كيف كانوا واين اصبحوا!؟" |url=https://www.algardenia.com/2014-04-04-19-52-20/fereboaliraq/46580-2020-10-31-16-35-53.html |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=algardenia.com}}</ref> There is also a social cultural center of Mandaeans at al-Qadisiyyah.<ref name="algardenia.com-2024" /> [[Baghdad Jewish Community Center]] is located in [[Al-Rashid Street]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 April 2003 |title=Muslims Rescue Baghdad's Jewish Community Center |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/230631 |access-date=5 February 2025 |website=Arab News |language=en}}</ref>

Baghdad is also home to a number of museums which housed [[Artifact (archaeology)|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 [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dinarrvnews.net/gunmen-iraq-media-attacked/ |title=Gunmen storm independent radio station in latest attack against media in Iraq |work=International Herald Tribune |date=29 March 2009 |access-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010060435/http://dinarrvnews.net/gunmen-iraq-media-attacked/ |archive-date=10 October 2017 }}</ref>

==Sport==
{{See also||Sport in Iraq}}
Baghdad is home to some of the most successful [[Association football|football (soccer)]] teams in Iraq, the biggest being [[Al-Shorta SC|Al-Shorta]] (Police), [[Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya]] (Air Force), [[Al-Zawraa SC|Al-Zawraa]], and [[Al-Talaba SC|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Claire |date=13 February 2018 |title=And they're off! Iraqi Kurdistan holds first cash-betting horse race |url=https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/iraqi-kurdistans-first-professional-horse-race-betting |access-date=29 December 2021 |website=english.alaraby.co.uk |language=en |archive-date=29 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229205823/https://english.alaraby.co.uk/opinion/iraqi-kurdistans-first-professional-horse-race-betting |url-status=live }}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|+
!Club
!Founded
!League
|-
|[[Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya|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]]
|}

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{more citations needed|section|date=September 2025}}
* {{flagicon|EGY}} [[Cairo]], Egypt<ref>{{cite web |title=Brotherhood & Friendship Agreements|url=http://www.cairo.gov.eg/en/Pages/agreements.aspx|website=cairo.gov.eg|publisher=Cairo|access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon|Azerbaijan}} [[Baku]], Azerbaijan
* {{flagicon|PRK}} [[Pyongyang]], North Korea<ref>{{cite book|last=Corfield|first=Justin|title=Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a46gFDWr3aMC&pg=PA196|year=2013|publisher=Anthem Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-85728-234-7|page=196|chapter=Sister Cities}}</ref>
* {{flagicon|IRN}} [[Tehran]], Iran<ref>{{cite web |title=گذری بر خواهرخوانده تهران در شرق اروپا|url=https://www.isna.ir/news/96122915736/%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%BE%D8%A7|publisher=Iranian Students' News Agency|language=fa|date=21 March 2018|access-date=8 March 2023}}</ref>
* {{Flagicon|Jordan}} [[Amman]], Jordan
* {{Flagicon|Syria}} [[Damascus]], Syria
* {{Flagicon|Lebanon}} [[Beirut]], Lebanon
* {{Flagicon|Palestine}} [[Jerusalem]] ([[East Jerusalem|East]]), Palestine<ref>{{Cite web  |date=16 February 1988 |title=Baghdad and East Jerusalem Called Sister Cities in 'the Cause of Peace' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-16-mn-42987-story.html |access-date=20 May 2025 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Iraq}}
* [[Iraqi art]]
* [[List of mosques in Baghdad]]
* [[List of places in Iraq]]
* [[History of the Jews in Baghdad]]
* [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation |title=Voyages d'Ibn Batoutah |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-UHAAAAIAAJ |year=1854 |editor-last=Defrémery |editor-first=C. |place=Paris |publisher=Société Asiatic |language=fr, ar |editor-last2=Sanguinetti |editor-first2=B. R.}}
* {{Citation |last=Dunn |first=Ross E. |title=The Adventures of Ibn Battuta |year=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24385-9 |author-link=Ross E. Dunn}}

==Further reading==
===Articles===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050525231213/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/ds49x2xm465d/ A Dweller in Mesopotamia], being the adventures of an official artist in the [[Garden of Eden]], by Donald Maxwell, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the [[University of Georgia]] Libraries; [[DjVu]] & {{cite web |url=http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xM465D/1f/dweller_in_mesopotamia.pdf |title=layered PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050906055955/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xM465D/1f/dweller_in_mesopotamia.pdf |archive-date=6 September 2005}}&nbsp;{{small|(7.53&nbsp;MB)}} format)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050402090804/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xW684B/ By Desert Ways to Baghdad], by Louisa Jebb (Mrs. Roland Wilkins), 1908 (1909 ed) (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; [[DjVu]] & {{cite web |url=http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xW684B/1f/desert_ways_to_baghdad.pdf |title=layered PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050906060015/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/DS49x2xW684B/1f/desert_ways_to_baghdad.pdf |archive-date=6 September 2005}}&nbsp;{{small|(11.3&nbsp;MB)}} format)
* [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13602365.2012.692603#preview/ Miastoprojekt goes abroad: the transfer of architectural labour from socialist Poland to Iraq (1958–1989)] by Lukasz Stanek, ''[[The Journal of Architecture]]'', Volume 17, Issue 3, 2012

===Books===
* Caecilia Pieri, Bagdad, la construction d'une capitale moderne, 1914–1960, Presses de l'Ifpo, 2015, 440 pages, about 800 illustrations (ISBN 978-2-35159-399-8) (ISSN 2225-7578).
* Mina Marefat, Caecilia Pieri, Gilles Ragot, Le Corbusier's Gymnasium in Bagdad, 2014, Éditions du patrimoine, collection Regards (French and English versions), Presses de l'Ifpo (Arabic version) (ISBN 2757703013).
* {{cite book |last=Pieri |first=Caecilia |year=2011 |title=Baghdad Arts Deco: Architectural Brickwork, 1920–1950 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |edition=1st |page=160 |isbn=978-977-416-356-2}}
* "Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-135" by Ibn Battuta.
* "[[Gertrude Bell]]: The Arabian Diaries, 1913–1914." by Bell Gertrude Lowthian, and O'Brien, Rosemary.
* "Historic Cities of the Islamic World". by Bosworth, Clifford Edmund.
* "Ottoman administration of Iraq, 1890–1908." by Cetinsaya, Gokhan.
* "Naked in Baghdad." by Garrels, Anne, and Lawrence, Vint.
* "A memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson." by Rawlinson, George.
* Stanek, Łukasz (2020). ''Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War''. Princeton. {{ISBN|978-0-691-19455-4}}.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikivoyage}}
{{Wiktionary|Baghdad}}
{{EB9 Poster|Baghdad}}
{{EB1911 poster|Bagdad (city)}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161011182836/http://www.amanatbaghdad.gov.iq/ Amanat/Mayoralty of Baghdad]
* [http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/iraq/baghdadmapb.jpg Map of Baghdad] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930101151/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/iraq/baghdadmapb.jpg |date=30 September 2009 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070911122606/http://www.iraqimage.com/pages/browse/Baghdad.html Iraq Image – Baghdad Satellite Observation]
* [http://www.investpromo.gov.iq/ National Commission for Investment in Iraq]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl?style=plnews&data=/gmtemp/news/ni000001.sid&title=Baghdad,+2003 Interactive map]
* [http://countrystudies.us/iraq/42.htm Iraq – Urban Society]
* [http://vb.bagdady.com/bagdady551878/ – Baghdad government websites] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022190928/http://vb.bagdady.com/bagdady551878/ |date=22 October 2014 }}
* [https://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2004-03-01-hisham_x.htm Envisioning Reconstruction In Iraq]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060212064817/http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=7592 Description of the original layout of Baghdad]
* [http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/baghdadethno1.JPG Ethnic and sectarian map of Baghdad – Healingiraq]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060921050720/http://www.tufts.edu/home/feature/?p=ashkouri Man With A Plan: Hisham Ashkouri]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090828185553/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/iraq/090824/behind-baghdads-9-11 Behind Baghdad's 9/11]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091219131236/http://www.iauiraq.org/ Iraq Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit] Reports, maps and assessments of Iraq from the UN Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit
* {{OSM relation|5638803}}
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[[Category:Baghdad| ]]
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