Baghdad
—  City  —
بغداد Baġdād
Top, left to right: Baghdad skyline with Ishtar Hotel , National Museum of Iraq, Al-Kadhimiya Mosque, Baghdad Tower, Republican Palace, The Monument to the Unknown Soldier
Baghdad
Coordinates: 33°20′00″N 44°26′00″E / 33.3333333°N 44.4333333°E / 33.3333333; 44.4333333
Country	Iraq
Province	Baghdad
Established	762 AD.
Founder	Abu Jafar al-Mansour
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Baghdad City Advisory Council
• Mayor	Saber Nabet Al-Essawi
Area
• Total	2,260.2 km2 (872.7 sq mi)
Elevation	34 m (112 ft)
Population
• Estimate (2011)	7,216,040
• Rank	1st
	[1][2]
Time zone	Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3)
• Summer (DST)	No DST (UTC)

Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq,^[1][2] the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).

Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people.^[3] The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.

In contemporary times the city has often faced severe infrastructural damage, most recently due to the American-led foreign occupation in March 2003 that lasted until December 2011 and the subsequent sectarian violence. In recent years the city has been a frequent subject to insurgency activities and terrorist attacks.

Toponym[link]

There have been several rival proposals as to the specific etymology of the name Baghdad. The most reliable and most widely accepted among these is that the name is a Middle Persian^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]} compound of Bag "god" + dād "given", translating to "God-given" or "God's gift", whence comes Modern Persian Baɣdād. This in turn can be traced to Old Persian.^[11] A less probable guess has been Persian compound Bāğ "garden" + dād "fair", translating to "The fair garden".^[12][13] The name is pre-Islamic and the origins are unclear, but it is related to previous settlements, which did not have any political or commercial power, making it a virtually new foundation in the time of the Abbasids.^[12][13]

However Baghdad, as a name, had been mentioned as Baghdadu on the Assyrian cuneiform records of the 9th century BC, and Babylonian bricks bearing the Royal Seal of King Nebuchadnezzar (6th century BC).^[14]

The village of Baghdad importance increased rapidly by the time it was founded by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur, who chose the name Madinat al-Salaam or "City of Peace" for his new foundation. This was the official name on coins, weights, and other official usage, although the common people continued to use the old name. By the 11th century, "Baghdad" had become almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis.

Education[link]

Universities[link]

• Al-Nahrain University
• Al-Mustansiriya University
• Iraqi University
• University of Baghdad
• University of Technology, Iraq

History[link]