31 Facts About Baghdad

In 762 CE, Baghdad was chosen as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and became its most notable major development project.

Baghdad was the largest city in the world for much of the Abbasid era during the Islamic Golden Age, peaking at a population of more than a million.

Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic empire under the Abbasids.

The city of Baghdad quickly became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts: Madinat al-Mansur, al-Sharqiyya (Karkh) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank).

Baghdad is home to the grave of Abu Hanifa where there is a cell and a mosque above it.

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The Sultan of Baghdad, Abu Said Bahadur Khan, was a Tatar king who embraced Islam.

The Sasanian city of Gur in Fars, built 500 years before Baghdad, is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city.

Baghdad was a hectic city during the day and had many attractions at night.

Four surrounding walls of Baghdad were named Kufa, Basra, Khurasan, and Syria; named because their gates pointed in the directions of these destinations.

Baghdad was a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with Al-Jahiz contributing to the formation of Mu'tazili theology, as well as Al-Tabari culminating in the scholarship on the Quranic exegesis.

Baghdad is likely to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with Cordoba.

In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu'l-Harith Arslan al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh.

Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghdad, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir to support him in conquering Baghdad on the Ismaili Imam's behalf.

At this point, Baghdad was ruled by the Ilkhanate, a breakaway state of the Mongol Empire, ruling from Iran.

When his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads.

Under the Ottomans, Baghdad continued into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Iranian Safavids, which did not accept the Sunni control of the city.

Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the plague and cholera, and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.

From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namik Pasha.

Baghdad has a hot desert climate, featuring extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers and mild to cool, slightly wet, short winters.

Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into districts which are further divided into sub-districts.

The first step in the establishment of the system of local government for Baghdad Province was the election of the Baghdad Provincial Council.

Baghdad is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups with an Arab majority, as well as Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians and Mandaeans.

Baghdad was once one of the main destinations in the country and the region with a wealth of cultural attractions.

Tourism has diminished since the Iraq-Iran war and later during the US invasion, but in recent years Baghdad has become a main tourist destination although it is still facing challenges.

Baghdad is known for its famous Mutanabbi street which is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community.

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The annual International Book Fair in Baghdad is well known to the international publishing world as a promising publishing event in the region after years of instability.

The University of Baghdad is the largest university in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab world.

Baghdad has always played a significant role in the broader Arab cultural sphere, contributing several significant writers, musicians and visual artists.

Baghdad joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature in December 2015.

Baghdad is home to a number of museums which housed artifacts and relics of ancient civilization; many of these were stolen, and the museums looted, during the widespread chaos immediately after United States forces entered the city.

Baghdad is home to some of the most successful football teams in Iraq, the biggest being Al-Shorta (Police), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Air Force), Al-Zawraa, and Al-Talaba (Students).