Baghdad

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Baghdad is the capital and the largest city of Iraq. It is located on the banks of the Tigris in central Iraq. With an estimated population of 8 million, it ranks among the most populous and largest cities in the Middle East and the Arab world and constitutes 22% of Iraq's population. Baghdad is a primary financial and commercial center in the region. Founded in 762 AD by al-Mansur on a site with settlement dating back to at least the Neo-Babylonian period, Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and 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...

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