Baghdad Governorate (Arabic: محافظة بغداد Muḥāfaẓat Baġdād), also known as the Baghdad Province, is the capital governorate of Iraq. It includes the capital Baghdad as well as the surrounding metropolitan area. The governorate is one of two small provinces of all 18 in Iraq into which the country divides entirely, yet by a margin of almost three-to-one, the most populous.
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👉 Baghdad Governorate in the context of Sippar
Sippar (Sumerian: 𒌓𒄒𒉣𒆠, Zimbir) (also Sippir or Sippara) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its tell is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some 69 km (43 mi) north of Babylon and 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Baghdad. The city's ancient name, Sippar, could also refer to its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum (located at the modern site of Tell ed-Der); a more specific designation for the city here referred to as Sippar was Sippar-Yaḫrurum (Sippar-Jaḫrurum). The name comes from the Amorite Yaḫrurum tribe that lived in the area along with the Amorite Amnanum tribe. In Sippar was the site where the Babylonian Map of the World was found.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Baghdad Governorate
- 👉 Baghdad Governorate in the context of Sippar
- Baghdad Governorate in the context of Saladin Governorate
- Baghdad Governorate in the context of Dur-Kurigalzu
- Baghdad Governorate in the context of Governorates of Iraq
- Baghdad Governorate in the context of Seleucia
Baghdad Governorate in the context of Saladin Governorate
The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (Arabic: محافظة صلاح الدين, Muḥāfaẓat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of 24,363 square kilometres (9,407 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with the capital being Tikrit. Before 1976 the governorate was part of Baghdad Governorate.
The governorate is named after Saladin or Salah ad-Din. This governorate is largely Sunni Arab and is also where Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, was born, in the village of Al-Awja. Salah Al-Din governorate, a traditional stronghold of Saddam and his Al-Bu Nasir tribe that is located in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, has been a centre of insurgencies, tribal rivalries, and political and sectarian violence since the 2003 U.S.-led Coalition invasion of Iraq.
Baghdad Governorate in the context of Dur-Kurigalzu
Dur-Kurigalzu (modern `Aqar-Qūf عَقَرْقُوف in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq) was a city in southern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala rivers, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the center of Baghdad. It was founded by a Kassite king of Babylon, Kurigalzu I (died c. 1375 BC) and was abandoned after the fall of the Kassite dynasty (c. 1155 BC). The city was of such importance that it appeared on toponym lists in the funerary temple of the Egyptian pharaoh, Amenophis III (c. 1351 BC) at Kom el-Hettan". The prefix Dur is an Akkadian term meaning "fortress of", while the Kassite royal name Kurigalzu is believed to have meant "shepherd of the Kassites". The tradition of naming new towns Dur dates back to the Old Babylonian period with an example being Dūr-Ammī-ditāna. The city contained a ziggurat and temples dedicated to Mesopotamian gods, as well as a royal palace which covered 420,000 square meters.
The ziggurat at Aqar Quf, standing to a height of about 52 metres (171 ft), has been a very visible ancient monument for centuries. For camel caravans and modern road traffic, the ziggurat has served as a signal of the near approach to Baghdad. Because of Aqar Quf's easy accessibility and close proximity to the city of Baghdad, it has been one of Iraq's most visited and best-known sites. The ziggurat was often confused with the Tower of Babel by Western visitors to the area from the 17th century onwards.
Baghdad Governorate in the context of Governorates of Iraq
Iraq consists of 19 governorates (Arabic: محافظة, romanized: muḥāfażah; Kurdish: پارێزگا, romanized: parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form a federal region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Duhok, constitute the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. Baghdad (which is the most populous) and Basra are the oldest governorates. The second most-populous one, Ninawa (or Nineveh) is in the upland region and has a cooler climate of the north-west.
There had been numerous calls to recognize Halabja Governorate since 1999. It was recognized as an official governorate of the Kurdistan Region in 2014, and the Council of Ministers approved a bill twice in 2013, and 2023. The Council of Representatives of Iraq officially approved Halabja as Iraq's 19th governorate on 14 April 2025. On 27 April 2025, Baghdad Today reported of an ongoing government initiative to convert Tel Afar District in Nineveh Governorate into the 20th governorate of Iraq. The proposed name of the new governorate is Jazira.
Baghdad Governorate in the context of Seleucia
Seleucia (/sɪˈljuːʃə/; Ancient Greek: Σελεύκεια), also known as Seleucia-on-Tigris or Seleucia on the Tigris or Seleucia ad Tigrim, was a major Mesopotamian city, located on the west bank of the Tigris River within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. It was founded around 305 BC by Seleucus I Nicator as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, and remained an important center of trade and Hellenistic culture after the imperial capital relocated to Antioch. The city continued to flourish under Parthian rule beginning in 141 BC; ancient texts claim that it reached a population of 600,000. Seleucia was destroyed in 165 AD by Roman general Avidius Cassius and gradually faded into obscurity in the subsequent centuries. The site was rediscovered in the 1920s by archaeologists.