, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040. It is the largest city in Iraq, 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.
762 Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur.
1258 Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.
1917 World War I: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.
1991 Gulf War: Two laser-guided "smart bombs" destroy the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. Allied forces said the bunker was being used as a military communications outpost, but over 400 Iraqi civilians inside were killed.
1991 Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
2003 U.S. troops capture Baghdad; Saddam Hussein's regime falls two days later.
2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces;Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.
2003 U.S. troops in Baghdad capture Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner the {{MS|Achille Lauro}} in 1985.
2005 A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.
2006 Three Christian Peacemaker Team hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.