Baghdad | |
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State | Baghdad Governorate |
Country | Iraq |
Capital | |
Population | 7216040 |
Baghdad (; Arabic: بَغْدَاد [baɣˈdaːd] (listen)) is the capital of Iraq and one of the largest cities in the Arab world. Located along the Tigris, near the ruins of the Akkadian city of Babylon and the ancient Iranian capital of Ctesiphon, Baghdad was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as hosting a multiethnic and multireligious environment, garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Centre of Learning".
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. 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.
Norwich | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Norwich ( (listen)) is a city in Norfolk, England, about 100 miles (160 km) north-east of London. Located on the River Wensum, it is the county town of Norfolk and traditionally seen as the chief city of East Anglia. Its population in 2019 was estimated at 197,212. The local authority is Norwich City Council. The site of Norwich was settled by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th–7th centuries, near the former Iceni capital and Roman town of Venta Icenorum. It became established as a town in the 10th century and developed into a prominent centre for trade and commerce in East Anglia. Norwich Cathedral and Norwich Castle were founded soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Norwich was granted city status by Richard the Lionheart in 1194.