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.
Roermond | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Roermond (Dutch pronunciation: [ruːrˈmɔnt] (listen); Limburgish: Remunj) is a city, a municipality, and a diocese in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.
Roermond is an historically important town, on the lower Roer at the east bank of the Meuse river. It received town rights in 1231. Roermond town centre has been designated as a conservation area.
Through the centuries the town has filled the role of commercial centre, principal town in the duchy of Guelders and since 1559 it has served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond.