Baghdad

Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎ ,بغداد Kurdish: Bexda‎, Iraqi pronunciation: [bɐʁˈd̪ɑːd̪]) is the capital of the Republic of Iraq. The population of Baghdad, as of 2011, is approximately 7,216,040, making it 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). According to the government, the population of the country has reached 35 million, with 9 million in the capital.

Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom), garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".

Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. 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. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture.

Baghdad (EP)

Baghdad is a 7-inchEP released by American punk rock band The Offspring on May 15, 1991. It is currently out of print, but sold 3000 copies within one week of its release. Although Baghdad has never been reissued on CD in its entirety, one of the songs were later released on compilations: "Baghdad" was released on Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 (Fat Wreck Chords, 2004). The band's official website does not list Baghdad in the otherwise comprehensive discography anymore (as of July 2013, the website lists only the studio albums and their Greatest Hits compilation album).

Track listing

Track Notes

The EP includes an early version of "Get It Right" of which a later version was released on their second studio album Ignition. The title track "Baghdad" was a re-recording of the song "Tehran" which appeared on the Offspring's debut self-titled album in 1989. It switches the words "Tehran" (the capital of Iran) for "Baghdad" (the capital of Iraq). The EP also includes a cover version of "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts (a different version from what was later released on "Gone Away") and a previous unreleased instrumental track "The Blurb", which would not appear on any future recordings, but served as the basis for an early version of "Genocide", as well as "Change the World".

Baghdad (disambiguation)

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq.

Baghdad may also refer to:

Places

In Iraq

Elsewhere

Other uses

See also