Iraq is the Middle Eastern country whose capital is Baghdad.
Baghdad lies on the Tigris River in central Iraq and is the country’s largest city and principal political center. The Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founded the city in 762 CE, choosing a strategic location near important routes and the river system of Mesopotamia. Its original circular plan became famous in medieval accounts.
Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and developed into a major center of scholarship, translation, medicine, mathematics, and literature. The House of Wisdom is traditionally associated with this intellectual flourishing, although historians debate details about the institution itself.
Baghdad is sometimes confused with Basra, Iraq’s major southern port city, or Mosul, a historic city in northern Iraq. The name Iraq refers to the modern country, while Mesopotamia describes the broader ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.