Editing Baghdad (section)

==Demographics==
Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22&nbsp;million in 2015. The surrounding metropolitan region's population is estimated to be 10,500,000.<ref name="Baghdad2"/> It is second largest city in the Arab world after Cairo and [[List of largest metropolitan areas in the Middle East|fourth largest metropolitan area]] in the Middle East after [[Tehran]].<ref name="Baghdad2"/> At the beginning of the 21st century, some 1.5&nbsp;million people migrated to Baghdad.<ref name="Baghdad2">{{Cite web |title=Baghdad |url=https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-iraq-2021/baghdad |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=European Union Agency for Asylum |language=en}}</ref> The [[War in Iraq (2013–2017)|2013–2017 war]] following the [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|Islamic State's invasion in 2014]] caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city.<ref name="Baghdad2"/> The city was also home to a large [[Jewish]] community and regularly visited by [[Sikh]] pilgrims from India.<ref name="Baghdad2"/>

=== Ethnicity ===
[[File:Assyrian Christians from Baghdad.jpg|thumb|Assyrian Christians in Baghdad|left]]
The vast majority of Baghdad's population are Iraqi [[Arabs]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq – Arabs, Mesopotamia, Tigris-Euphrates |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq/Arabs |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Minority ethnic groups include [[Feyli (tribe)|Feyli]], Kurdish, [[Iraqi Turkmen|Turkmen]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], Kawliya, Circassians, Mandaeans, and Armenians.<ref name="Baghdad2"/><ref>{{Cite journal |date=6 November 2017 |title=Faili kurds |url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/faili-kurds/ |language=en-GB |access-date=25 December 2023 |website=Minority Rights Group}}</ref> Baghdad being Iraq's primate city, attracts peeople of several ethnic background from different parts of Iraq to seize opportunities for work and education, as well as representatives of these communities in the government predominantly reside in Baghdad.

Around 300,000 Kurds live in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ghassemlou |first1=A. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/peoplewithoutcou00elat |title=A People Without a Country: The Kurds and Kurdistan |date=1993 |publisher=Olive Branch Press |isbn=978-1-56656-114-3 |pages=142–143 |language=en |orig-date=1978}}</ref> Among them, about 150,000 are Shi'a  mostly of Luri origin.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=16 October 2023 |title=Kurds in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/kurds-3/ |language=en}}</ref> The main Kurdish neighborhood is situated in central Baghdad, known as the Quarter of Kurds (''Akd al–Akrad'').<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salim |first=Mustafa |last2=El-Ghobashy |first2=Tamer |last3=Kessler |first3=Glenn |last4=Bhattarai |first4=Abha |last5=Ovide |first5=Shira |last6=staff |first6=Washington Post |last7=Blake |first7=Aaron |last8=Vynck |first8=Gerrit De |date=31 October 2017 |title=For Kurds in Baghdad, the failed Kurdish independence bid provokes an identity crisis |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/31/for-kurds-in-baghdad-the-failed-kurdish-independence-bid-provokes-an-identity-crisis/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> It is itself home to more than 200 Kurdish families that have lived for generations.<ref name="www.rudaw.net-2025">{{Cite web |title=ERROR |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=23 March 2025 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref> The pre-war population of Kurds in Baghdad was recorded 500,000.<ref name="www.rudaw.net-2025" /> However, their number decreased as violence increased in Baghdad during the wars.<ref name="www.rudaw.net-2025" />

Assyrians began moving to Baghdad by the mid 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0001252339/0001252339_0005.gif |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015180905/http://www.foia.cia.gov/docs/DOC_0001252339/0001252339_0005.gif |archive-date=15 October 2012 |access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref> The historic "Assyrian Quarter" of the city – [[Dora, Baghdad|Dora]], which boasted a population of 150,000 [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] in 2003, made up over 3% of the capital's Assyrian population then.<ref name="Spencer-2014">{{Cite news |last=Spencer |first=Richard |date=22 December 2014 |title=Iraq crisis: The last Christians of Dora |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11307515/Iraq-crisis-The-last-Christians-of-Dora.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413063147/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11307515/Iraq-crisis-The-last-Christians-of-Dora.html |archive-date=13 April 2018 |access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref>  The community has been subject to [[kidnapping]]s, [[death threat]]s, vandalism, and [[arson|house burnings]] by [[al-Qaeda]] and other [[insurgent]] groups.<ref name="Spencer-2014" /> As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora and others in Karrada district.<ref name="Spencer-2014" /> Today most of them live in Karrada in eastern Baghdad and [[Mansour district]] in the western Baghdad.

There is a significant community of [[Iraqi Turkmen]] in Baghdad, specially in the neighborhoods of [[Adhamiyah]] and [[Raghiba Khatoun|Ragheba Khatun]].<ref>{{cite web |date=30 July 2004 |title=Report |url=http://www.turkmen.nl/1A_soitm/G-28-04-R-6.pdf |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=turkmen.nl}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Oğuzlu |first=Tarik H. |year=2004 |title=Endangered community:The Turkoman identity in Iraq |url=http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/11693/49129/1/Endangered_community_the_Turkoman_identity_in_Iraq.pdf |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |publisher=[[Routledge]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=313 |doi=10.1080/1360200042000296681 |s2cid=56385519 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11693/49129}}</ref> The surrounding areas of Baghdad is also home to [[Kawliya]] community, that traces its roots from India and are predominantly Shi'a and Sunni Muslims.<ref>{{cite web |date=16 October 2023 |title=Roma in Iraq |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/roma-19/#:~:text=Roma%2C%20sometimes%20referred%20to%20as,of%20Baghdad%2C%20Basra%20and%20Mosul}}</ref> Although their language is [[Domari language|Domari]], most of them today speak Arabic.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shadid |first1=Anthony |date=3 April 2004 |title=In a Gypsy Village's Fate, An Image of Iraq's Future |url=http://www.domresearchcenter.com/news/iraq/iraq2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223112039/http://www.domresearchcenter.com/news/iraq/iraq2.html |archive-date=23 February 2017 |access-date=23 October 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the community has persecuted by militias and denied recognition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iraq |url=http://www.nowherepeople.org/iraq |access-date=14 March 2025 |website=NOWHERE PEOPLE |language=en-US}}</ref> Baghdad is home to largest community of [[Circassians in Iraq]].<ref name="ORSAM">{{cite journal |author1=Ahmet Katav |author2=Bilgay Duman |date=November 2012 |title=Iraqi Circassians (Chechens, Dagestanis, Adyghes) |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=ORSAM Reports |issue=134 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403142200/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2013 |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref> There is also a Circassian neighborhood in the city.<ref name="ORSAM" /><ref name="ORSAM2">{{cite journal |author1=Ahmet Katav |author2=Bilgay Duman |date=November 2012 |title=Iraqi Circassians (Chechens, Dagestanis, Adyghes) |url=http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=ORSAM Reports |issue=134 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403142200/http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Article/Files/20121116_134ingtum.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2013 |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
The majority of the citizens are Muslims with minorities of [[Christianity in Iraq|Christians]], [[Yazidism|Yezidis]], [[Jews]] and [[Mandaeism|Mandeans]] also present.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092">{{cite web |script-title=ar:البدء بإعمار وتذهيب قبة الإمام الكاظم عليه السلام |url=http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813105330/http://www.aljawadain.org/AKHBAR/news.php?action=view&id=20 |archive-date=13 August 2009 |access-date=27 April 2009 |work=aljawadain.org |language=ae}}</ref> There are many religious centers distributed around the city including mosques, churches, synagogues and Mashkhannas cultic huts.<ref name="Al-Jawadain20092" /> The city historically has a predominantly [[Sunni]] population, but by the early 21st century around 52% of the city's population were [[Shia Islam in Iraq|Shi'ites]].<ref name="Baghdad2"/> Sunni Muslims make up 29–34% of Iraq's population and they are still a majority in west and north Iraq.<ref name="Kamal-2016" /> As early as 2003, about 20% of the population of the city was the result of mixed marriages between Shi'ites and Sunnis.<ref name="Kamal-2016">{{Cite news |last1=Kamal |first1=Nesrine |date=18 June 2016 |title='Sushi' children defy Sunni-Shia divide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36528536 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010175830/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36528536 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |access-date=21 July 2018 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Baghdad2" /> Following the [[Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)|civil war]] between Sunni and Shia militia groups during the [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)|occupation of Iraq]], the population of Sunnis significantly decreased as they were pushed out of many neighborhoods.<ref name="Baghdad2" /> Today majority of the neighborhoods are either entirely Sunni or Shi'ite. While few localities are mixed, such as [[Yarmouk, Baghdad|Yarmouk]].

The [[Christianity in Iraq|Christian community in Baghdad]] is divided among various denominations, mainly the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] and the [[Syriac Catholic Church]].<ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017">{{Cite book |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405166584 |title=The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity |date=1 September 2017 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-4051-6658-4 |editor-last=Parry |editor-first=Ken |location=Oxford, UK |pages=122–3 |language=en |chapter=Church of the East |doi=10.1002/9781405166584 |orig-year=1999 |editor2-last=Melling |editor2-first=David J. |editor3-last=Brady |editor3-first=Dimitri |editor4-last=Griffith |editor4-first=Sidney H. |editor5-last=Healey |editor5-first=John F.}}</ref> There is also a significant presence of followers of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] and the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], along with the largest [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Apostolic]] and Protestant communities in Iraq, which is also located in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=William B. |title=The Middle East: A Physical, Social and Regional Geography |publisher=Routledge |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-416-71520-0 |location=London |page=363}}</ref> The city serves as the headquarters of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], with its see located in the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Church of Mary Mother of Sorrows, Baghdad, Iraq (Chaldean) |url=http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/asia/3393.htm |website=gcatholic.org}}</ref> while the [[Ancient Church of the East]] has its see in the Cathedral of the Virgin.<ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017" /> Before the [[Iraq War]] in 2003, Baghdad was home to 300,000–800,000 Christians,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walling |first1=Michael G. |title=Iraq Full Circle: From Shock and Awe to the Last Combat Patrol in Baghdad and Beyond |last2=Darron |first2=L. Wright |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=9781782002826 |pages=168}}</ref><ref name="Blackwell Publishing Ltd-2017" /> primarily concentrated in several neighborhoods with a Christian majority or significant minority, the most notable being [[Karrada]] and [[Dora, Baghdad|al–Dora]], which had around 150,000 Christians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanoosh |first=Yasmeen |title=The Chaldeans: Politics and Identity in Iraq and the American Diaspora |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=9781786725967 |page=174}}</ref> After 2003, a large number of Christians were displaced in wars and many of them fled to Baghdad after ISIS's takeover of Mosul. Today about 100,000 Christians remained in Baghdad, primarily in Karrada and [[Mansour district]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christians in Baghdad close to Extinction |url=https://www.kirkuknow.com/en/news/65368 |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=Kirkuknow |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nabeel |first=Gilgamesh |title=Christians in Post-2003 Iraq: Fragmentation Dynamics, Ethnic and Sectarian Fault Lines |url=https://eismena.com/en/article/christians-in-post-2003-iraq-fragmentation-dynamics-ethnic-and-sectarian-fault-lines-2023-08-11 |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=cfri-irak.com |language=en}}</ref>

Baghdad was once home to [[History of the Jews in Baghdad|one of the world's most significant Jewish communities]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reclaiming Iraq's Jewish Heritage {{!}} The Washington Institute |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/reclaiming-iraqs-jewish-heritage |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=washingtoninstitute.org |language=en}}</ref> In 1948, Jews numbered approximately 150,000, constituting 33% of the city's population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Studies |first=Stroum Center for Jewish |date=12 February 2021 |title=The Jews of medieval Iraq and Kurdistan: Surprising insights from Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela's 12th-century geography |url=https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/jewish-history-and-thought/jews-medieval-iraq-kurdistan-benjamin-of-tudela/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies |language=en-US}}</ref> Persecution forced most Jews to flee Iraq.<ref name="journeyman-2024">{{Cite web |title=Saddam's Iraq {{!}} Journeyman Pictures |url=https://www.journeyman.tv/film_documents/1181/transcript/ |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=journeyman.tv}}</ref> Even after 1948, up to 100,000 Jews remained, which decreased.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 2003 |title=Now Baghdad's last Jews have some hope |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/now-baghdads-last-jews-have-some-hope/28042122.html |access-date=7 December 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Majority of 15,000 Iraqi Jews lived in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein's rule and their population dwindled, not due to persecution but because of lifted travel restrictions that allowed many to emigrate.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> By 2003, Iraq still had a Jewish community of about 1,500 people, majority of whom resided in Baghdad.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> But the population decreased sharply after the war.<ref name="journeyman-2024" /> Today, an estimated 160 Jews live in Baghdad out of spotlight, primarily in the old Jewish quarters of [[Bataween]] and [[Shorja]], which was once home to vibrant Jewish community.<ref name="Amwaj-2024">{{Cite web |title=Once thriving, Iraq's Jews on verge of vanishing |url=https://amwaj.media/article/once-thriving-iraq-s-jews-on-verge-of-vanishing |access-date=20 July 2024 |website=Amwaj.media |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Miri-2024">{{cite web | url=https://www.chaldeannews.com/culture-and-history/2021/6/29/the-jewish-community-of-iraq-history-and-influence | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722215536/https://www.chaldeannews.com/culture-and-history/2021/6/29/the-jewish-community-of-iraq-history-and-influence | archive-date=22 July 2024 | title=The Jewish Community of Iraq - History and Influence }}</ref> The city was historically home to over [[List of Jewish sites in Iraq|60 synagogues, cemeteries, and shrines]], many of which were preserved before 2003.<ref name="Amwaj-2024" /> However, their condition deteriorated after the war, and only a few sites, such as the [[Meir Taweig Synagogue]] and [[Al-Habibiyah Jewish Cemetery]], remain today.<ref name="Amwaj-2024" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=ERROR |url=https://www.rudaw.net/notfound.html |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=www.rudaw.net}}</ref>

Beyond their traditional homelands, around [[Amarah]] and [[Basra]], Mandaeans are also found in Baghdad.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate">{{cite web |author=Baghdad Governorate |date=20 July 2019 |title=محافظ بغداد يزور مندى الصابئة المندائية ويهنئهم بالعيد الأكبر |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiipVzPN1oU |access-date=13 December 2023 |via=YouTube}}</ref> By the late 20th century, Mandaeans began settling in Baghdad for better opportunities.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" /> Most of them live primarily around al-Qadisiyah and Dora, which is location to their place of worship and cultural centers.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" /> However, persecution of Mandaeans have been greatly decreased since 2003.<ref name="Baghdad Governorate" />  There is also a small of community of [[Baha'is]] and [[Sikhism in Iraq|Sikhs]], who live in Baghdad.<ref name="BWNS-2013">{{Cite web |date=28 June 2013 |title=Sacred site in Baghdad destroyed {{!}} BWNS |url=https://news.bahai.org/story/961/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131104128/https://news.bahai.org/story/961/ |archive-date=31 January 2022 |access-date=31 January 2022 |website=Bahá'í World News Service |language=en}}</ref> The Sikhs are mostly Indians.<ref name="Baghdad2"/> Before 2003, Baghdad was regularly visited by Sikh pilgrims from India.<ref name="Baghdad2"/><gallery mode="packed">
File:Al-Kadhimiya Mosque 1.jpg|[[Al-Kadhimiya Mosque]]
File:مبنى كنيسة الارمن.jpg|[[St. Gregory Armenian Church|Armenian Orthodox Church of Baghdad]]
File:Al- Saray Mosque جامع السراي.jpg|[[Al-Sarai Mosque|Al-Sarrai Mosque]]
File:Baghdad Synagogue.jpg|[[Meir Taweig Synagogue]] in Baghdad
File:مندى ديانة الصابئة المندائية في بغداد 02.jpg|[[Sabian–Mandaean Mandi of Baghdad|Mandaean Mandi]] of Baghdad
</gallery>