GeoByte2:Harun al-Rashid (763-809), the caliph of Baghdad, made the city famous as a center of art and learning.
GeoByte3:The world's first known civilization arose in this region some 5,500 years ago.
GeoByte4:Baghdad, Iraq's capital, was once the center of the Arab world. By the year 800 it was a city of more than a million people.
GeoByte5:In ancient times, this region was called ^Mesopotamia^, which means "land between the rivers." The rivers referred to are the Tigris and the Euphrates.