Babil Governorate

Babil Governorate or Babylon Province (Arabic: محافظة بابل‎ Muḥāfaẓa Bābil) is a governorate in central Iraq. It has an area of 5,119 square kilometres (1,976 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,651,565 people in 2002. The provincial capital is the city of Hillah, which lies opposite the ancient city of Babylon (بابل), on the Euphrates river.

Government

History

The ancient city of Babylon in present-day Babylon Province was the capital of ancient Babylonia, situated on the Euphrates river south of Baghdad, Iraq.

The city was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC but became important early in the 2nd millennium under the kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The sixth king of this dynasty was Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC) who made Babylon the capital of a vast empire and is best remembered for his code of laws.