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Baghdad

Baghdad ( or  ; بَغْدَاد, ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris river. In 762 AD, Baghdad was founded as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and became its most notable major development project. Within a short time, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center of the Muslim world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".

For much of the Abbasid era, during the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad was the largest city in the world. Its population peaked at more than one million 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 1932, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture, with a population variously estimated at 6 or over 7 million. Compared to its large population, it has a small area at just 673 square kilometers (260 sq mi).

The city has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War, which began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and lasted until 2011, and the subsequent insurgency and renewed war that lasted until 2017, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. During this period, Baghdad had one of the highest rates of terrorist attacks in the world. However, terrorist attacks have gradually been on the decline since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq in 2017, and are very rare now.

Name
The name Baghdad is pre-Islamic, and its origin is disputed. The site where the city of Baghdad developed has been populated for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Baghdad was occupied by various peoples long before the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637 CE, and several ancient empires had capitals located in the surrounding area.

Arab authors, realizing the pre-Islamic origins of Baghdad's name, generally looked for its roots in Middle Persian. They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God". Modern scholars generally tend to favor this etymology, which views the word as a Persian compound of bagh "god" and dād  "given". In Old Persian the first element can be traced to boghu and is related to Indo-Iranian bhag and Slavic bog "god." A similar term in Middle Persian is the name Mithradāt (Mehrdad in New Persian), known in English by its borrowed Hellenistic form Mithridates, meaning "Given by Mithra" (dāt is the more archaic form of dād, related to Sanskrit dāt, Latin dat and English donor), ultimately borrowed from Persian Mehrdad. There are a number of other locations whose names are compounds of the Middle Persian word bagh, including Baghlan and Bagram in Afghanistan, Baghshan in Iran itself, and Baghdati in Georgia, which likely share the same etymological Iranic origins.

Other authors have suggested older origins for the name, in particular the name Bagdadu or Hudadu that existed in Old Babylonian (spelled with a sign that can represent both bag and hu), and the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic name of a place called Baghdatha (בגדתא). Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations.

Another view, suggested by Christophe Wall-Romana, is that name of "Baghdad" is derived from "Akkad", as the cuneiform logogram for Akkad (𒀀𒂵𒉈𒆠) is pronounced "a-ga-dèKI" ("Agade") and its resemblance to "Baghdad" is compelling.

When the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur founded a completely new city for his capital, he chose the name "City of Peace" (مدینة السلام), which now refers to the Round City of Baghdad proper. This was the official name on coins, weights, and other official usage, although the common people continued to use the old name. By the 11th century, Baghdad became almost the exclusive name for the world-renowned metropolis.

Christophe Wall-Romana has suggested that al-Mansur's choice to found his "new city" at Baghdad because of its strategic location was the same criteria which influenced Sargon's choice to found the original city of Akkad in the exact same location.

Foundation

After the fall of the Umayyads, the first Muslim dynasty, the victorious Abbasid rulers wanted their own capital from which they could rule. They chose a site north of the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, and on 30 July 762 the caliph Al-Mansur commissioned the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the Barmakids. Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic Empire under the Abbasids. The Muslim historian al-Tabari reported an ancient prediction by Christian monks that a lord named Miklas would one day build a spectacular city around the area of Baghdad. When al-Mansur heard the story, he became very joyful, for legend has it, he was called Miklas as a child. Mansur loved the site so much he is quoted saying: "This is indeed the city that I am to found, where I am to live, and where my descendants will reign afterward". Al-Mansur also planned out al-Karkh region The city's growth was helped by its excellent location, based on at least two factors: it had control over strategic and trading routes along the Tigris, and it had an abundance of water in a dry climate. Water exists on both the north and south ends of the city, allowing all households to have a plentiful supply, which was quite uncommon during this time. The city of Baghdad quickly became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts: Madinat al-Mansur (the Round City), al-Sharqiyya (al-Karkh) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank). Al-Mansur also planned out al-Karkh district so that he could separate the markets from the Round City in order to keep the turbulent populace away from the Round City to ensure that the gates would not be open at night for markets. Over time, the markets became diverse and a home to merchants and craftsmen. Officials with the title of “Muhtasib” were hired to look after markets to prevent cheating and check the weighs and measures of stocks.

Baghdad eclipsed Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanians, which was located some 30 km to the southeast. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of Salman Pak, just to the south of Greater Baghdad which is where Salman the Persian is believed to have been buried. Ctesiphon itself had replaced and absorbed Seleucia, the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, which had earlier replaced the city of Babylon. According to the traveler Ibn Battuta, Baghdad was one of the largest cities, not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly Hanbalis. Baghdad is also home to the grave of Abu Hanifa where there is a cell and a mosque above it. The Sultan of Baghdad, Abu Said Bahadur Khan, was a Tatar king who embraced Islam.

In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the Qur'an, when it refers to Paradise. It took four years to build (764–768). Mansur assembled engineers, surveyors, and art constructionists from around the world to come together and draw up plans for the city. Over 100,000 construction workers came to survey the plans; many were distributed salaries to start the building of the city. July was chosen as the starting time because two astrologers, Naubakht Ahvazi and Mashallah, believed that the city should be built under the sign of the lion, Leo. Leo is associated with fire and symbolizes productivity, pride, and expansion and Leo's connection symbolically to Mithra.

The bricks used to make the city were 18 in on all four sides. Abu Hanifah was the counter of the bricks and he developed a canal, which brought water to the work site for both human consumption and the manufacture of the bricks. Marble was also used to make buildings throughout the city, and marble steps led down to the river's edge.

The basic framework of the city consists of two large semicircles about 19 km in diameter. The inner city connecting them was designed as a circle about 2 km in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City". The original design shows a single ring of residential and commercial structures along the inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring inside the first. Within the city there were many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. There was a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary European cities at the time, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash. In fact, by the time of Harun al-Rashid, Baghdad had a few thousand hammams. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Islam. Moreover, entry fees were usually so low that almost everyone could afford them. In the center of the city lay the mosque, as well as headquarters for guards. The purpose or use of the remaining space in the center is unknown. The circular design of the city was a direct reflection of the traditional Persian Sasanian urban design. The Sasanian city of Gur in Fars, built 500 years before Baghdad, is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city. This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient Greek and Roman urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles.

Baghdad was a hectic city during the day and had many attractions at night. There were cabarets and taverns, halls for backgammon and chess, live plays, concerts, and acrobats. On street corners, storytellers engaged crowds with tales such as those later told in Arabian Nights. Storytelling became a profession called "al-Qaskhun" which survived until the modern era.

The four surrounding walls of Baghdad were named Kufa, Basra, Khurasan, and Syria; named because their gates pointed in the directions of these destinations. The distance between these gates was a little less than 1.5 mi. Each gate had double doors that were made of iron; the doors were so heavy it took several men to open and close them. The wall itself was about 44 m thick at the base and about 12 m thick at the top. Also, the wall was 30 m high, which included merlons, a solid part of an embattled parapet usually pierced by embrasures. This wall was surrounded by another wall with a thickness of 50 m. The second wall had towers and rounded merlons, which surrounded the towers. This outer wall was protected by a solid glacis, which is made out of bricks and quicklime. Beyond the outer wall was a water-filled moat.

The Golden Gate Palace, the residence of the caliph and his family, was in the heart of Baghdad, in the central square. In the central part of the building, there was a green dome that was 39m high. Surrounding the palace was an esplanade, a waterside building, in which only the caliph could come riding on horseback. In addition, the palace was near other mansions and officer's residences. Near the Gate of Syria, a building served as the home for the guards. It was made of brick and marble. The palace governor lived in the latter part of the building and the commander of the guards in the front. In 813, after the death of caliph Al-Amin, the palace was no longer used as the home for the caliph and his family. The roundness points to the fact that it was based on Arabic script. The two designers who were hired by Al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht, a Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and Mashallah, a Jew from Khorasan, Iran.

Center of learning (8th–9th centuries)

Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of learning and commerce. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the Abbasid translation movement began under the second caliph Al-Mansur and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. Baytul-Hikmah or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies, and had the largest selection of books in the world by the middle of the 9th century. Notable scholars based in Baghdad during this time include translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq, mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and philosopher Al-Kindi. Although Arabic was used as the international language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabs, but also Persians, Syriacs, Nestorians, Jews, Arab Christians, and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region. These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world. Baghdad was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with Al-Jahiz contributing to the formation of Mu'tazili theology, as well as Al-Tabari culminating in the scholarship on the Quranic exegesis. Baghdad is likely to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with Córdoba. Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. Many of the One Thousand and One Nights tales, widely known as the Arabian Nights, are set in Baghdad during this period. It would surpass even Constantinople in prosperity and size. Among the notable features of Baghdad during this period were its exceptional libraries. Many of the Abbasid caliphs were patrons of learning and enjoyed collecting both ancient and contemporary literature. Although some of the princes of the previous Umayyad dynasty had begun to gather and translate Greek scientific literature, the Abbasids were the first to foster Greek learning on a large scale. Many of these libraries were private collections intended only for the use of the owners and their immediate friends, but the libraries of the caliphs and other officials soon took on a public or a semi-public character. Four great libraries were established in Baghdad during this period. The earliest was that of the famous Al-Ma'mun, who was caliph from 813 to 833. Another was established by Sabur ibn Ardashir in 991 or 993 for the literary men and scholars who frequented his academy. This second library was plundered and burned by the Seljuks only seventy years after it was established. This was a good example of the sort of library built up out of the needs and interests of a literary society. The last two were examples of madrasa or theological college libraries. The Nezamiyeh was founded by the Persian Nizam al-Mulk, who was vizier of two early Seljuk sultans. It continued to operate even after the coming of the Mongols in 1258. The Mustansiriyah madrasa, which owned an exceedingly rich library, was founded by Al-Mustansir, the second last Abbasid caliph, who died in 1242. This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghdad.

Stagnation and invasions (10th–16th centuries)
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2 million and 2 million. Baghdad's early meteoric growth eventually slowed due to troubles within the Caliphate, including relocations of the capital to Samarra (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the Iranian Buwayhids (945–1055) and Seljuk Turks (1055–1135). The Seljuks were a clan of the Oghuz Turks from Central Asia that converted to the Sunni branch of Islam. In 1040, they destroyed the Ghaznavids, taking over their land and in 1055, Tughril Beg, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghdad. The Seljuks expelled the Buyid dynasty of Shiites that had ruled for some time and took over power and control of Baghdad. They ruled as Sultans in the name of the Abbasid caliphs (they saw themselves as being part of the Abbasid regime). Tughril Beg saw himself as the protector of the Abbasid Caliphs.

Baghdad was captured in 1394, 1534, 1623 and 1638. The city has been sieged in 812, 865, 946, 1157, 1258 and in 1393 and 1401 by Tamerlane. In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh. Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghdad, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir to support him in conquering Baghdad on the Ismaili Imam's behalf. It has recently come to light that the famed Fatimid da'i, al-Mu'ayyad al-Shirazi, had a direct role in supporting al-Basasiri and helped the general to succeed in taking Mawṣil, Wāsit and Kufa. Soon after, by December 1058, a Shi'i adhān (call to prayer) was implemented in Baghdad and a khutbah (sermon) was delivered in the name of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph. Despite his Shi'i inclinations, Al-Basasiri received support from Sunnis and Shi'is alike, for whom opposition to the Saljuq power was a common factor.

On 10 February 1258, Baghdad was captured by the Mongols led by Hulegu, a grandson of Chingiz Khan (Genghis Khan), during the siege of Baghdad. Many quarters were ruined by fire, siege, or looting. The Mongols massacred most of the city's inhabitants, including the caliph Al-Musta'sim, and destroyed large sections of the city. The canals and dykes forming the city's irrigation system were also destroyed. During this time, in Baghdad, Christians and Shia were tolerated, while Sunnis were treated as enemies. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate. It has been argued that this marked an end to the Islamic Golden Age and served a blow from which Islamic civilization never fully recovered.

At this point, Baghdad was ruled by the Ilkhanate, a breakaway state of the Mongol Empire, ruling from Iran. In August 1393, Baghdad was occupied by the Central Asian Turkic conqueror Timur ("Tamerlane"), by marching there in only eight days from Shiraz. Sultan Ahmad Jalayir fled to Syria, where the Mamluk Sultan Barquq protected him and killed Timur's envoys. Timur left the Sarbadar prince Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghdad, but he was driven out when Ahmad Jalayir returned.

In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, by Timur. When his forces took Baghdad, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed human heads. Baghdad became a provincial capital controlled by the Mongol Jalayirid (1400–1411), Turkic Kara Koyunlu (1411–1469), Turkic Ak Koyunlu (1469–1508), and the Iranian Safavid (1508–1534) dynasties.

Ottoman and mamluks (16th–19th centuries)
In 1534, Baghdad was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Under the Ottomans, Baghdad continued into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Iranian Safavids, which did not accept the Sunni control of the city. Between 1623 and 1638, it returned to Iranian rule before falling back into Ottoman hands. Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the plague and cholera, and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out. The city became part of an eyalet and then a vilayet.

For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century, under Mamluk government. Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by Ali Rıza Pasha in 1831. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha. The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.

Modern era

Baghdad and southern Iraq remained under Ottoman rule until 1917, when they were captured by the British during World War I. In 1920, Baghdad became the capital of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia, with several architectural and planning projects commissioned to reinforce this administration. After receiving independence in 1932, the city became capital of the Kingdom of Iraq.

During this period, the substantial Jewish community (probably exceeding 100,000 people) comprised between a quarter and a third of the city's population. On 1 April 1941, members of the "Golden Square" and Rashid Ali staged a coup in Baghdad. Rashid Ali installed a pro-German and pro-Italian government to replace the pro-British government of Regent Abd al-Ilah. On 31 May, after the resulting Anglo-Iraqi War and after Rashid Ali and his government had fled, the Mayor of Baghdad surrendered to British and Commonwealth forces. On 1–2 June, during the ensuing power vacuum, Jewish residents were attacked following rumors they had aided the British. In what became known as the Farhud, over 180 Jews were killed, 1,000 injured and hundreds of Jewish properties were ransacked. Between 300 and 400 non-Jewish rioters were killed in the attempt to quell the violence. The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950. On 14 July 1958, members of the Iraqi Army, under Abd al-Karim Qasim, staged a coup to topple the Kingdom of Iraq. King Faisal II, former Prime Minister Nuri al-Said, former Regent Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, members of the royal family, and others were brutally killed during the coup. Many of the victim's bodies were then dragged through the streets of Baghdad. During the 1970s, Baghdad experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the price of petroleum, Iraq's main export. New infrastructure including modern sewerage, water, and highway facilities were built during this period. The masterplans of the city (1967, 1973) were delivered by the Polish planning office Miastoprojekt-Kraków, mediated by Polservice. However, the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money was diverted by Saddam Hussein to the army and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of missile attacks against Baghdad in retaliation for Saddam Hussein's continuous bombardments of Tehran's residential districts. In 1991 and 2003, the Gulf War and the US invasion of Iraq caused significant damage to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure as the US-led coalition forces launched massive aerial assaults in the city in the two wars. Also in 2003, a minor riot in the city (which took place on 21 July) caused some disturbance in the population. The historic "Assyrian Quarter" of the city, Dora, which boasted a population of 150,000 Assyrians in 2003, made up over 3% of the capital's Assyrian population then. The community has been subject to kidnappings, death threats, vandalism, and house burnings by al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups. As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora. The Iraq War took place from 2003 to 2011, but an Islamist insurgency lasted until 2013. It was followed by another war from 2013 to 2017 and a low-level insurgency from 2017, which included suicide bombings in January 2018 and January 2021. Priceless collection of artifacts in the National Museum of Iraq was looted by Iraqi citizens during the 2003 US-led invasion. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed. In December 2015, Baghdad was selected by UNESCO as the first Arab city of the center of literary creativity. Baghdad gained significance on 3 January 2020, when Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport.

Geography
The city is located on a vast plain bisected by the Tigris river. The Tigris splits Baghdad in half, with the eastern half being called "Risafa" and the Western half known as "Karkh". The land on which the city is built is almost entirely flat and low-lying, being of quaternary alluvial origin due to the periodic large floods which have occurred on the river.

Climate
Baghdad has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh), featuring extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers and mild to cool, slightly wet, short winters. In the summer, from June through August, the average maximum temperature is as high as 44 °C and accompanied by sunshine. Rainfall has been recorded on fewer than half a dozen occasions at this time of year and has never exceeded 1 mm. Even at night, temperatures in summer are seldom below 24 °C. Baghdad's record highest temperature of 51.8 °C was reached on 28 July 2020. The humidity is typically under 50% in summer due to Baghdad's distance from the marshy southern Iraq and the coasts of Persian Gulf, and dust storms from the deserts to the west are a normal occurrence during the summer.

Winter temperatures are typical of hot desert climates. From December through February, Baghdad has maximum temperatures averaging 16 to 19 C, though highs above 21 C are not unheard of. Lows below freezing occur a couple of times per year on average.

Annual rainfall, almost entirely confined to the period from November through March, averages approximately 150 mm, but has been as high as 338 mm and as low as 37 mm. On 11 January 2008, light snow fell across Baghdad for the first time in 100 years. Snowfall was again reported on 11 February 2020, with accumulations across the city.

Governance

Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into districts which are further divided into sub-districts. Municipally, the governorate is divided into 9 municipalities, which have responsibility for local issues. Regional services, however, are coordinated and carried out by a mayor who oversees the municipalities. The governorate council is responsible for the governorate-wide policy. These official subdivisions of the city served as administrative centers for the delivery of municipal services but until 2003 had no political function. Beginning in April 2003, the U.S. controlled Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) began the process of creating new functions for these. The process initially focused on the election of neighborhood councils in the official neighborhoods, elected by neighborhood caucuses. The CPA convened a series of meetings in each neighborhood to explain local government, to describe the caucus election process and to encourage participants to spread the word and bring friends, relatives and neighbors to subsequent meetings. Each neighborhood process ultimately ended with a final meeting where candidates for the new neighborhood councils identified themselves and asked their neighbors to vote for them. Once all 88 (later increased to 89) neighborhood councils were in place, each neighborhood council elected representatives from among their members to serve on one of the city's nine district councils. The number of neighborhood representatives on a district council is based upon the neighborhood's population. The next step was to have each of the nine district councils elect representatives from their membership to serve on the 37 member Baghdad City Council. This three tier system of local government connected the people of Baghdad to the central government through their representatives from the neighborhood, through the district, and up to the city council. The same process was used to provide representative councils for the other communities in Baghdad Province outside of the city itself. There, local councils were elected from 20 neighborhoods (Nahia) and these councils elected representatives from their members to serve on six district councils (Qada). As within the city, the district councils then elected representatives from among their members to serve on the 35 member Baghdad Regional Council. The first step in the establishment of the system of local government for Baghdad Province was the election of the Baghdad Provincial Council. As before, the representatives to the Provincial Council were elected by their peers from the lower councils in numbers proportional to the population of the districts they represent. The 41 member Provincial Council took office in February 2004 and served until national elections held in January 2005, when a new Provincial Council was elected. This system of 127 separate councils may seem overly cumbersome; however, Baghdad Province is home to approximately seven million people. At the lowest level, the neighborhood councils, each council represents an average of 75,000 people. The nine District Advisory Councils (DAC) are as follows:

 * Adhamiyah
 * Karkh (Green Zone)
 * Karrada
 * Kadhimiya
 * Mansour
 * Sadr City (Thawra)
 * Al Rashid
 * Rusafa
 * New Baghdad (Tisaa Nissan) (9 April)

The nine districts are subdivided into 89 smaller neighborhoods which may make up sectors of any of the districts above. The following is a selection (rather than a complete list) of these neighborhoods:

 * Al-Ghazaliya
 * Al-A'amiriya
 * Dora
 * Karrada
 * Al-Jadriya
 * Al-Hebnaa
 * Zayouna
 * Al-Saydiya
 * Al-Sa'adoon
 * Al-Shu'ala
 * Al-Mahmudiyah
 * Bab Al-Moatham
 * Al-Baya'
 * Al-Za'franiya
 * Hayy Ur
 * Sha'ab
 * Hayy Al-Jami'a
 * Al-Adel
 * Al Khadhraa
 * Hayy Al-Jihad
 * Hayy Al-A'amel
 * Hayy Aoor
 * Al-Hurriya
 * Haydar-Khana
 * Hayy Al-Shurtta
 * Yarmouk
 * Jesr Diyala
 * Abu Disher
 * Al-Maidan
 * Raghiba Khatoun
 * Arab Jibor
 * Al-Fathel
 * Al-Ubedy
 * Al-Washash
 * Al-Wazireya

Notable streets

 * Haifa Street
 * Hilla Road – Runs from the north into Baghdad via Yarmouk (Baghdad)
 * Caliphs Street – site of historical mosques and churches
 * Al-Sa'doun Street – stretching from Liberation Square to Masbah
 * Abu Nuwas Street – runs along the Tigris from the Jumhouriya Bridge to 14 July Suspended Bridge
 * Damascus Street – goes from Damascus Square to the Baghdad Airport Road
 * Mutanabbi Street – A street with numerous bookshops, named after the 10th century Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi
 * Rabia Street
 * 14th July Street (Mosul Road)
 * Muthana al-Shaibani Street
 * Bor Saeed (Port Said) Street
 * Thawra Street
 * Al-Qanat Street – runs through Baghdad north-south
 * Al-Khat al-Sare'a – Mohammed al-Qasim (high speed lane) – runs through Baghdad, north–south
 * Industry Street runs by the University of Technology – center of the computer trade in Baghdad
 * Al Nidhal Street
 * Al-Rasheed Street – city center Baghdad
 * Al-Jumhuriya Street – city center Baghdad
 * Falastin Street
 * Tariq al-Muaskar – (Al-Rasheed Camp Road)
 * Akhrot street
 * Baghdad Airport Road

Ethnicity
The vast majority of Baghdad's population are Iraqi Arabs. Minority ethnic groups include Feyli Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs and Armenians. The city was also home to a large Jewish community and regularly visited by Sikh pilgrims. Baghdad is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups with an Arab majority, as well as Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenians and Mandaeans.

Religion
Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22 million in 2015. The city historically has a predominantly Sunni population, but by the early 21st century around 52% of the city's population were Iraqi Shi'ites. At the beginning of the 21st century, some 1.5 million people migrated to Baghdad. Sunni Muslims make up 29–34% of Iraq's population and they are still a majority in west and north Iraq. As early as 2003, about 20 percent of the population of the city was the result of mixed marriages between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Following the civil war between the Sunni and Shia militia groups during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the population of Sunnis significantly decreased as they were pushed out of many neighborhoods. The 2013–2017 war following the Islamic State's invasion in 2014 caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city.

The majority of the citizens are Muslims with minorities of Christians, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. There are many religious centers distributed around the city including mosques, churches and Mashkhannas cultic huts. Masjid Al-Kadhimain is a shrine that is located in the Kādhimayn suburb of Baghdad. It contains the tombs of the seventh and ninth Twelver Shi'ite Imams, Musa al-Kadhim and Muhammad at-Taqi respectively, upon whom the title of Kādhimayn ("Two who swallow their anger") was bestowed. Many Shi'ites travel to the mosque from far away places to commemorate those imams.

Prior to the 2003 invasion by the United States, Baghdad was home to tiny Jewish community of 450. It started declining since 1940s, following establishment of Israel. The Jews of Baghdad faced restrictions until 1980s, when Saddam took power and granted freedom and protection to them. The iraqi Jewish population decline after the 2003–2011 war and the subsequent 2013–2017 war. In the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad, was the house of Baháʼu'lláh, (Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith) also known as the "Most Great House" (Bayt-i-Azam) and the "House of God," where Baháʼu'lláh mostly resided from 1853 to 1863. It is considered a holy place and a place of pilgrimage by Baha'i's according to their "Most Holy Book". On 23 June 2013, the house was destroyed under unclear circumstances.

Economy
Baghdad accounts for 22.2% of Iraq's population and 40% of the country's gross domestic product (PPP). Most of the economic contribution of Iraq geographically is from Baghdad. During the Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad emerged as a leading center of trade and commerce. In the early Ba'athist period, Baghdad became a bustling metropolitan city in the Middle East and the Arab world. The Baghdad Stock Exchange (BSE) was opened in 1992 under the government of Saddam Hussein, to facilitate financial activities of the country.

Baghdad was once one of the main destinations in the country and the region with a wealth of cultural attractions. Tourism has diminished since the Iraq-Iran war and later during the US invasion, but in recent years Baghdad has become a main tourist destination although it is still facing challenges. There are numerous historic, scientific and artistic museums in Baghdad which include, Iraq Museum, Baghdadi Museum, Natural History Museum and several others. Baghdad is known for its famous Mutanabbi street which is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. The annual International Book Fair in Baghdad is well known to the international publishing world as a promising publishing event in the region after years of instability.

Iraqi companies including BaghTel, Fly Baghdad, Iraq National Oil Company, Trade Bank of Iraq and Central Bank of Iraq have established their headquarters in Baghdad. Multinational corporations — First Abu Dhabi Bank, SalamAir, Robert Bosch GmbH, Honeywell and Saudi National Bank operates regional headquarters in the city. Subsequently the city have produced a wide variety of consumer and industrial goods, including processed foods and beverages, tobacco, textiles, clothes, leather goods, wood products, furniture, paper and printed material, bricks and cement, chemicals, plastics, electrical equipment, and metal and nonmetallic products.

Most Iraqi reconstruction efforts have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure. More visible efforts at reconstruction through private development, like architect and urban designer Hisham N. Ashkouri's Baghdad Renaissance Plan and the Sindbad Hotel Complex and Conference Center have also been made. A plan was proposed by a Government agency to rebuild a tourist island in 2008. Investors were sought to develop a "romantic island" on the River Tigris that was once a popular honeymoon spot for newlyweds. The project would include a six-star hotel, spa, an 18-hole golf course and a country club. In addition, the go-ahead has been given to build numerous architecturally unique skyscrapers along the Tigris that would develop the city's financial center in Kadhehemiah.

In late 2009, a construction plan was proposed to rebuild the heart of Baghdad, but the plan was never realized because corruption was involved in it. The Baghdad Eye Ferris wheel, proposed in August 2008,   was installed at the Al-Zawraa Park in March 2011. In May 2010, a new large scale residential and commercial project called Baghdad Gate was announced. In August 2010, Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, was appointed to design a new headquarters for the Central Bank in Baghdad. Initial talks about the project were held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 14 August 2010, in the presence of the bank governor Sinan al-Shabibi. On 2 February 2012, Hadid joined Sinan al-Shabibi at a ceremony in London to sign the agreement between the bank and her firm for the design stages of the new building. The construction was postponed in 2015 due to economical problems, but started again in 2019.

Transport
Baghdad lacks substantial public transportation, and taxis are the primary means of transportation in the city. Roads in Baghdad are noted to be especially congested.

Iraqi Airways, the national airline of Iraq, has its headquarters on the grounds of Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad. It was opened in 1982 by Saddam Hussein and was named as "Saddam International Airport". The airport's name was changed into current name when it came under control of the coalition forces during the country's invasion in 2003.

Proposed elevated metro
The Baghdad Metro is a proposed metro system repeatedly proposed since the reign of Saddam Hussein. The current proposal for the metro, this time in the form of an elevated railway to ease congestion in the city center, is set to begin construction in 2023 and per Iraqi officials is presumed to be primarily built by Hyundai and Alstom. The first phase is predicted to have 14 stations.

Education
The House of Wisdom was a major academy and public center in Baghdad. The Mustansiriya Madrasa was established in 1227 by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir. The name was changed to al-Mustansiriya University in 1963. The University of Baghdad is the largest university in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab world. Prior to the Gulf War, multiple international schools operated in Baghdad, including:
 * École française de Bagdad
 * Deutsche Schule Bagdad
 * Baghdad Japanese School (バグダッド日本人学校), a nihonjin gakko

Universities

 * University of Baghdad
 * Mustansiriya University
 * Iraqi University
 * Nahrain University
 * Albayan University
 * University of Technology, Iraq
 * American University of Iraq – Baghdad
 * Al-Turath University College
 * Dijlah University College

Culture
Baghdad has always played a significant role in the broader Arab cultural sphere, contributing several significant writers, musicians and visual artists. Famous Arab poets and singers such as Nizar Qabbani, Umm Kulthum, Fairuz, Salah Al-Hamdani, Ilham al-Madfai and others have performed for the city. The dialect of Arabic spoken in Baghdad today differs from that of other large urban centers in Iraq, having features more characteristic of nomadic Arabic dialects (Versteegh, The Arabic Language). It is possible that this was caused by the repopulating of the city with rural residents after the multiple sackings of the late Middle Ages. For poetry written about Baghdad, see Reuven Snir (ed.), Baghdad: The City in Verse (Harvard, 2013). Baghdad joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature in December 2015.

Some of the important cultural institutions in the city include the National Theater, which was looted during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but efforts are underway to restore the theater. The live theater industry received a boost during the 1990s, when UN sanctions limited the import of foreign films. As many as 30 movie theaters were reported to have been converted to live stages, producing a wide range of comedies and dramatic productions. Institutions offering cultural education in Baghdad include The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad and the Institute of Fine Arts Baghdad. The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra is a government funded symphony orchestra in Baghdad. The INSO plays primarily classical European music, as well as original compositions based on Iraqi and Arab instruments and music. Baghdad is also home to a number of museums which housed artifacts and relics of ancient civilization; many of these were stolen, and the museums looted, during the widespread chaos immediately after United States forces entered the city.

During US occupation of Iraq, AFN Iraq ("Freedom Radio") broadcast news and entertainment within Baghdad, among other locations. There is also a private radio station called "Dijlah" (named after the Arabic word for the Tigris River) that was created in 2004 as Iraq's first independent talk radio station. Radio Dijlah offices, in the Jamia neighborhood of Baghdad, have been attacked on several occasions.

Sights of interest

 * The National Museum of Iraq whose collection of artifacts was looted during the 2003 US invasion, and the iconic Hands of Victory arches. Multiple Iraqi parties are in discussions as to whether the arches should remain as historical monuments or be dismantled. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed under Saddam's command.
 * Mutanabbi Street is located near the old quarter of Baghdad; at Al-Rasheed Street. It is the historic center of Baghdadi book-selling, a street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. It was named after the 10th-century classical Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi. This street is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literacy and intellectual community.
 * Baghdad Zoo used to be the largest zoological park in the Middle East. Within eight days following the 2003 invasion, however, only 35 of the 650 animals in the facility survived. This was a result of theft of some animals for human food, and starvation of caged animals that had no food. Conservationist Lawrence Anthony and some of the zoo keepers cared for the animals and fed the carnivores with donkeys they had bought locally. Eventually Paul Bremer, Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq after the invasion, ordered protection for the zoo and enlisted U.S. engineers to help reopen the facility.
 * Grand Festivities Square is the main square where public celebrations are held and is also the home to three important monuments commemorating Iraqi's fallen soldiers and victories in war; namely Al-Shaheed Monument, the Victory Arch and the Unknown Soldier's Monument.
 * Al-Shaheed Monument, also known as the Martyr's Memorial, is a monument dedicated to the Iraqi soldiers who died in the Iran–Iraq War. However, now it is generally considered by Iraqis to be for all of the martyrs of Iraq, especially those allied with Iran and Syria fighting ISIS, not just of the Iran–Iraq War. The monument was opened in 1983, and was designed by the Iraqi architect Saman Kamal and the Iraqi sculptor and artist Ismail Fatah Al Turk. During the 1970s and 1980s, Saddam Hussein's government spent a lot of money on new monuments, which included the al-Shaheed Monument.
 * Qushla or Qishla is a public square and the historical complex located in al-Rusafa neighborhood at the riverbank of Tigris. Qushla and its surroundings is where the historical features and cultural capitals of Baghdad are concentrated, from the Mutanabbi Street, Abbasid-era palace and bridges, Ottoman-era mosques to the Mustansariyah Madrasa. The square developed during the Ottoman era as a military barracks. Today, it is a place where the citizens of Baghdad find leisure such as reading poetry in gazebos. It is characterized by the iconic clock tower which was donated by George V. The entire area is submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tentative list.
 * A'dhamiyyah is a predominantly Sunni area with a Mosque that is associated with the Sunni Imam Abu Hanifa. The name of Al-Aʿẓamiyyah is derived from Abu Hanifa's title, al-Imām al-Aʿẓam (the Great Imam).
 * Firdos Square is a public open space in Baghdad and the location of two of the best-known hotels, the Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton Ishtar, which are both also the tallest buildings in Baghdad. The square was the site of the statue of Saddam Hussein that was pulled down by U.S.-led coalition forces in a widely televised event during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
 * Al-Rasheed Street is one of the most significant landmarks in Baghdad. Located in al-Rusafa area, the street was an artistic, intellectual and cultural center for many Baghdadis. It also included many prominent theaters and nightclubs such as the Crescent Theatre where Egyptian Singer Umm Kulthum sang during her visit in 1932 as well as the Chakmakji Company that recorded the music of various Arab singers. The street also contains famous and well-known landmarks including the ancient Haydar-Khana Mosque as well as numerous well-known cafés such as al-Zahawi Café and the Brazilian Café. The Street is also notable for its architecture and aesthetic which was inspired by Renaissance architecture and also includes the famous Iraqi shanasheel.

Sport
Baghdad is home to some of the most successful football (soccer) teams in Iraq, the biggest being Al-Shorta (Police), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (Air Force), Al-Zawraa, and Al-Talaba (Students). The largest stadium in Baghdad is Al-Shaab Stadium, which was opened in 1966. In recent years, the capital has seen the building of several football stadiums which are meant be opened in near future. The city has also had a strong tradition of horse racing ever since World War I, known to Baghdadis simply as 'Races'. There are reports of pressures by the Islamists to stop this tradition due to the associated gambling.

Twin towns – sister cities

 * 🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt
 * 🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North Korea
 * 🇮🇷 Tehran, Iran

Articles

 * A Dweller in Mesopotamia, being the adventures of an official artist in the Garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & (7.53 MB) format)
 * By Desert Ways to Baghdad, by Louisa Jebb (Mrs. Roland Wilkins), 1908 (1909 ed) (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & (11.3 MB) format)
 * Miastoprojekt goes abroad: the transfer of architectural labour from socialist Poland to Iraq (1958–1989) by Lukasz Stanek, The Journal of Architecture, Volume 17, Issue 3, 2012

Books

 * Caecilia Pieri, Bagdad, la construction d'une capitale moderne, 1914–1960, Presses de l'Ifpo, 2015, 440 pages, about 800 illustrations (ISBN 978-2-35159-399-8) (ISSN 2225-7578).
 * Mina Marefat, Caecilia Pieri, Gilles Ragot, Le Corbusier's Gymnasium in Bagdad, 2014, Éditions du patrimoine, collection Regards (French and English versions), Presses de l'Ifpo (Arabic version) (ISBN 2757703013).
 * "Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-135" by Ibn Battuta.
 * "Gertrude Bell: The Arabian Diaries, 1913–1914." by Bell Gertrude Lowthian, and O'Brien, Rosemary.
 * "Historic Cities of the Islamic World". by Bosworth, Clifford Edmund.
 * "Ottoman administration of Iraq, 1890–1908." by Cetinsaya, Gokhan.
 * "Naked in Baghdad." by Garrels, Anne, and Lawrence, Vint.
 * "A memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson." by Rawlinson, George.
 * Stanek, Łukasz (2020). Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War. Princeton. ISBN 978-0-691-19455-4.
 * Stanek, Łukasz (2020). Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War. Princeton. ISBN 978-0-691-19455-4.

title: Baghdad


text:
Outline of biology

Biology – The natural science that studies life. Areas of focus include structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.

History of biology

 * History of anatomy
 * History of biochemistry
 * History of biotechnology
 * History of botany
 * History of ecology
 * History of genetics
 * History of evolutionary thought:
 * The eclipse of Darwinism – Catastrophism – Lamarckism – Orthogenesis – Mutationism – Structuralism – Vitalism
 * Modern (evolutionary) synthesis
 * History of molecular evolution
 * History of speciation
 * History of marine biology
 * History of medicine
 * History of model organisms
 * History of molecular biology
 * Natural history
 * History of neuroscience
 * History of plant systematics
 * History of pathology
 * History of virology
 * History of zoology

Overview

 * Biology
 * Science
 * Life
 * Properties: Adaptation – Energy processing – Growth – Order – Regulation – Reproduction – Response to environment
 * Biological organization: atom – molecule – cell – tissue – organ – organ system – organism – population – community – ecosystem – biosphere
 * Approach: Reductionism – emergent property – mechanistic
 * Biology as a science:
 * Natural science
 * Scientific method: observation – research question – hypothesis – testability – prediction – experiment – data – statistics
 * Scientific theory – scientific law
 * Research method
 * List of research methods in biology
 * Scientific literature
 * List of biology journals: peer review

Chemical basis
Outline of biochemistry
 * Atoms and molecules
 * matter – element – atom – proton – neutron – electron– Bohr model – isotope – chemical bond – ionic bond – ions – covalent bond – hydrogen bond – molecule
 * Water:
 * properties of water – solvent – cohesion – adhesion – surface tension – pH
 * Organic compounds:
 * carbon – carbon-carbon bonds – hydrocarbon – monosaccharide – amino acids – nucleotide – functional group – monomer – adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – lipids – oil – sugar – vitamins – neurotransmitter – wax
 * Macromolecules:
 * polysaccharide: cellulose – carbohydrate – chitin – glycogen – starch
 * proteins: primary structure – secondary structure – tertiary structure – conformation – native state – protein folding – enzyme – receptor – transmembrane receptor – ion channel – membrane transporter – collagen – pigments: chlorophyll – carotenoid – xanthophyll – melanin – prion
 * lipids: cell membrane – fats – phospholipids
 * nucleic acids: DNA – RNA

Cells
Outline of cell biology
 * Cell structure:
 * Cell coined by Robert Hooke
 * Techniques: cell culture – flow cytometry – microscope – light microscope – electron microscopy – SEM – TEM – live cell imaging
 * Organelles: Cytoplasm – Vacuole – Peroxisome – Plastid
 * Cell nucleus
 * Nucleoplasm – Nucleolus – Chromatin – Chromosome
 * Endomembrane system
 * Nuclear envelope – Endoplasmic reticulum – Golgi apparatus – Vesicles – Lysosome
 * Energy creators: Mitochondrion and Chloroplast
 * Biological membranes:
 * Plasma membrane – Mitochondrial membrane – Chloroplast membrane
 * Other subcellular features: Cell wall – pseudopod – cytoskeleton – mitotic spindle – flagellum – cilium
 * Cell transport: Diffusion – Osmosis – isotonic – active transport – phagocytosis
 * Cellular reproduction: cytokinesis – centromere – meiosis
 * Nuclear reproduction: mitosis – interphase – prophase – metaphase – anaphase – telophase
 * programmed cell death – apoptosis – cell senescence
 * Metabolism:
 * enzyme - activation energy - proteolysis – cooperativity
 * Cellular respiration
 * Glycolysis – Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex – Citric acid cycle – electron transport chain – fermentation
 * Photosynthesis
 * light-dependent reactions – Calvin cycle
 * Cell cycle
 * mitosis – chromosome – haploid – diploid – polyploidy – prophase – metaphase – anaphase – telophase – cytokinesis – meiosis

Genetics
Outline of Genetics
 * Inheritance
 * heredity – Mendelian inheritance – gene – locus – trait – allele – polymorphism – homozygote – heterozygote – hybrid – hybridization – dihybrid cross – Punnett square – inbreeding
 * genotype–phenotype distinction – genotype – phenotype – dominant gene – recessive gene
 * genetic interactions – Mendel's law of segregation – genetic mosaic – maternal effect – penetrance – complementation – suppression – epistasis – genetic linkage
 * Model organisms: Drosophila – Arabidopsis – Caenorhabditis elegans – mouse – Saccharomyces cerevisiae – Escherichia coli – Lambda phage – Xenopus – chicken – zebrafish – Ciona intestinalis – amphioxus
 * Techniques: genetic screen – linkage map – genetic map
 * DNA
 * Nucleic acid double helix
 * Nucleobase: adenine (A) – cytosine (C) – guanine (G) – thymine (T) – uracil (U)
 * DNA replication – mutation – mutation rate – proofreading – DNA mismatch repair – point mutation – crossover – recombination – plasmid – transposon
 * Gene expression
 * Central dogma of molecular biology: nucleosome – genetic code – codon – transcription factor – transcription – translation – RNA – histone – telomere
 * heterochromatin – promoter – RNA polymerase
 * Protein biosynthesis – ribosomes
 * Gene regulation
 * operon – activator – repressor – corepressor – enhancer – alternative splicing
 * Genomes
 * DNA sequencing – high throughput sequencing – bioinformatics
 * Proteome – proteomics – metabolome – metabolomics
 * DNA paternity testing
 * Biotechnology (see also Outline of biochemical techniques and Molecular biology):
 * DNA fingerprinting – genetic fingerprint – microsatellite – gene knockout – imprinting – RNA interference Genomics – computational biology – bioinformatics – gel electrophoresis – transformation – PCR – PCR mutagenesis – primer – chromosome walking – RFLP – restriction enzyme – sequencing – shotgun sequencing – cloning – culture – DNA microarray – electrophoresis – protein tag – affinity chromatography – x-ray diffraction – proteomics – mass spectrometry – CRISPR – gene therapy
 * Genes, development, and evolution
 * Apoptosis
 * French flag model
 * Pattern formation
 * Evo-devo gene toolkit
 * Transcription factor

Evolution
Outline of evolution (see also evolutionary biology)
 * Evolutionary processes
 * evolution
 * microevolution: adaptation – selection – natural selection – directional selection – sexual selection – genetic drift – sexual reproduction – asexual reproduction – colony – allele frequency – neutral theory of molecular evolution – population genetics – Hardy–Weinberg principle
 * Speciation
 * Species
 * Phylogeny
 * Lineage (evolution) – evolutionary tree – cladistics – species – taxon – clade – monophyletic – polyphyly – paraphyly – heredity – phenotypic trait – nucleic acid sequence – synapomorphy – homology – molecular clock – outgroup (cladistics) – maximum parsimony (phylogenetics) – Computational phylogenetics
 * Linnaean taxonomy: Carl Linnaeus – domain (biology) – kingdom (biology) – phylum – class (biology) – order (biology) – family (biology) – genus – species
 * Three-domain system: archaea – bacteria – eukaryote – protist – fungi – plant – animal
 * Binomial nomenclature: scientific classification – Homo sapiens
 * History of life
 * Origin of life – hierarchy of life – Miller–Urey experiment
 * Macroevolution: adaptive radiation – convergent evolution – extinction – mass extinction – fossil – taphonomy – geologic time – plate tectonics – continental drift – vicariance – Gondwana – Pangaea – endosymbiosis

Diversity

 * Bacteria and Archaea
 * Protists
 * Plant diversity
 * Green algae
 * Chlorophyta
 * Charophyta
 * Bryophytes
 * Marchantiophyta
 * Anthocerotophyta
 * Moss
 * Pteridophytes
 * Lycopodiophyta
 * Polypodiophyta
 * Seed plants
 * Cycadophyta
 * Ginkgophyta
 * Pinophyta
 * Gnetophyta
 * Magnoliophyta
 * Fungi
 * Yeast – mold (fungus) – mushroom
 * Animal diversity
 * Invertebrates:
 * sponge – cnidarian – coral – jellyfish – Hydra (genus) – sea anemone
 * flatworms – nematodes
 * arthropods: crustacean – chelicerata – myriapoda – arachnids – insects – annelids – molluscs
 * Vertebrates:
 * fishes: – agnatha – chondrichthyes – osteichthyes
 * Tiktaalik
 * tetrapods
 * amphibians
 * reptiles
 * birds
 * flightless birds – Neognathae – dinosaurs
 * mammals
 * placental: primates
 * marsupial
 * monotreme
 * Viruses
 * DNA viruses – RNA viruses – retroviruses

Plant form and function

 * Plant body
 * Organ systems: root – shoot – stem – leaf – flower
 * Plant nutrition and transport
 * Vascular tissue – bark (botany) – Casparian strip – turgor pressure – xylem – phloem – transpiration – wood – trunk (botany)
 * Plant development
 * tropism – taxis
 * seed – cotyledon – meristem – apical meristem – vascular cambium – cork cambium
 * alternation of generations – gametophyte – antheridium – archegonium – sporophyte – spore – sporangium
 * Plant reproduction
 * angiosperms – flower – reproduction – sperm – pollination – self-pollination – cross-pollination – nectar – pollen
 * Plant responses
 * Plant hormone – ripening – fruit – Ethylene as a plant hormone – toxin – pollinator – phototropism – skototropism – phototropin – phytochrome – auxin – photoperiodism – gravity

Animal form and function

 * General features: morphology (biology) – anatomy – physiology – biological tissues – organ (biology) – organ systems
 * Water and salt balance
 * Body fluids: osmotic pressure – ionic composition – volume
 * Diffusion – osmosis) – Tonicity – sodium – potassium – calcium – chloride
 * Excretion
 * Nutrition and digestion
 * Digestive system: stomach – intestine – liver – nutrition – primary nutritional groups metabolism – kidney – excretion
 * Breathing
 * Respiratory system: lungs
 * Circulation
 * Circulatory system: heart – artery – vein – capillary – Blood – blood cell
 * Lymphatic system: lymph node
 * Muscle and movement
 * Skeletal system: bone – cartilage – joint – tendon
 * Muscular system: muscle – actin – myosin – reflex
 * Nervous system
 * Neuron – dendrite – axon – nerve – electrochemical gradient – electrophysiology – action potential – signal transduction – synapse – receptor –
 * Central nervous system: brain – spinal cord
 * limbic system – memory – vestibular system
 * Peripheral nervous system
 * Sensory nervous system: eye – vision – audition – proprioception – olfaction –
 * Integumentary system: skin cell
 * Hormonal control
 * Endocrine system: hormone
 * Animal reproduction
 * Reproductive system: testes – ovary – pregnancy
 * Fish
 * Mammalian reproductive system
 * Human reproductive system
 * Mammalian penis
 * Os penis
 * Penile spines
 * Genitalia of bottlenose dolphins
 * Genitalia of marsupials
 * Equine reproductive system
 * Even-toed ungulate
 * Bull
 * Carnivora
 * Fossa (animal)
 * Female genitalia of spotted hyenas
 * Cat anatomy
 * Genitalia of dogs
 * Canine penis
 * Bulbus glandis
 * Animal development
 * stem cell – blastula – gastrula – egg (biology) – fetus – placenta - gamete – spermatid – ovum – zygote – embryo – cellular differentiation – morphogenesis – homeobox
 * Immune system
 * antibody – host – vaccine – immune cell – AIDS – T cell – leucocyte
 * Animal behavior
 * Behavior: mating – animal communication – seek shelter – migration (ecology)
 * Fixed action pattern
 * Altruism (biology)

Ecology
Outline of ecology
 * Ecosystems:
 * Ecology – Biodiversity – habitat – plankton – thermocline – saprobe
 * Abiotic component: water – light – radiation – temperature – humidity – atmosphere – acidity
 * Microbe – biomass – organic matter – decomposer – decomposition – carbon – nutrient cycling – solar energy – topography – tilt – Windward and leeward – precipitation  Temperature – biome
 * Populations
 * Population ecology: organism – geographical area – sexual reproduction – population density – population growth – birth rate – death Rate – immigration rate – exponential growth – carrying capacity – logistic function – natural environment – competition (biology) – mating – biological dispersal – endemic (ecology) – growth curve (biology) – habitat – drinking water – resource – human population – technology – Green revolution
 * Communities
 * Community (ecology) – ecological niche – keystone species – mimicry – symbiosis – pollination – mutualism – commensalism – parasitism – predation – invasive species – environmental heterogeneity – edge effect
 * Consumer–resource interactions: food chain – food web – autotroph – heterotrophs – herbivore – carnivore – trophic level
 * Biosphere
 * lithosphere – atmosphere – hydrosphere
 * biogeochemical cycle: nitrogen cycle – carbon cycle – water cycle
 * Climate change: Fossil fuel – coal – oil – natural gas – World energy consumption – Climate change feedback – Albedo – water vapor Carbon sink
 * Conservation
 * Biodiversity – habitats – Ecosystem services – biodiversity loss – extinction – Sustainability – Holocene extinction – bioremediation

Branches

 * Anatomy – study of form in animals, plants and other organisms, or specifically in humans. Simply, the study of internal structure of living organisms.
 * Comparative anatomy – the study of evolution of species through similarities and differences in their anatomy.
 * Osteology – study of bones.
 * Osteomyoarthrology – the study of the movement apparatus, including bones, joints, ligaments and muscles.
 * Viscerology – the study of organs
 * Neuroanatomy – the study of the nervous system.
 * Histology – also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues.
 * Astrobiology – study of origin, early-evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Also known as exobiology, and bioastronomy.
 * Bioarchaeology – study of human and animal remains from archaeological sites.
 * Biochemistry – study of the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level.
 * Biocultural anthropology – the study of the relations between human biology and culture.
 * Biogeography – study of the distribution of species spatially and temporally.
 * Biolinguistics – study of biology and the evolution of language.
 * Biological economics – an interdisciplinary field in which the interaction of human biology and economics is studied.
 * Biophysics – study of biological processes through the methods traditionally used in the physical sciences.
 * Biomechanics – the study of the mechanics of living beings.
 * Neurophysics – study of the development of the nervous system on a molecular level.
 * Quantum biology – application of quantum mechanics and theoretical chemistry to biological objects and problems.
 * Virophysics – study of mechanics and dynamics driving the interactions between virus and cells.
 * Biotechnology – new and sometimes controversial branch of biology that studies the manipulation of living matter, including genetic modification and synthetic biology.
 * Bioinformatics – use of information technology for the study, collection, and storage of genomic and other biological data.
 * Bioengineering – study of biology through the means of engineering with an emphasis on applied knowledge and especially related to biotechnology.
 * Synthetic biology – research integrating biology and engineering; construction of biological functions not found in nature.
 * Botany – study of plants.
 * Photobiology – scientific study of the interactions of light (technically, non-ionizing radiation) and living organisms. The field includes the study of photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, visual processing, circadian rhythms, bioluminescence, and ultraviolet radiation effects.
 * Phycology – scientific study of algae.
 * Plant physiology – subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants.
 * Cell biology – study of the cell as a complete unit, and the molecular and chemical interactions that occur within a living cell.
 * Histology – study of the anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals using microscopy.
 * Chronobiology – field of biology that examines periodic (cyclic) phenomena in living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms.
 * Dendrochronology – study of tree rings, using them to date the exact year they were formed in order to analyze atmospheric conditions during different periods in natural history.
 * Developmental biology – study of the processes through which an organism forms, from zygote to full structure
 * Embryology – study of the development of embryo (from fecundation to birth).
 * Gerontology – study of aging processes.
 * Ecology – study of the interactions of living organisms with one another and with the non-living elements of their environment.
 * Epidemiology – major component of public health research, studying factors affecting the health of populations.
 * Evolutionary biology – study of the origin and descent of species over time.
 * Evolutionary developmental biology – field of biology that compares the developmental processes of different organisms to determine the ancestral relationship between them, and to discover how developmental processes evolved.
 * Paleobiology – discipline which combines the methods and findings of the life sciences with the methods and findings of the earth science, paleontology.
 * Paleoanthropology – the study of fossil evidence for human evolution, mainly using remains from extinct hominin and other primate species to determine the morphological and behavioral changes in the human lineage, as well as the environment in which human evolution occurred.
 * Paleobotany – study of fossil plants.
 * Paleontology – study of fossils and sometimes geographic evidence of prehistoric life.
 * Paleopathology – the study of pathogenic conditions observable in bones or mummified soft tissue, and on nutritional disorders, variation in stature or morphology of bones over time, evidence of physical trauma, or evidence of occupationally derived biomechanic stress.
 * Genetics – study of genes and heredity.
 * Quantitative genetics – study of phenotypes that vary continuously (in characters such as height or mass)—as opposed to discretely identifiable phenotypes and gene-products (such as eye-colour, or the presence of a particular biochemical).
 * Geobiology – study of the interactions between the physical Earth and the biosphere.
 * Marine biology – study of ocean ecosystems, plants, animals, and other living beings.
 * Microbiology – study of microscopic organisms (microorganisms) and their interactions with other living things.
 * Bacteriology – study of bacteria
 * Immunology – study of immune systems in all organisms.
 * Mycology – study of fungi
 * Parasitology – study of parasites and parasitism.
 * Virology – study of viruses
 * Molecular biology – study of biology and biological functions at the molecular level, with some cross over from biochemistry.
 * Structural biology – a branch of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics concerned with the molecular structure of biological macromolecules.
 * Neuroscience – study of the nervous system, including anatomy, physiology and emergent proprieties.
 * Behavioral neuroscience – study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.
 * Cellular neuroscience – study of neurons at a cellular level.
 * Cognitive neuroscience – study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a focus on the neural substrates of mental processes.
 * Computational neuroscience – study of the information processing functions of the nervous system, and the use of digital computers to study the nervous system.
 * Developmental neuroscience – study of the cellular basis of brain development and addresses the underlying mechanisms.
 * Molecular neuroscience – studies the biology of the nervous system with molecular biology, molecular genetics, protein chemistry and related methodologies.
 * Neuroanatomy – study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system.
 * Neuroendocrinology – studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system, that is how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body.
 * Neuroethology – study of animal behavior and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system.
 * Neuroimmunology – study of the nervous system, and immunology, the study of the immune system.
 * Neuropharmacology – study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system.
 * Neurophysiology – study of the function (as opposed to structure) of the nervous system.
 * Systems neuroscience – studies the function of neural circuits and systems. It is an umbrella term, encompassing a number of areas of study concerned with how nerve cells behave when connected together to form neural networks.
 * Physiology – study of the internal workings of organisms.
 * Endocrinology – study of the endocrine system.
 * Oncology – study of cancer processes, including virus or mutation, oncogenesis, angiogenesis and tissues remoldings.
 * Systems biology – computational modeling of biological systems.
 * Theoretical Biology – the mathematical modeling of biological phenomena.
 * Zoology – study of animals, including classification, physiology, development, and behavior. Subbranches include:
 * Arthropodology – biological discipline concerned with the study of arthropods, a phylum of animals that include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others that are characterized by the possession of jointed limbs.
 * Acarology – study of the taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks.
 * Arachnology – scientific study of spiders and related animals such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, collectively called arachnids.
 * Entomology – study of insects.
 * Coleopterology – study of beetles.
 * Lepidopterology – study of a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies (called lepidopterans).
 * Myrmecology – scientific study of ants.
 * Carcinology – study of crustaceans.
 * Myriapodology – study of centipedes, millipedes, and other myriapods.
 * Ethology – scientific study of animal behavior, usually with a focus on behavior under natural conditions.
 * Helminthology – study of worms, especially parasitic worms.
 * Herpetology – study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and gymnophiona) and reptiles (including snakes, lizards, amphisbaenids, turtles, terrapins, tortoises, crocodilians, and the tuataras).
 * Batrachology – subdiscipline of herpetology concerned with the study of amphibians alone.
 * Ichthyology – study of fishes. This includes bony fishes (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fishes (Agnatha).
 * Malacology – branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods.
 * Teuthology – branch of Malacology which deals with the study of cephalopods.
 * Mammalogy – study of mammals, a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. Mammalogy has also been known as "mastology," "theriology," and "therology." There are about 4,200 different species of animals which are considered mammals.
 * Cetology – branch of marine mammal science that studies the approximately eighty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoise in the scientific order Cetacea.
 * Primatology – scientific study of primates
 * Human biology – interdisciplinary field studying the range of humans and human populations via biology/life sciences, anthropology/social sciences, applied/medical sciences
 * Biological anthropology – subfield of anthropology that studies the physical morphology, genetics and behavior of the human genus, other hominins and hominids across their evolutionary development
 * Human behavioral ecology – the study of behavioral adaptations (foraging, reproduction, ontogeny) from the evolutionary and ecologic perspectives (see behavioral ecology). It focuses on human adaptive responses (physiological, developmental, genetic) to environmental stresses.
 * Nematology – scientific discipline concerned with the study of nematodes, or roundworms.
 * Ornithology – scientific study of birds.

Biologists

 * Lists of notable biologists
 * List of notable biologists
 * List of Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine
 * Lists of biologists by author abbreviation
 * List of authors of names published under the ICZN

 * Lists of biologists by subject

 * List of biochemists
 * List of ecologists
 * List of neuroscientists
 * List of physiologists

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Outline of biology


text:
Talk:Outline of biology

Old discussions
Restriction-fragment-length polymorphism and legume are basic topics, but artificial selection and insect are not?
 * Hey, it's wikipedia. I had to add all but one (I think) of the entries with the format [{culture group} art] in the Visual arts basic topics section (letter A only).  Still, it's a nice start.  --MichaelTinkler

I just moved these topics from a list of topics I found linked from a subpage of the Biology page. Probably, that list wasn't intended as a list of basic topics, and perhaps I shouldn't have redirected that subpage to this page. Anyway, by all means edit this list, please! --LMS

That biology subpage was from me, but this place is better. Anyway, as that list is almost covered, it will have to grow. Should we just add topics, or structure them a little? might serve as an example, and as a source for new "basic topics". --Magnus Manske

I made a preliminary list of topics. Please choose what is "basic" and what is not, and copy it to the "real" page. --Magnus Manske

(Note: List has been removed to avoid hiding orphans. Check the history if you want to restore it Andre Engels)

Was there a formatting error last post? I reverted to the last structure, b/c I can't imagine it making sense to anyone to categorize developmental bio and cell bio as parts of molecular bio. If that formatting wasn't a mistake, I'm happy to discuss the issue with whoever (sorry, I forgot your name) made the last changes. Also, the page had a structure where things that were predominantly techniques (like DNA microarray) were separated from ideas or things, which some of the recent changes (like DNA microarray) weren't conforming to. I think distinguishing techniques makes the list more organized and works pretty well. Do you disagree? It doesn't work great for everything, but I think if the system of hierachization isn't consistent then the list is harder to use.168... 04:22, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)

BTW, as I see it, the organization we had going (which was mostly my doing, I should admit) was to order biology from biggest to smallest. Genetics is a grey area, in the sense that genes are molecules, but classical genetics is about whole organisms (Mendel's peas, fruit flies), and so I figured the best choice was to put it in the middle of the scale with medicine and physiology. "Genomics" I don't feel so sure what to do with. I put it under mo bio b/c if anything is genomics then it's genes and sequencing, and they's mo bio. I think "genomics" is more buzzword than something you can major in at school. Or it's sort of industrial molecular biology. 168... 04:31, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)

molecular biology
I moved genetics, biochem, cell bio and dev bio under mol bio because that is how those topics are currently related. Although mol biol was at one time distinct from those other disciplines, the biologists who now do cell bio, dev biol, genetics and biochem are better thought of as the intellectual descendents of mol biologists rather than the people who started their particular fields.

I moved them there because other disciplines, such as ecology, evolution, etc. are still very much distinct from mol biology. But I'm not particularly stuck on the idea.

I do like the distinction between concepts and techniques, although this division is not always clear. Researchers in fields such as genetics and genomics are most closely related by the techniques they use rather than the topics they study.

I agree that the tools of molecular biology have infiltrated the older biology disciplines, but I don't see that as giving mo bio ownership of this formerly soveriegn academic terrain, which I think you're effectively giving it with your organizational scheme. I think it's best to group disciplines by their interests and orientation, or by the larger questions they ask, rather than by the means they use or the cellars they root in to answer their big questions. Developmental biologists' big questions are about limbs and organs and tissues. Yes, genes and molecules controls the emergence of these anatomical features, but the interest of dev biologists ultimately is much more wholistic. If you label dev bio as "molecular" you might as well label medicine and almost everything in biology "molecular." Even evolution depends on mutations in DNA. You could divide disciplines into those that use mo bio and those that don't, but that doesn't strike me as an effective way to bring out the colors of the spectrum of biology, which I think would be a suitable and attainable goal for this hierachy. Also, in the absence of a mindblowing heuristically powerful reconceptualization of biology, I think we might as well pay attention to the stodgy vision that persists in the names of university departments, academic societies and majors. This is an encyclopedia after all, and this article is sort of a table of contents.(BTW, did you know you can sign and date your posts by typing four tildes ("~")) 168... 06:22, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)

What's the difference between a linkage map and a genetic map? Rikurzhen 01:41, Oct 14, 2003 (UTC)

A linkage map is just one kind of genetic map, as I use the terms. e.g. I think before they sequenced the whole human genome, the public project produced (to misunderstood fanfare) a map of the human genome, which they made bybreaking it into fragments (contigs) and sequencing their ends. No linkage analysis involved there, but you get a "genetic map." 168... 02:52, 14 Oct 2003 (UTC)

What you call a "linkage map" I'd call a genetic map -- distances measured in map units or centi-Morgans. What you call a "genetic map" I'd call a physical map -- distances measured in base pairs. Rikurzhen 21:24, Oct 14, 2003 (UTC)

Ughh. You're right. I was thinking of a physical map. I knew this once. O.K., so to take another stab at your excellent original question: There's no difference.

That said, we might want a disambiguation page, because I know people sometimes use the terms "linkage map" and "genetic map" as well as "genetic linkage map." Also, there should probably be a physical map article. 168... 22:10, 14 Oct 2003 (UTC)

A disambiguation page would be great. I think genetic map is often used in the popular press to mean physical map ... much as gene is often used where allele or locus is meant. Rikurzhen 23:38, Oct 14, 2003 (UTC)

I agree that this paragraph is probably unnecessary and redundant:

 * As was done with the topic optical phenomenon I suggest the topic biological phenomenon from which numerous topics and links may be developed.

but it probably should be moved here, so that it can be discussed. The aforementioned page is pretty sparse and could be merged here, but perhaps the original author intended it as a list of everyday macroscopic biological phenomenon, which seems to be the purpose of optical phenomenon. If so, it could serve some purpose, albeit renamed so as not to be confused with a basic topics list like this one or a comprehensive list such as list of biology topics. --Lexor 09:19, 26 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Yes, a good or more diplomatic idea than my deletion. I'm sorry I didn't move it here myself. 168... 17:07, 26 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Virus
Should viruses be listed under the heading "Life forms", let alone being the first entry thereunder? I'm of the opinion myself that the listing is appropriate, but I've come across controversies both inside and outside wikipedia that lead me to this question.

Regards, Courtland 03:43, 2005 Apr 5 (UTC)

I just spent several hours re-organizing this basic topics in biology list. I'm not sure just how many additional articles went in, but it feels like it's more than 100. For those who think this is excessive for a "basic" list, I'll quietly point out that in the Dewey Decimal system for cataloging library books, the numbers 560-599 serve the biological sciences, while the rest of the 500's ( 500-559) serve the all of the remaining natural sciences (from math and physics to chemistry, astronomy, and geoscience). When you look at it that way, the list is not inordinately long. However, to make the list easier to use, I've grouped the topics into larger sections. Undoubtedly, there is more than one way to divide the categories, so my primary concern was to end up with sections of roughly the same size.

Major rename proposal of certain "lists" to "outlines"
See Village pump (proposals). The Transhumanist 01:15, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Rename proposal for this page and all the pages of the set this page belongs to
See the proposal at the Village pump The Transhumanist 09:09, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Guidelines for outlines
Guidelines for the development of outlines are being drafted at Outlines.

Your input and feedback is welcomed and encouraged. The Transhumanist 00:31, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

The "History of" section needs links!
Please add some relevant links to the history section.

Links can be found in the "History of" article for this subject, in the "History of" category for this subject, or in the corresponding navigation templates. Or you could search for topics on Google - most topics turn blue when added to Wikipedia as internal links. The Transhumanist 00:31, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Quick explanation of Wikipedia outlines
"Outline" is short for "hierarchical outline". There are two types of outlines: sentence outlines (like those you made in school to plan a paper), and topic outlines (like the topical synopses that professors hand out at the beginning of a college course). Outlines on Wikipedia are primarily topic outlines that serve 2 main purposes: they provide taxonomical classification of subjects showing what topics belong to a subject and how they are related to each other (via their placement in the tree structure), and as subject-based tables of contents linked to topics in the encyclopedia. The hierarchy is maintained through the use of heading levels and indented bullets. See Outlines for a more in-depth explanation. The Transhumanist 00:03, 9 August 2015 (UTC)

Math
Quadratic equations 175.176.85.142 (talk) 04:48, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Outline of biology


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British thermal unit

The British thermal unit (Btu) is a measure of heat, which is a form of energy. It was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. It is also part of the United States customary units. The SI unit for energy is the joule (J); one Btu equals about 1,055 J (varying within the range of 1,054–1,060 J depending on the specific definition of BTU; see below).

While units of heat are often supplanted by energy units in scientific work, they are still used in some fields. For example, in the United States the price of natural gas is quoted in dollars per the amount of natural gas that would give 1 million Btu (1 "MMBtu") of heat energy if burned.

Definitions
A Btu was originally defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmospheric unit. There are several different definitions of the Btu that differ slightly. This reflects the fact that the temperature change of a mass of water due to the addition of a specific amount of heat (calculated in energy units, usually joules) depends slightly upon the water's initial temperature. As seen in the table below, definitions of the Btu based on different water temperatures vary by up to 0.5%.

Prefixes
Units of kBtu are used in building energy use tracking and heating system sizing. Energy Use Index (EUI) represents kBtu per square foot of conditioned floor area. "k" stands for 1,000.

The unit Mbtu is used in natural gas and other industries to indicate 1,000 Btu. However, there is an ambiguity in that the metric system (SI) uses the prefix "M" to indicate 'Mega-', one million (1,000,000). Even so, "MMbtu" is often used to indicate one million Btu particularly in the oil and gas industry.

Energy analysts accustomed to the metric "k" ('kilo-') for 1,000 are more likely to use MBtu to represent one million, especially in documents where M represents one million in other energy or cost units, such as MW, MWh and $.

The unit 'therm' is used to represent 100,000 Btu. A decatherm is 10 therms or one MMBtu (million Btu). The unit quad is commonly used to represent one quadrillion (1015) Btu.

Conversions
One Btu is approximately:
 * 1.0000 Btu (kilojoules)
 * 1.0000 Btu (watt hours)
 * 1.0000 Btu (calories)
 * 1.0000 Btu (kilocalories)
 * 25,031 to 25,160 ft⋅pdl (foot-poundal)
 * 1.0000 Btu (foot-pounds-force)
 * 5.40395 (lbf/in2)⋅ft3

A Btu can be approximated as the heat produced by burning a single wooden kitchen match or as the amount of energy it takes to lift a 1 lb weight 778 ft.

For natural gas

 * In natural gas pricing, the Canadian definition is that $5⁄9$ ≡ $5⁄9$.
 * The energy content (high or low heating value) of a volume of natural gas varies with the composition of the natural gas, which means there is no universal conversion factor for energy to volume. 1 ft3 of average natural gas yields ≈ 1,030 Btu (between 1,010 Btu and 1,070 Btu, depending on quality, when burned)
 * As a coarse approximation, 1000 ft3 of natural gas yields ≈ $5/9$ ≈ $1,000,000 Btu$.
 * For natural gas price conversion $1.055 GJ$ ≈ 36.9 million Btu and $1,000,000 Btu$ ≈ $1 GJ$

BTU/h
The SI unit of power for heating and cooling systems is the watt. Btu per hour (Btu/h) is sometimes used in North America and the United Kingdom - the latter for air conditioning mainly, though "Btu/h" is sometimes abbreviated to just "Btu". MBH—thousands of Btu per hour—is also common.

 * 1 W is approximately 1 W
 * 1,000 Btu/h is approximately 1000 Btu/h
 * 1 hp is approximately 1 hp

Associated units

 * 1 ton of cooling, a common unit in North American refrigeration and air conditioning applications, is 12,000 Btu/h. It is the rate of heat transfer needed to freeze 1 ST of water into ice in 24 hours.
 * In the United States and Canada, the R-value that describes the performance of thermal insulation is typically quoted in square foot degree Fahrenheit hours per British thermal unit (ft2⋅°F⋅h/Btu). For one square foot of the insulation, one Btu per hour of heat flows across the insulator for each degree of temperature difference across it.
 * 1 therm is defined in the United States and European Union as 100,000 Btu—but the U.S. uses the Btu59 °F while the EU uses the BTUIT. United Kingdom regulations were amended to replace therms with joules with effect from 1 January 2000. the therm is still used in natural gas pricing in the United Kingdom.
 * 1 quad (short for quadrillion Btu) is 1015 Btu, which is about 1 exajoule ($1,000 m3$). Quads are used in the United States for representing the annual energy consumption of large economies: for example, the U.S. economy used 99.75 quads in 2005. One quad/year is about 33.43 gigawatts.

The Btu should not be confused with the Board of Trade Unit (BTU), an obsolete UK synonym for kilowatt hour (1 kW.h).

The Btu is often used to express the conversion-efficiency of heat into electrical energy in power plants. Figures are quoted in terms of the quantity of heat in Btu required to generate 1 kW⋅h of electrical energy. A typical coal-fired power plant works at 10500 Btu/kWh, an efficiency of 32–33%.

The centigrade heat unit (CHU) is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one Celsius degree. It is equal to 1.8 Btu or 1,899 joules. In 1974, this unit was "still sometimes used" in the United Kingdom as an alternative to Btu.

Another legacy unit for energy in the metric system is the calorie, which is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

title: British thermal unit


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Bugatti

Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and numerous race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car.

The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow to the marque, and the death of his son Jean in 1939 meant that there was no successor to lead the factory with no more than about 8,000 cars made. The company struggled financially, and it released one last model in the 1950s before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in 1963.

In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it as Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.

Under Ettore Bugatti
The founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan, Italy, and the automobile company that bears his name was founded in 1909 in Molsheim located in the Alsace region which was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1919. The company was known both for the level of detail of its engineering in its automobiles, and for the artistic manner in which the designs were executed, given the artistic nature of Ettore's family (his father, Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940), was an important Art Nouveau furniture and jewelry designer).

World War I and its aftermath
During the war Ettore Bugatti was sent away, initially to Milan and later to Paris, but as soon as hostilities had been concluded he returned to his factory at Molsheim. Less than four months after the Versailles Treaty formalised the transfer of Alsace from Germany to France, Bugatti was able to obtain, at the last minute, a stand at the 15th Paris motor show in October 1919. He exhibited three light cars, all of them closely based on their pre-war equivalents, and each fitted with the same overhead camshaft 4-cylinder 1,368cc engine with four valves per cylinder. Smallest of the three was a "Type 13" with a racing body (constructed by the Bugatti themselves) and using a chassis with a 2000 mm wheelbase. The others were a "Type 22" and a "Type 23" with wheelbases of 2250 and 2400 mm respectively.

Racing successes

The company also enjoyed great success in early Grand Prix motor racing: in 1929, a privately entered Bugatti won the first ever Monaco Grand Prix. Bugatti's racing success culminated with driver Jean-Pierre Wimille winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice (in 1937 with Robert Benoist and in 1939 with Pierre Veyron).

Bugatti cars were extremely successful in racing. The little Bugatti Type 10 swept the top four positions at its first race. The 1924 Bugatti Type 35 is one of the most successful racing cars - developed by Bugatti with master engineer and racing driver Jean Chassagne who also drove it in the car's first ever Grand Prix in 1924 Lyon. Bugattis swept to victory in the Targa Florio for five years straight from 1925 through 1929. Louis Chiron held the most podiums in Bugatti cars, and the modern marque revival Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. named the 1999 Bugatti 18/3 Chiron concept car in his honour. But it was the final racing success at Le Mans that is most remembered—Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron won the 1939 race with just one car and meagre resources.

Aeroplane racing
In the 1930s, Ettore Bugatti got involved in the creation of a racer airplane, hoping to beat the Germans in the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize. This would be the Bugatti 100P, which never flew. It was designed by Belgian engineer Louis de Monge who had already applied Bugatti Brescia engines in his "Type 7.5" lifting body.

Railcar
Ettore Bugatti also designed a successful motorised railcar, the Autorail Bugatti.

Family tragedy
The death of Ettore Bugatti's son, Jean Bugatti, on 11 August 1939 marked a turning point in the company's fortunes as he died while testing a Type 57 tank-bodied race car near the Molsheim factory.

After World War II
World War II left the Molsheim factory in ruins and the company lost control of the property. During the war, Bugatti planned a new factory at Levallois, a northwestern suburb of Paris. After the war, Bugatti designed and planned to build a series of new cars, including the Type 73 road car and Type 73C single seat racing car, but in all Bugatti built only five Type 73 cars.

Development of a 375 cc supercharged car was stopped when Ettore Bugatti died on 21 August 1947. Following his death, the business declined further and made its last appearance as a business in its own right at a Paris Motor Show in October 1952.

After a long decline, the original incarnation of Bugatti ceased operations in 1952.

Design
Bugatti models are known to focus on design. Engine blocks were hand scraped to ensure that the surfaces were flat so that gaskets were not required for sealing, and many of the exposed surfaces of the engine compartment featured guilloché finishes on them. Safety wires were threaded through most fasteners in intricately laced patterns. Rather than bolt the springs to the axles as most manufacturers did, Bugatti's axles were forged such that the spring passed through an opening in the axle, a much more elegant solution requiring fewer parts. Bugatti himself described his competitor Bentley's cars as "the world's fastest lorries" for focusing on durability. According to Bugatti, "weight was the enemy".

Notable finds in the modern era
Relatives of Harold Carr found a rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante when cataloguing the doctor's belongings after his death in 2009. Carr's Type 57S is notable because it was originally owned by British race car driver Earl Howe. Because much of the car's original equipment is intact, it can be restored without relying on replacement parts.

On 10 July 2009, a 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type 22 which had lain at the bottom of Lake Maggiore on the border of Switzerland and Italy for 75 years was recovered from the lake. The Mullin Museum in Oxnard, California bought it at auction for $351,343 at Bonham's Rétromobile sale in Paris in 2010.

Attempts at revival
The company attempted a comeback under Roland Bugatti in the mid-1950s with the mid-engined Type 251 race car. Designed with help from Gioacchino Colombo, the car failed to perform to expectations and the company's attempts at automobile production were halted.

In the 1960s, Virgil Exner designed a Bugatti as part of his "Revival Cars" project. A show version of this car was actually built by Ghia using the last Bugatti Type 101 chassis, and was shown at the 1965 Turin Motor Show. Finance was not forthcoming, and Exner then turned his attention to a revival of Stutz.

Bugatti continued manufacturing airplane parts and was sold to Hispano-Suiza, also a former auto maker turned aircraft supplier, in 1963. Snecma took over Hispano-Suiza in 1968. After acquiring Messier, Snecma merged Messier and Bugatti into Messier-Bugatti in 1977.

Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. (1987–1995)
Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli acquired the Bugatti brand in 1987, and established Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.. Artioli commissioned architect Giampaolo Benedini to design the factory which was built in Campogalliano, Modena, Italy. Construction of the plant began in 1988, alongside the development of the first model, and it was inaugurated two years later—in 1990. By 1989, the plans for the new Bugatti revival were presented by Paolo Stanzani and Marcello Gandini, designers of the Lamborghini Miura and Lamborghini Countach.

The first production vehicle was the Bugatti EB110 GT which featured a 3.5-litre, 5-valve per cylinder, quad-turbocharged 60° V12 engine, a six-speed gearbox, and four-wheel drive. Stanzani proposed an aluminium honeycomb chassis, which was used for all early prototypes. He and president Artioli clashed over engineering decisions so Stanzani left the project and Artioli sought Nicola Materazzi to replace him in June 1990. Materazzi, who had been the chief designer for the Ferrari 288 GTO and Ferrari F40 replaced the aluminium chassis with a carbon fibre one manufactured by Aerospatiale and also altered the torque distribution of the car from 40:60 to 27:73. He remained Director until late 1992. Racing car designer Mauro Forghieri served as Bugatti's technical director from 1993 through 1994. On 27 August 1993, through his holding company, ACBN Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, Romano Artioli purchased Lotus Cars from General Motors. Plans were made to list Bugatti shares on international stock exchanges.

Bugatti presented a prototype large saloon called the EB112 in 1993.

Perhaps the most famous Bugatti EB110 owner was seven-time Formula One World Champion racing driver Michael Schumacher who purchased an EB110 in 1994. Schumacher sold his EB110, which had been repaired after a severe 1994 crash, to Modena Motorsport, a Ferrari service and race preparation garage in Germany.

By the time the EB110 came to market, the North American and European economies were in recession. Poor economic conditions caused the company to fail and operations ceased in September 1995. A model specific to the US market called the "Bugatti America" was in the preparatory stages when the company ceased operations.

Bugatti's liquidators sold Lotus Cars to Proton of Malaysia. German firm Dauer Racing purchased the EB110 licence and remaining parts stock in 1997 in order to produce five more EB110 SS vehicles. These five SS versions of the EB110 were greatly refined by Dauer. The Campogalliano factory was sold to a furniture-making company, which became defunct prior to moving in, leaving the building unoccupied. After Dauer stopped producing cars in 2011, Toscana-Motors GmbH of Germany purchased the remaining parts stock from Dauer.

Ex vice-president Jean-Marc Borel and ex-employees Federico Trombi, Gianni Sighinolfi and Nicola Materazzi established the B Engineering company and designed and built the Edonis using the chassis and engine from the Bugatti EB110 SS, but simplifying the turbocharging system and driveline (from 4WD to 2WD).

Pre-Veyron
Volkswagen Group acquired the Bugatti brand in 1998. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. commissioned Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign to produce Bugatti Automobiles's first concept vehicle, the EB118, a coupé that debuted at the 1998 Paris Auto Show. The EB118 concept featured a 408 kW, W-18 engine. After its Paris debut, the EB118 concept was shown again in 1999 at the Geneva Auto Show and the Tokyo Motor Show. Bugatti introduced its next concepts, the EB 218 at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show and the 18/3 Chiron at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA).

Veyron era (2005–2015)
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. began assembling its first regular-production vehicle, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (the 1001 PS super car with an 8-litre W-16 engine with four turbochargers) in September 2005 at the Bugatti Molsheim, France assembly "studio". On 23 February 2015, Bugatti sold its last Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, which was named La Finale.

Chiron era (2016–present)
The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engined, two-seated sports car, designed by Achim Anscheidt, developed as the successor to the Bugatti Veyron. The Chiron was first revealed at the Geneva Motor Show on March 1, 2016.

In February 2024, Bugatti announced the successor to the Chiron, which will use a V16 hybrid-electric powertrain. In June of 2024 the successor was confirmed as the Bugatti Tourbillon.

title: Bugatti