Southern Palace

Babylon was the ancient city where some of the most influential empires of the ancient world ruled. It was the capital of the Babylonian Empire and it was considered to be a center of commerce, art, and learning and is estimated to have been the largest early city in the world, perhaps the first to reach a population above 200,000.Presently it is an archeological site and only has several thousand residents and a few villages within the archeological boundaries, although constructions have increased rapidly in recent years with some encroaching on the ruins. The archeological site lies approximately 85 kilometers south of present-day Baghdad in Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, and its boundaries have been based on the perimeter of the ancient outer city walls, an area of about 1054.3 hectares. Babylon was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and receives thousands of visitors each year, almost all of which are Iraqis.