Mansour district

Al Mansour District Baghdad 2010 - panoramio

Al Mansour district[1] (Arabic: المنصور، بغداد‎) is one of the nine administrative districts in Baghdad, Iraq. It is in western Baghdad and is bounded on the east by Karkh district in central Baghdad, to the north by Kadhimiya, to the west by Baghdad International Airport, and to the south by Baghdad Airport Road, on the other side of which is Al Rashid district.

Description

Statue of Abu Jaafar al-Mansur by sculptor, Khaled al-Rahal. Statue was formerly located in the Mansour district, but was destroyed by bomb blast in 2003

Al Mansour is named after Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, the second Abbasid Caliph and founder of Baghdad. As of 2015, Mansour district is one of the more heavily Sunni populated districts of Baghdad mostly due to an influx of internally displaced people from the overwhelmingly Sunni populated Anbar province due to the Iraqi Civil War, most of population of the district however are Shia Muslims.[2][3]

Mansour was traditionally an affluent area where wealthy Sunni families lived. It was also known as the "embassies district" due to the many foreign embassies situated there. It is a place which attracted shoppers seeking luxury imported goods and upmarket services including restaurants, cafes and entertainment. However, between 2003 and 2007, it became a place where the Shia militia was very active, resulting in street violence and bombings which forced many Sunnis to leave the district.[4] Gradually, as the situation in Baghdad stabilises, up-market shopping malls are returning to the area.[5]

Al-Mansour Statue

A bronze bust of Abu Jafar al-Mansur was erected in the Mansour district in 1976 and was designed to serve as a link between Iraq's illustrious past and its bright future.[6] The work of Iraqi sculptor, Khaled al-Rahal, the bust was irreparably damaged by bomb blast in 2003 and was dismantled in 2005. [7]

Neighborhoods

See also

References

  1. ↑ Salbi, Zainab (2009-09-04). "Little House in the War Zone". New York Times.
  2. ↑ "The Gulf/2000 Project - SIPA - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY". gulf2000.columbia.edu. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ↑ http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Baghdad_Ethnic_2015_lg.png
  4. ↑ "Baghdad Neighbourhoods" Institute for the Study of War, Online:
  5. ↑ "In Baghdad, Iraqis embrace return to normalcy, with eye on its fragility", CS Monitor, 7 May, 2018, Online:
  6. ↑ Baram, A., Culture, History and Ideology in the Formation of Ba'thist Iraq,1968-89, Springer, 1991, p. 77; Nada Shabout, "The "Free" Art of Occupation: Images for a "New" Iraq," Arab Studies Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 3/4, pp. 41-53, Online:
  7. ↑ "Mosque Blast Blow to Iraq treasures," Aljazeera, Online:

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