Babil Governorate

Babil Governorate or Babylon Province is a governorate in central Iraq. It has an area of 5119km2, with an estimated population of 1,651,565 people in 2002. The provincial capital is the city of Hillah, which lies opposite the ancient city of Babylon, on the Euphrates river.GovernmentGovernor: Sadiq Madlool Hamad Jasim (Elected April 20, 2013; 6th Governor of Babylon)Deputy Governor: Wisam Asslan S'oud MashhadProvincial Council Chairman (PCC): Ra'ad Hamza Alwan AbboodHistoryThe ancient city of Babylon in present-day Babylon Province was the capital of ancient Babylonia, situated on the Euphrates river south of Baghdad, Iraq.The city was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC but became important early in the 2nd millennium under the kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The sixth king of this dynasty was Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC) who made Babylon the capital of a vast empire and is best remembered for his code of laws.The city achieved pre-eminence when Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC) extended the Babylonian Empire over most of Western Asia.