Hillah (or Al Hillah)

Capital of Babil governorate, central Iraq, on the River Euphrates, 100 km/62 mi south of Baghdad; population (2007 est) 289,200. Hillah is a stopover place for pilgrims travelling to An Naajaf, and is a trading centre on the Baghdad–Basra railway. Hillah is the centre of a large irrigated area where barley, beans, dates, millet, rice, sesame, and wheat are grown. Other products include cotton, silk, and woollen goods.

History The city was built partly with materials taken from the nearby ruins of Babylon in 1101; the remains of two other Mesopotamian cities, Borsippa and Kush, are also in the vicinity. In the 18th and 19th centuries Hillah was an administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire; it was later ruled by the British.

Near Hillah in 1920, 300 men of the Manchester Regiment were massacred during an Arab uprising against British rule.