Map of Karbala, Iraq

Karbala is the administrative centre of Karbala, Iraq, with a population of about 1,218,732. It lies at 32.6160°N, 44.0249°E. Karbala is about 88 km (55 mi) southwest of Baghdad, the capital. The nearest city on our map is Al Hindīyah, 21 km to the east.

Karbala at a glance

Where is Karbala?

• The 6th largest city in Iraq by recorded population.
• Located in the Northern and Eastern hemispheres.
• Daylight ranges from about 10 h 00 min on the shortest day to 14 h 18 min on the longest day (around 21 December and 21 June).

Cities near Karbala

• Al Hindīyah — 21 km east
• Nāḩīyat Saddat al Hindīyah — 26 km northeast
• Al Musayyib — 31 km northeast
• Al Ḩillah — 41 km southeast
• Al Maḩmūdīyah — 59 km northeast
• Imam Qasim — 71 km southeast
• Najaf — 72 km southeast
• Kufa — 74 km southeast
• Abū Ghurayb — 78 km north
• Aş Şuwayrah — 78 km northeast

Largest cities in Karbala

• Al Hindīyah — 139,578

Largest cities in Iraq

• Baghdad — 7,216,000
• Al Başrah al Qadīmah — 2,015,483
• Mosul — 1,683,000
• Erbil — 1,612,700
• Basrah — 1,326,564
• Kirkuk — 1,031,000
• Abū Ghurayb — 900,000
• As Sulaymānīyah — 878,146
• Nasiriyah — 558,400
• Najaf — 482,576

Map of Iraq and all its cities →

Sources: place names, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0, data retrieved October 2026). Population figures are the latest values recorded in GeoNames; depending on the country they refer to the city proper, a municipality or a wider urban area, so they can differ from census or metro-area figures. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.