Karbala (Arabic: كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ; Persian: کربلا) or Kerbala is a city in focal Iraq, situated around 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Baghdad, and a couple of dozen miles east of Lake Milh. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an expected populace of 700,000 individuals (2015). The city, best known as the area of the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE, or the Mosques of Imam Husayn and Abbas, is viewed as a heavenly city for Shi'ite Muslims similarly as Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. A huge number of Shi'ite Muslims visit the site two times per year, matching Mecca as a position of pilgrimage. The suffering of Husayn ibn Ali is recognized every year by a great many Shi'ites. Up to 8 million pioneers visit the city to watch 'Āshūrā' (the tenth day of the long stretch of Muharram), which denotes the commemoration of Husayn's passing, yet the headliner is the Arba'īn (the 40th day after Ashura), where up to 30 million visit the sacred graves.