As of 2015, which country had the world’s largest urban cemetery?

At 1,485.5 acres, holding the mortal remains of more than 5 million souls, Wadi Al-Saalam, “Valley of Peace” in Arabic, has been in daily operation for more than 14 centuries. Located within Najaf, which is holy to Shia Muslims, it occupies 15% of that city. It is close to the shrine of the first Shia Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Millions of pilgrims visit each year. Many Shiites in Iran and around the world request burial in the Valley and, according to tradition, Abraham purchased the land for the cemetery and Imam Ali called it a part of Heaven. According to some believers, Ali can intercede for the dead and assuage their suffering during passage from this life to the next.

Early in the 20th Century, about 20,000 bodies were buried there each year. Today, that estimate is a half million bodies annually. As space for interment declines and violence in the region continues, it has been reported that many plots are being illegally resold, stolen, or appropriated.

The largest US burial ground (second-largest, globally) is Calverton National Cemetery with 1,045 acres, 212,000 interments, and more than 7,000 burials each year. Ohlsdorf Cemetery (fourth-largest, globally), Hamburg, Germany, is the world’s largest rural cemetery, with 966 acres and 1.5 million burials. Turkey’s historic, non-profit Karacaahmet Cemetery (fifth-largest, globally), on the Asian side of Istanbul, occupies 750 acres and probably holds a million bodies.