Basra (Arabic: ٱلْبَصْرَة, romanized: al-Baṣrah) is a city in southern Iraq located on the Shatt al-Arab. The city is a part of the Basra Governorate and is its capital. Basra is located on the Arabian Peninsula, alongside the Shatt al-Arab and Persian Gulf, which borders the Indian Ocean and is located near the Iran–Iraq border. The city's majority of population is of Shia Arab Muslims. Basra is consistently one of the hottest cities in Iraq, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 50 °C (122 °F). The hottest recorded temperature in Basra is 53.9 °C. Historically, the city is one of the ports from which the fictional Sinbad the Sailor journeyed. The city was built in 636 and played an important role in the Islamic Golden Age. It was occupied by the Safavid. During the first world war, British captured Basra and incorporated into Mandate for Mesopotamia and later Mandatory Iraq. Basra became part of independent Kingdom of Iraq in 1932. During the Ba'athist period, Basra suffered great loses during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. The city was damaged heavily during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein.