Largest Cemetery

The world’s largest cemetery is the Wadi al Sallam (valley of peace) in Najaf, Iraq. It spans an area over 6 square kilometers. More than 5 million people are buried at the site. Many more are being buried there almost everyday.

Other Facts about Wadi al Sallam

Wadi al Sallam is where Shiites often ask to be buried. Whether they are from Bahrain, India, Pakistan, Iran or Iraq, they prefer this place so they can be near to the mosque. Historically speaking, the city and mosque is of great importance to the Shiite Muslims.

A visit to the site will show acres and acres of graves. There are also many domes in different conditions. Among the Shiites, it is regarded as the holiest burial place in the world.

During the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein barred corpses from other places from being buried there. This was resumed after he fell from power. At least 100 funerals are conducted daily.

While many people believe this is the world’s largest cemetery, others think it cannot be considered a single burial site. In this case, the biggest would be Ohlsdorf Cemetery.

Ohlsdorf Cemetery

The burial site is located in Hamburg, Germany. The site covers an area over 391 hectares (966 acres). There are more than 1.4 million burials set over 250,000 burial sites. There are a dozen chapels. The streets are 11 miles (17 km) long.

The cemetery has half a dozen memorial sites for the Nazi era victims. The site was established in 1877. It was built as a non religious and multi-regional burial ground. The Monument for the Victims of Nazi Persecution is situated not far from the “new crematorium”. This was built in 1949.

The names of the 25 concentration camps are set on a stele in front. The nearby gravesite has over 100 above-ground urns. 29 more are buried. All of these hold the ashes of people who died at the Nazi concentration camps. The memorial came about from the 7 day memorial held in November 1945.

Biggest Cemetery in the US

It is Calverton National Cemetery in eastern Long Island Suffolk County, New York. There are over 200,000 interments. The site covers 1,045 acres (4.23 km2). It is the third busiest cemetery in the US.

It should be pointed out that some people believe the world’s largest cemetery ever was the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp. An estimated 1.6 million were executed there.