Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. - Genesis 11:9
Babel was the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom in the land of Shinar. As people migrated there from the east, they settled in a plain and built a city and the tower of Babel. From there, God confused their language and dispersed them over all the earth.
The beginning of Nimrod's kingdom
Nimrod was a mighty man and a mighty hunter before the Lord. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
The nations are dispersed from Babel
The whole earth had one language. As people migrated from the east, they settled in a plain in the land of Shinar. They said, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly," using brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
When the Lord came down to see the city and tower, He said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” The Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Its name was called Babel.