Tartus Governorate (), officially known as Tartous Governorate, is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Latakia Governorate to the north, Homs and Hama Governorates to the east, Lebanon to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It is one of the few governorates in Syria that has an Alawite majority. Sources list the area as 1,890 km2 or 1,892 km2, with its capital being Tartus.
History The present day Tartus Governorate was part of the Alawite State, which existed from 1920 to 1936.Longrigg, Stephen Hemsley. "Syria and Lebanon Under French Mandate." London: Oxford University Press, 1958. In 1972, the Ba'athist administration had established Tartus Governorate, effectively detaching it from Latakia Governorate.
Archeological sites Al-Kahf Castle – Isma'ili castle Hosn Sulaiman Aleika Castle – Isma'ili castle Amrit – Phoenician city Chastel Rouge (Qal’at Yahmur) – Crusader castle Hosn Suleiman Margat – Crusader castle Citadel of Arwad Tell Kazel – Bronze age site (possibly the ancient city of Sumur) Carne – Phoenician city Chastel Blanc Citadel of Tartus
Geography Tartus comprises roughly half of Syria's Mediterranean coastline; offshore lie five small islands, the largest of which is Arwad. Inland the terrain is mountainous, comprising a section of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range (Nusayriyah Mountains).Federal Research Division, Library of Congress (2005) "Country Profile: Syria" page 5 The Nahr al-Kabir river forms the border with Lebanon to the south.United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia et al., "Nahr el Kabir Basin", Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia 8 PDF
Settlements Tartus is the regional capital; other major settlements include Al-Hamidiyah, Al Qadmus, Al-Sawda, Ayn ash Shams, Baniyas, Qusaybah and Safita.
Districts
The governorate is divided into five districts (manatiq). The districts are further divided into 27 sub-districts (nawahi):
Tartus District (7 sub-districts) Tartus Subdistrict Arwad Subdistrict Al-Hamidiyah Subdistrict Khirbet al-Maazah Subdistrict Al-Sawda Subdistrict Al-Karimah Subdistrict Al-Safsafah Subdistrict Baniyas District (7 sub-districts) Baniyas Subdistrict Al-Rawda Subdistrict Al-Annazah Subdistrict Al-Qadmus Subdistrict Hammam Wasel Subdistrict Al-Tawahin Subdistrict Talin Subdistrict
Duraykish District (4 sub-districts) Duraykish Subdistrict Junaynet Ruslan Subdistrict Hamin Subdistrict Dweir Ruslan Subdistrict Safita District (6 sub-districts) Safita Subdistrict Mashta al-Helu Subdistrict Al-Bariqiyah Subdistrict Sebei Subdistrict Al-Sisiniyah Subdistrict Ras al-Khashufah Subdistrict Al-Shaykh Badr District (3 sub-districts) Al-Shaykh Badr Subdistrict Brummanet al-Mashayekh Subdistrict Al-Qamsiyah Subdistrict
Demographics
As per the 2004 Syrian census the population was 701,400. A 2011 UNOCHA estimate put the population at 797,000, an estimate preceding the Syrian Civil War which caused a large population decline and socioeconomic devastation.
The estimated population of 797,000 represented roughly 4% of Syria's population at the time. The population was almost entirely ethnic Arabs; these were Alawites at 69%, 18% Sunni Muslims, 7% Ismaili Muslims, and 6% were Christians (mostly Greek Orthodox). There was a small Cretan Greek community concentrated in Al-Hamidiyah, the descendants of refugees who fled the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.Greek-Speaking Enclaves of Lebanon and Syria by Roula Tsokalidou. Proceedings II Simposio Internacional Bilingüismo. Retrieved 4 December 2006
Gallery
See also Alawite State References
External links