Alawite

:Note: The terms Alawi and Alevi, although related, refer to different religious groups, the latter based in Turkey.

Population

Traditionally Alawites live in the mountains along the Mediterranean coast of Syria; Latakia and Tartous are the region's principal cities. Alawites are also concentrated in the plains around Hama and Homs. Today Alawites also live in all major cities of Syria. They were never estimated at more than 11% of the Syrian population. Before 1953, they had reserved seats in the Syrian Parliament, like all other religious communities. After that, including for the 1960 census, there were only general Muslim and Christian categories, without mention of subgroups in order to reduce 'communalism' (taïfiyya).

Related Topics:
Mediterranean - Syria - Latakia - Tartous - Hama - Homs - Communalism

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There are about 2,000 Alawites in the Israeli-occupied Golan, alongside Druzes and Circassians.

Related Topics:
Golan - Druzes - Circassians

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There are also fewer than 200,000 Alawites who live in Lebanon, where the Taif agreement of 1989 gave them 2 reserved seats in the Parliament (Alawites are recognized as one of the 18 official Lebanese sects), and others who live in the Hatay, Adana, and Mersin provinces of southern Turkey, where they are still called Nusayri in order not to confuse them with Alevis, who are descended from the Kizilbash, a Sufi-Shi`a offshoot with connections to early Safavid Iran.

Related Topics:
Lebanon - Taif agreement - Hatay - Adana - Mersin - Turkey - Alevis

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