Damascus

:This article is about Damascus, the capital of Syria. See Damascus (disambiguation) for alternate meanings.

Geography

Damascus lies about 80 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. It lies on a plateau 680 meters above sea-level. Damascus is located at 33°30' North, 36°18' East (33.5, 36.3). http://earth-info.nga.mil/gns/html/cntry_files.html

Related Topics:
Mediterranean Sea - Anti-Lebanon

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The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, lies on the south bank of the river Barada. To the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages: Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These districts originally arose on roads leading out of the city, near the tombs of religious figures. In the nineteenth century outlying villages developed on the slopes of Jabal Qasioun, overlooking the city, already the site of the Salihiyye district centred around the important shrine of Sheikh Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi. These new districts were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule. Thus they were known as al-Akrad ((the Kurds)) and al-Muhajirin ((the migrants)). They lay two to three kilometres north of the old city.

Related Topics:
Barada - Midan - Sarouja - Imara - Jabal Qasioun - Salihiyye - Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi - Al-Muhajirin

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From the late nineteenth century on, a modern administrative and commercial centre began to spring up to the west of the old city, around the Barada, centred on the area known as al-merjeh or the meadow. Al-Merjeh soon became the name of what was initially the central square of modern Damascus, with the city hall on it. The courts of justice, post office and railway station stood on higher ground slightly to the south. A Europeanised residential quarter soon began to be built on the road leading between al-Merjeh and . The commercial and administrative centre of the new city gradually shifted northwards slightly towards this area.

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In the twentieth century, newer suburbs developed north of the Barada, and to some extent to the south, invading the Ghouta oasis. From 1955 the new district of Yarmouk became a second home to thousands of Palestinian refugees. City planners preferred to preserve the Ghouta as far as possible, and in the later twentieth century some of the main areas of development were to the north, in the western Mezze district and most recently along the Barada valley in Dumar in the northwest and on the slopes of the mountains at Berze in the north-east. Poorer areas, often built without official approval, have mostly developed south of the main city.

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Damascus is surrounded by an oasis, the Ghouta (الغوطة), watered by the Barada. The Fijeh spring, west along the Barada valley, provides the city with drinking water. The Ghouta oasis has been decreasing in size with the rapid expansion of housing and industry in the city. It has also become polluted due to the city's traffic, industry, and sewage.

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