Damascus Governorate

Municipalities

Main article: Municipalities of Damascus

Geography

Damascus occupies a strategic location on a plateau which rises 680 m (2,230 ft) above sea level and about 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Mediterranean, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon mountains, supplied with water by the Barada River. The Anti-Lebanon mountains which mark the border between Syria and Lebanon, block precipitation from the Mediterranean sea, so that the region of Damascus is sometimes subject to droughts. However, in ancient times this was mitigated by the Barada River, which originates from mountain streams fed by melting snow. Damascus is surrounded by the Ghouta, an irrigated farmland where many vegetables, cereals, and fruits have been farmed since ancient times.

The governorate occupies an area of 107 km2, 79 km2 of which is urban while the rest is occupied by Mount Qasioun which overlooks the city.

Climate

Damascus has a cold desert climate (BWk) in Köppen-Geiger system, due to the rain shadow effect of the Anti-Lebanon mountains{{cite web |access-date=26 November 2010

| Jan record high C = 24.0 | Feb record high C = 29.0 | Mar record high C = 34.4 | Apr record high C = 38.4 | May record high C = 41.0 | Jun record high C = 44.8 | Jul record high C = 46.0 | Aug record high C = 44.6 | Sep record high C = 42.0 | Oct record high C = 37.8 | Nov record high C = 31.0 | Dec record high C = 25.1 |year record high C = 46.0 | Jan record low C = −12.2 | Feb record low C = −12.0 | Mar record low C = −8.0 | Apr record low C = −7.5 | May record low C = 0.6 | Jun record low C = 4.5 | Jul record low C = 9.0 | Aug record low C = 8.6 | Sep record low C = 2.1 | Oct record low C = -3.0 | Nov record low C = −8.0 | Dec record low C = −10.2 |year record low C = -12.2 | access-date = 26 April 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171009220956/ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/TABLES/REG_VI/SY/40080.TXT | archive-date = 2017-10-09 | url-status = dead | access-date = 26 April 2017}}

Demographics

By the end of 2011, Damascus's population reached 1,754,000. This amounts to 8% of Syria's population. It is composed of 95% Arabs, 4% Kurds, and 1% other ethnicities, including Palestinians, Armenians, Assyrians, Turkmen, Circassians, and Chechens.

As for religious composition, Sunni Muslims made up the absolute majority with 90% of the governorate, while Alawites made up 5%, Christians (mainly Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox) made up 3%, Twelver Shia Muslims made up 1%, the Druze made up 0.3%, and Ismaili Muslims made up 0.1%.

References

References

1. (11 December 2024). "'A different Syria' will emerge, says de facto governor of Damascus". Reuters.
2. "Damascus metro population 2022". macrotrends.net.
3. M. Kottek. (2006). "World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated". Meteorol. Z..