Damascus (/dəˈmæskəs/də-MASK-əs, UK also /dəˈmɑːskəs/də-MAH-skəs; Arabic: دِمَشق, romanized: Dimašq) is the capital of Syria, the oldest current capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth holiest city in Islam.[8][9][10] Known colloquially in Syria as aš-Šām (الشَّام) and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine" (مَدِيْنَةُ الْيَاسْمِينِMadīnat al-Yāsmīn),[1] Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world.
Situated in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area. Nestled among the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea level, Damascus experiences an arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.
Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.[11] First settled in the 3rd millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw its importance decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the central government of Syria. As of September 2019[update], eight years into the Syrian civil war, Damascus was named the least livable city out of 140 global cities in the Global Liveability Ranking.[12] As of June 2023[update], it was the least livable out of 173 global cities in the same Global Liveability Ranking.
^ ab"Biggest Cities In Syria". 25 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference Damascus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Almaany Team. "معنى كلمة الفَيْحَاءُ في معجم المعاني الجامع والمعجم الوسيط – معجم عربي عربي – صفحة 1". almaany.com. Retrieved 24 October 2017.[dead link]
^"Damascus population 2022". World Population Review. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
^"President al-Assad issues decrees on appointing new governors for eight Syrian provinces". SANA. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
^Albaath.news statement by the governor of Damascus, Syria Archived 16 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Arabic), April 2010
^Sub-national HDI. "Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org.
^Dumper, Michael R. T.; Stanley, Bruce E. (2007). "Damascus". In Janet L. Abu-Lughod (ed.). Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 119–126. ISBN 978-1-5760-7919-5. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
^Sarah Birke (2 August 2013), Damascus: What's Left, New York Review of Books, archived from the original on 4 December 2018, retrieved 12 May 2021
^Totah, Faedah M. (2009). "Return to the origin: negotiating the modern and unmodern in the old city of Damascus". City & Society. 21 (1): 58–81. doi:10.1111/j.1548-744X.2009.01015.x.
^Bowker, John (1 January 2003), "Damascus", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780192800947.013.1793 (inactive 31 January 2024), ISBN 978-0-19-280094-7, archived from the original on 7 April 2022, retrieved 15 January 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
^Buckley, Julia (4 September 2019). "World's most livable city revealed". CNN Travel. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
Damascus (/dəˈmæskəs/ də-MASK-əs, UK also /dəˈmɑːskəs/ də-MAH-skəs; Arabic: دِمَشق, romanized: Dimašq) is the capital of Syria, the oldest current capital...
the Iranian consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, killing 16 people, including a senior Quds Force commander of the...
The Damascus goat, also known as Aleppo, Halep, Baladi, Damascene, Shami, or Chami, is a breed of goat. It originated in Syria and was imported by the...
Damascus steel is the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of carbon steel imported from Southern India or made in...
Battle of Damascus or Siege of Damascus may refer to: Siege of Damascus (634), a siege during the Muslim conquest of Syria The Siege of Damascus, a 1720...
Damascus International Airport (Arabic: مَطَار دِمَشْق الدَّوْلِيّ, romanized: Maṭār Dimašq ad-Duwaliyy) (IATA: DAM, ICAO: OSDI) is the international airport...
University of Damascus (Arabic: جَامِعَةُ دِمَشْقَ, Jāmiʻatu Dimashq) is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses...
(also the Pauline conversion, Damascene conversion, Damascus Christophany and the "road to Damascus" event) was, according to the New Testament, an event...
Damascus Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة دمشق Muḥāfaẓat Dimashq) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. Completely surrounded by the Rif...
To Damascus (Swedish: Till Damaskus), also known as The Road to Damascus, is a trilogy of plays by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. The first...
romanized: al-Jāmiʿ al-Umawī), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest...
the clan. Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, with Damascus as their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, conquering...
Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city is Damascus, followed by Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, Hama, Deirezor, and Raqqa. Arabs are...
Apollodorus of Damascus (Ancient Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Δαμασκηνός) was an architect and engineer from Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century...
The Damascus Document is an ancient Hebrew text known from both the Cairo Geniza and the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is considered one of the foundational documents...
The Damascus affair of 1840 refers to the arrest of several notable members of the Jewish community in Damascus on the accusation of murdering Father...
officials, was captured by Syrian opposition groups in the vicinity of Damascus airport. Subsequently, he was released following mediation efforts by Qatar...
Damascus Eyalet (Arabic: إيالة دمشق; Ottoman Turkish: ایالت شام, romanized: Eyālet-i Šām) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the...
to Damascus may refer to: Conversion of Paul the Apostle, an event in the Christian Bible "The Road To Damascus", an episode of Carnivàle To Damascus, a...
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός, Nikolāos Damaskēnos; Latin: Nicolaus Damascenus) was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during...
Damascus Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, is divided into two cities: the city of Damascus and the city of Yarmouk. The city of Damascus is...