Jaramana
Jaramana
جرمانا | |
---|---|
![]() Jaramana city council | |
Coordinates: 33°29′N 36°21′E / 33.483°N 36.350°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Governorate | Rif Dimashq |
District | Markaz Rif Dimashq |
Subdistrict | Jaramana |
Area | |
• City | 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi) |
• Land | 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi) |
• Water | 0 km2 (0 sq mi) 0% |
• Urban | 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi) |
Elevation | 670 m (2,200 ft) |
Population (2004 census) | |
• City | 114,363[1] |
Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Climate | BSk |
Jaramana (Arabic: جرمانا) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate in the Ghouta plain. Its location, 3 kilometers southeast of the Syrian capital, makes it a bustling town in the greater Damascus metropolitan area, with a mostly Christian and Druze population.
History
[edit]Jaramana was visited by Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the early 13th-century and noted it was "a district of the Ghautah of Damascus."[3]
In late 2012, the neoconservative Institute for the Study of War said there had been reports of Popular Committees (local self-defense militias formed to defend communities from armed extremists) and pro-government Shabiha working closely with government forces there.[4] On October 29 and November 28, 2012, the town was hit by car bombings killing over 100 civilian residents, including, several Iraqi and Palestinian refugees.
Demographics
[edit]Since 2003 and the beginning of the Iraq War, large numbers of Iraqi have immigrated to Jaramana, swelling the population from around 100,000 to over 250,000.[5] According to the 2004 official census, the population of the city was 114,363.[1]
There is also a Palestinian refugee camp near the town bearing its same name. Jaramana is a favorite destination for Iraqi Assyrian Christian refugees fleeing their unstable country. In October 2006, the Assyrian community in Jaramana finally received a priest from Mosul, Iraq. The priest, Arkan Hana Hakim, claims there are now 2,000 Assyrian Iraqi refugees in the town Jaramana alone.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b " العقارات في مدينة جرمانا الأسعار نار" ("Real estate prices in the city of Jaramana are afire") Syria Steps 13 January 2010, in Arabic, last accessed 18 September 2010
- ^ 5950 dunums (595 ha.) " العقارات في مدينة جرمانا الأسعار نار" ("Real estate prices in the city of Jaramana are afire") Syria Steps 13 January 2010, in Arabic, last accessed 18 September 2010
- ^ le Strange, 1890, p. 462.
- ^ Holliday, Joseph; Lynch, Michael (7 December 2012). "The Battle for Damascus: The Current State of Play in Syria". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- ^ "أسعار العقارات في جرمانا تتحدى الإنحدار .. والجمود لم " ("Real estate prices in Jaramana challenge Downgrade ..") De Press - Buildex Online 19 March 2009, in Arabic, last accessed 18 September 2010
- ^ "Huge increase in number of Christian Iraqis fleeing to Syria" Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine German Press Agency 12 October 2006 at The Raw Story, last accessed 18 September 2010
Bibliography
[edit]- le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.