Saraqib

Saraqib (Arabic: سراقب‎ also spelled Saraqeb or Saraqueb) is a city in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located east of Idlib. It has an elevation of 370 meters above sea level. The ancient site of Ebla is situated five kilometers south of the city. Nearby localities include Mardikh and Maar Dibsah to the south, Trunbah and al-Nayrab to the west, Sarmin to the northwest, Taftanaz to the north, Talhiyah to the northeast, Tell Touqan to the east and Kafr Amim to the southeast.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Saraqib had a population of 32,495 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center and largest locality of the Saraqib nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of 24 localities that had a collective population of 88,076 in 2004. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.

History

A large community of Nawar settled in Saraqib during the Ottoman era. Along with Khan Shaykhun and Ma'arat al-Numan, Saraqib is well known for its elaborate black cotton cloth embroidery. On 26 February 1959, former president Gamal Abdel Nasser addressed the city's residents in a speech commemorating the union between Egypt and Syria forming the United Arab Republic.