Quneitra Governorate

Quneitra Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة القنيطرة‎ / ALA-LC: Muḥāfaẓat Al-Qunayṭrah) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in southern Syria, notable for the location of the Golan Heights.

The governorate borders Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. Its area varies, according to different sources, from 685 km² to 1,861 km². The governorate has a population of 87,000 (at the 2010 estimate). The nominal capital is the now abandoned city of Quneitra, destroyed by Israeli settlers in 1974; the de facto capital is Ba'ath City, a planned town built to replace Quneitra city. Most of the governorate was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and 1973 Yom Kippur War (called the October War in Arab countries) and now forms the contentious Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Syrian Civil War

Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, the Quneitra Governorate, including the UN-observed neutral zone, was subject to severe clashes between Syrian rebels and government troops, during which the rebels took control of much of the governorate.