Tartus Governorate

Tartus Governorate مُحافظة طرطوس
Governorate
Map of Syria with Tartus highlighted
Coordinates (Tartus): 35°N 36°E / 35°N 36°E / 35; 36
Country	Syria
Capital	Tartus
Manatiq (Districts)	5
Government
• Governor	Firas Ahmed Al-Hamid[1]
Area
• Total	1,892 km2 (731 sq mi)
	Estimates range between 1,890 km2 and 1,892 km2
Population  (2011)
• Total	797,000
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	SY-TA
Main language(s)	Arabic

Tartus Governorate, also transliterated as Tartous Governorate, (Arabic: مُحافظة طرطوس / ALA-LC: Muḥāfaẓat Ṭarṭūs) is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Latakia Governorate to the north, Homs and Hama Governorates to the east, Lebanon to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It is one of the few governorates in Syria that has an Alawite majority. Sources list the area as 1,890 km^2[2] or 1,892 km²,^[3] with its capital being Tartus.

• Al-Kahf Castle – Isma'ili castle
• Hosn Sulaiman
• Aleika Castle – Isma'ili castle
• Amrit – Phoenician city
• Chastel Rouge (Qal’at Yahmur) – Crusader castle
• Hosn Suleiman
• Margat – Crusader castle
• Citadel of Arwad
• Tell Kazel – Bronze age site (possibly the ancient city of Sumur)
• Carne – Phoenician city
• Chastel Blanc
• Citadel of Tartus
• Burj Al-Sabi

Tartus comprises roughly half of Syria's Mediterranean coastline; offshore lie five small islands, the largest of which is Arwad.^[4] Inland the terrain is mountainous, comprising a section of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range (Nusayriyah Mountains).^[5] The Nahr al-Kabir river forms the border with Lebanon to the south.^[6]

Tartus is the regional capital; other major settlements include Al-Hamidiyah, Al Qadmus, Al-Sawda, Ayn ash Shams, Baniyas, Qusaybah and Safita.

Tartus

Duraykish

Baniyas

Shaykh Badr

Safita

The governorate is divided into five districts (manatiq). The districts are further divided into 27 sub-districts (nawahi):^{[citation needed]}

As per the 2004 Syrian census the population was 701,400.^[2] A 2011 UNOCHA estimate put the population at 797,000, though this has likely changed since the start of the war.^[7]

The majority at 72% are Alawites, 7% Sunni Muslim, 8% Ismaili, and 13% Christian.^[8] There is a small Cretan Greek community concentrated in Al-Hamidiyah, the descendants of refugees who fled the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.^[9]

• 
  Map of Tartus governorate
• 
  Safita
• 
  Mountains near Kaff al-Jaa
• 
  Margat Castle
• 
  Al Kafrun
• 
  Arwad Castle

• etartus The First Complete website for Tartus news and services