Al-Safsafah (Arabic: الصفصافة) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located southeast of Tartus and 13 kilometers north of the border with Lebanon. Nearby localities include Ayn al-Zibdeh and Kafr Fo to the southeast, al-Tulay'i to the east, Buwaydet al-Suwayqat to the northeast, Beit al-Shaykh Yunes to the north, Ayn al-Zarqa to the northwest and al-Hamidiyah to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Safsafah had a population of 6,011 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Safsafah nahiyah ("sub-district") which contained 19 localities with a collective population of 23,416 in 2004.[1] The inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.[2]
Al-Safsafah
الصفصافة | |
|---|---|
  Al-Safsafah | |
| Coordinates: 34°44′7″N 36°3′10″E / 34.73528°N 36.05278°E | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Tartus |
| District | Tartus |
| Subdistrict | Al-Safsafah |
| Population (2004)[1] | |
• Total | 6,011 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
History
editOne of the principle families of the town are the Abbas family. They formerly served as aghawat ("local military leaders") during the Ottoman era.[2]
The al-Safsafah subdistrict was detached from the Safita District and transferred to the Tartus District in 1970. During the presidency of Hafez al-Assad (1970-2000), al-Safsafah and the coastal subdistrict center of al-Hamidiyah competed for the role of capital in a newly planned mantiqah ("district") consisting of the Akkar plain of Syria. Although no new district has yet been created, in 1994 a branch of the Agricultural Bank of Syria was opened in al-Safsafah, which is normally reserved for district capitals.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b General Census of Population and Housing 2004[permanent dead link]. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Tartus Governorate. (in Arabic)
- ^ a b c Balanche, Fabrice (2006). La région alaouite et le pouvoir syrien (PDF) (in French). Karthala Editions. ISBN 2845868189.