LATAKIA (384,000 in 2004, now 1.5million with all the immigration from the rest of Syria)
Latakia is the principal port city of Syria. Its population greatly increased as a result of the ongoing Syrian Civil War due to the influx of refugees from rebel and terrorist held areas. It is the 4th-largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus and Homs, and it borders Tartus to the south, Hama to the east, and Idlib to the north while Cape Apostolos Andreas, the most north-eastern tip of Cyprus is about 109 km away.
Although the site has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC, the city was founded in the 4th century BC under the rule of the Seleucid empire. Latakia was subsequently ruled by the Romans, then the Ummayads and Abbasids in the 8th–10th centuries of the Christian era. Under their rule, the Byzantines frequently attacked the city, periodically recapturing it before losing it again to the Arabs, particularly the Fatimids. Afterward, Latakia was ruled successively by the Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and the Ottomans. Following World War I, Latakia was assigned to the French mandate of Syria, in which it served as the capital of the autonomous territory of the Alawites. This autonomous territory became the Alawite State in 1922, proclaiming its independence a number of times until reintegrating into Syria in 1944.
HISTORY
Ancient settlement and founding. The location of Latakia, the Ras Ziyarah promontory, has a long history of occupation. The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located here. It is a city most beautifully built, has a good harbour, and has territory which, besides its other good crops, abounds in wine. Now this city furnishes the most of the wine to the Alexandreians, since the whole of the mountain that lies above the city and is possessed by it is covered with vines almost as far as the summits. And while the summits are at a considerable distance from Lāŏdĭcḗa, sloping up gently and gradually from it, they tower above Apameia, extending up to a perpendicular height.
Roman rule. Pompey the Great conquered the city along with most of Syria in the 1st century BC, and Julius Caesar declared the city a “free polis.” The Roman emperor Septimius Severus rewarded the city with the title of “Metropolis” in the 2nd century AD, exempted it of the empire’s taxation, fortified the city, made it for a few years the capital of Roman Syria and also built the city’s famed Tetraporticus around the same time. Some Roman merchants moved to live in the city under Augustus, but the city was always culturally “Greek” influenced. Subsequently, a Roman road was built from southern Anatolia toward Berytus and Damascus, that greatly improved the commerce through the port of Laodicea.
It decreased in importance after the cities of Alexandria and Antioch flourished. The city was also famed for its wine produced around the port’s hills which were exported to all the empire.
During the split of the Roman Empire, it belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire. An earthquake damaged the city in 494, but the city was later reconstructed by Justinian I and made the capital of the Eastern Roman province of Theodorias from 528 AD until Muslim conquest around 637 AD.
Early Islamic era. All of Syria, including the Roman province of Theodorias and its capital, Laodice fell into Muslim rule during the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century. The city was renamed al-Lādhiqīyah (اللَّاذِقِيَّة) and switched rule from the Rashidun Caliphate, to the Umayyad Caliphate and finally to the Abbasid Caliphate in a span of 9 centuries.
Crusader, Ayyubid, and Mamluk rule. The city changed hands several times around 1100 between Antioch (included Crusaders) and Byzantines until falling to the Mamluks.
In circa 1300, Arab geographer al-Dimashqi noted that Latakia had no running water and that trees were scarce, but the city’s port was “a wonderful harbor… full of large ships”. In 1332, the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Latakia in his journeys.
Ottoman rule. In the Ottoman period, the region of Latakia became predominantly Alawi (mostly peasants) with Turkmen, Sunni and Christian (the landlords in the countryside) and Druze inhabitants.
French Mandate period (Alawite State). After 1920, the French hoped to fragment the local population so they would not focus on the larger nationalist movement seeking to end colonial rule. They cited the “backwardness” of the Alawite mountain-dwellers, religiously distinct from the surrounding Sunni but this did not stop revolts. There continued a great deal of Alawite separatist sentiment in the region until 1946 when a new independent government was created.
Modern era. All but a few classical buildings have been destroyed, often by earthquakes; those remaining include a Roman triumphal arch and Corinthian columns known as the Colonnade of Bacchus. Important remains are in its national museum.
The port project started in 1950. A major highway linked Latakia with Aleppo and the Euphrates valley in 1968 and was supplemented by the completion of a railway line to Homs. The port became even more important after 1975, due to the troubled situation in Lebanon and the loss of Beirut and Tripoli as ports.
In 1973, during the October War (Yom Kippur War), the naval Battle of Latakia between Israel and Syria was fought just offshore from Latakia, the first to be fought using missiles and ECM (electronic countermeasures).
Syrian Civil War. Latakia had been a site of protest activity since March 2011. The city has been relatively calm and secure during the civil war, with electricity and water returning as of 2017, and Russian air force constantly patrolling the city and surrounding localities.
Latakia is the home of Russia’s largest foreign electronic eavesdropping facility. Khmeimim Air Base near Latakia was converted to use by the Russian military in 2015. On 24 November 2015, Turkish forces shot down a Russian fighter plane over Latakia. One pilot was killed and the other rescued by Syrian military and brought to Khmeimim.
Geography. Latakia is located 348kms north-west of Damascus, 186kms SW of Aleppo, 148kms NW of Homs, and 90kms north of Tartus, bordering Turkey to the north.
Demographics.
Latakia was historically a Sunni city, however the Alawatization process under Hafez al Asaad led to many Alawites moving from the rural hinterland into the city. In 2010 Latakia City was 50% Alawite, 40% Sunni and 10% Christian, with the rural hinterland an Alawite majority of roughly 70%, with Christians 14%, Sunni Muslims 12%, and Ismailis 2%. The city serves as the capital of the Alawite population and is a major cultural center for the religion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, large numbers of Alawites from the area emigrated to the country’s capital Damascus. Of the Christians, a sizable Antiochian Greek population exists in Latakia, and their diocese in the city has the largest congregation of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. There is also an Armenian community of 3,500 in the city. The entire population speaks Arabic, mostly in the North Levantine dialect.
Within the city boundaries is the “unofficial” Latakia camp, established in 1956, which has a population of 6,354 Palestinian refugees, mostly from Jaffa and the Galilee.
Economy. The Port of Latakia is the main seaport in Syria established in 1950, The port imports clothing, construction materials, vehicles, furniture, minerals, tobacco, cotton, and food supplies such as lintels, onions, wheat, barley, dates, grains and figs, and in 2008, the port handled about 8 million tons of cargo. Latakia has an extensive agricultural hinterland. Exports include bitumen (asphalt), cereals, cotton, fruits, eggs, vegetable oil, pottery, and tobacco.
The largest area of the port with 43 hectares is the container terminal with a storage capacity is up to 17,000 containers. Latakia was connected to six ferry lines to Alexandria (Egypt), Izmir (Turkey) and Beirut (Lebanon). It is not known whether the lines still exist in the Syrian civil war, which has been going on since 2011.
The marina Latakia has 150 berths for ships up to a maximum length of 25 meters and 4 meters draught. The Syrian Navy has one of four bases in Latakia.
Cotton ginning, vegetable-oil processing, tanning, and sponge fishing serve as local industries for the city.
The Cote d’Azur Beach of Latakia is Syria’s premier coastal resort, and offers water skiing, jet skiing, and windsurfing. The city contains eight hotels, two of which have five-star ratings; both located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of the city, at Cote d’Azur: the Cote d’Azur de Cham Hotel and Lé Meridien Lattiquie Hotel (with 274 rooms, the only international hotel in the city).
Compared to other Syrian cities, window shopping and evening strolls in the markets is considered a favorite pastime in Latakia. Numerous designer-label stores line 8 Azar Street, and the heart of the city’s shopping area is the series of blocks enclosed by 8 Azar Street, Yarmouk Street, and Saad Zaghloul Street in the city center. Cinemas in Latakia include Ugarit Cinema, al-Kindi, and a smaller theater off al-Moutanabbi Street.
National Museum of Latakia. On the seafront in a 16th-century Ottoman khan (“caravansary”), the exhibits include inscribed tablets from Ugarit, ancient jewellery, coins, figurines, ceramics, pottery, and early Arab and Crusader-era chain-mail suits and swords. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the museum had been temporarily closed but the museum’s gardens are still open to the public, and contain many column capitals, ornaments, funerary tombs and statues.
Latakia tobacco. This specially prepared tobacco originally produced in Syria is now mainly produced in Cyprus. It is cured over a stone pine or oak wood fire, which gives it an intense smokey-peppery taste and smell. Rarely smoked straight, it is used as a “condiment” or “blender” (a basic tobacco mixed with other tobaccos to create a blend), especially in English, Balkan, and some American Classic blends.
Landmarks. The marina is built upon foundations of ancient columns, and sepulchral caves in the neighbourhood. In the southeast corner of the town is a almost entire gateway – a remarkable triumphal arch with four entrances, like the Forum Jani at Rome. Fragments of Greek and Latin inscriptions are dispersed all over the ruins, but entirely defaced.
There are also several popular beaches. There are numerous mosques in Latakia, including the 13th-century Great Mosque and the 18th-century Jadid Mosque constructed by Suleiman Pasha Azem.
Latakia has consulates general of Finland and France, and honorary consulates of Greece and Romania.
