Jabal al-Druze

Jabal al-Druze (Arabic: جبل الدروز, romanized: jabal al-durūz, lit. 'Mountain of the Druze'), is an elevated volcanic region in the As-Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria. Most of the inhabitants of this region are Druze, and there are also significant Christian communities.^[1]^[2] Safaitic inscriptions were first found in this area. The State of Jabal Druze was an autonomous area in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon from 1921 to 1936. In the past, the name Jabal al-Druze was used for a different area, located in Mount Lebanon.^{[citation needed]}

In Syria, most Druze reside in the As-Suwayda Governorate, which encompasses almost all of Jabal al-Druze. This governorate is unique in Syria as it has a Druze majority. Additionally, it has integrated Christian communities that have long coexisted harmoniously with the Druze in these mountain.^[3]

In the 1980s Druze made up 87.6% of the population, Christians (mostly Greek Orthodox) 11% and Sunni Muslims 2%.^[4] In 2010, the As-Suwayda governorate has a population of about 375,000 inhabitants, Druze made up 90%, Christians 7% and Sunni Muslims 3%.^[1] Due to low birth and high emigration rates, Christians proportion in As-Suwayda had declined.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c The Druze and Assad: Strategic Bedfellows
^ "Christians in Syria's Suwayda discuss history, coexistence with Druze majority". North Press. 18 September 2020.
^ Balanche, Fabrice (2017). Atlas of the Near East: State Formation and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1918–2010. Brill. p. 27. ISBN 9789004345188. ...comprised 50,328 inhabitants, of whom 85 per cent were Druze, and it integrated Christian communities (7,000 people) who had long lived in these mountains in harmony with the Druze.
^ Pipes, Daniel (1990). Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition. Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-19-506021-8.

[washingtoninstitute.org-1] The Druze and Assad: Strategic Bedfellows

[2] "Christians in Syria's Suwayda discuss history, coexistence with Druze majority". North Press. 18 September 2020.

[Balanche_2017_27-3] Balanche, Fabrice (2017). Atlas of the Near East: State Formation and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1918–2010. Brill. p. 27. ISBN 9789004345188. ...comprised 50,328 inhabitants, of whom 85 per cent were Druze, and it integrated Christian communities (7,000 people) who had long lived in these mountains in harmony with the Druze.

[4] Pipes, Daniel (1990). Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition. Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-19-506021-8.

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