Palmyra (modern)

Palmyra تَدْمُر Tadmur
City
The modern town of Palmyra
Palmyra
Coordinates: 34°33′36″N 38°16′2″E / 34.56000°N 38.26722°E / 34.56000; 38.26722
Country	Syria
Governorate	Homs
District	Tadmur
Subdistrict	Tadmur
Elevation	405 m (1,329 ft)
Population  (2004 census)[1]
• Total	51,323
Demonym(s)	Arabic: تدمري, romanized: Tadmuri
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code	31
Geocode	C2889

Palmyra (/ˌpɑːl-maɪrə/; Arabic: تَدْمُر, romanized: Tadmur; Palmyrene: 𐡶𐡣𐡬𐡥𐡴 Tadmor) is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert 215 kilometres (134 mi) northeast of Damascus^[2] and 180 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of the Euphrates River. The ruins of ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are situated about 500 metres (1⁄3 mile) southwest of the modern city centre.^[3] Relatively isolated, the nearest localities include Arak to the east, Al-Sukhnah further to the northeast, Tiyas to the west and al-Qaryatayn to the southwest.

Palmyra is the administrative centre of the Tadmur District and the Tadmur Subdistrict. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the city had a population of 51,323 and the subdistrict a population of 55,062 in the 2004 census.^[1] Tadmur's inhabitants were recorded to be predominantly Sunni Muslims in 1838.^[4] It has a small Christian community. The city has a Syriac Catholic Church, which is the only church in the city.^[5][6] During the Syrian Civil War, the city's population significantly increased due to the influx of internally displaced refugees from other parts of the country.^[7]