Aleppo

Aleppo ﺣَﻠَﺐ
City
Ancient City of Aleppo Aleppo Citadel • The entrance to al-Madina Souq Great Mosque of Aleppo • Baron Hotel Saint Elijah Cathedral • Queiq River Panorama of Aleppo at night
Seal
Nickname(s):  Al-Shahbaa (Arabic: الشَّهْبَاء, romanized: ash-Shahbāʾ)[note 1]
Aleppo Location of Aleppo in Syria Show map of Syria Aleppo Aleppo (Eastern Mediterranean) Show map of Eastern Mediterranean Aleppo Aleppo (Asia) Show map of Asia Aleppo Aleppo (Aleppo) Show map of Aleppo
Coordinates: 36°12′N 37°10′E / 36.20°N 37.16°E / 36.20; 37.16
Country	Syria
Governorate	Aleppo
District	Mount Simeon (Jabal Semaan)
Subdistrict	Mount Simeon (Jabal Semaan)
First settled	c. 5000 BC
First city council	1868
Government
• Governor	Ahmad Hussein Diab
• Mayor	Muhammad Hijazi
Area
• Total	190 km2 (70 sq mi)
Elevation	379 m (1,243 ft)
Population  (2021 est.)
• Total	2,098,210
• Density	11,000/km2 (29,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Arabic: حلبي Ḥalabi English: Aleppine[2]
Time zone	UTC+3
Area code(s)	Country code: 963 City code: 21
Geocode	C1007
Climate	BSk
International airport	Aleppo International Airport
Sources: Aleppo city area[3] Sources: City population[4][5][6][7]
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Ancient City of Aleppo
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv
Designated	1986 (10th session)
Reference no.	21
Region	Arab States

Aleppo (/əˈlɛpoʊ/ ə-LEP-oh; Arabic: ﺣَﻠَﺐ, ALA-LC: Ḥalab, IPA: [ˈħalab]) is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous governorate of Syria.^[8] With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents as of 2021,^[update][9] it was Syria's largest city until its population was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria, the largest in Syria's northern governorates and also one of the largest cities in the Levant region.^[10][11]

Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the sixth millennium BC.^[12] Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC.^[13] That is also the time at which Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, which speak of it as part of the Amorite state of Yamhad, and note its commercial and military importance.^[14] Such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia.

For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and the Ottoman Empire's third-largest after Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Cairo.^[15][16][17] The city's significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and Mesopotamia. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, much trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo lost its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, as well as the important Baghdad Railway connecting it to Mosul. In the 1940s it lost its main access to the sea, by Antakya and İskenderun, also to Turkey. The growth in importance of Damascus in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation. This decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the Islamic Capital of Culture 2006 and has had a wave of successful restorations of its historic landmarks. The Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) occurred in the city during the Syrian Civil War, and many parts of the city had suffered massive destruction.^[18][19] Affected parts of the city are currently undergoing reconstruction.^[20][21] An estimated 31,000 people were killed in Aleppo during the conflict.^[22]

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