Dayr az-Zawr
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Dayr az-Zawr, also spelled Deir ez Zor, Deir al-Zur and other variants (Arabic: دير الزور; Armenian: Դէր Զօր or Ter Zor), is a city in northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River and capital of the Dayr az-Zawr Governorate. It has a population of 133,000 (1994 estimate). It is a prosperous farming area, with cattle-breeding, cereals and cotton crops. Since the discovery of light crude oil in the Syrian desert it has become a centre for the country's oil extraction industry. It is also a minor centre for tourism with many tourisitc facilities as traditional riverbank restaurants up to 5-stars hotels, a hub for transdesert travel and has an airport (IATA code: DEZ) in Al-Jafra suburb. Salt rock mines are nearby.
Dayr az Zawr situated 85 km to the northwest of the archeological remains of Dura-Europos and 120 km northwest of the remains of the ancient city of Mari. During Roman times it was an important trading post between the Roman Empire and India. Conquered by Zenobia, it became part of the kingdom of Palmyra. After a successive wave of conquests, it was finally destroyed by the Mongols as they swept across the Middle East.
The modern town was built by the Ottoman Empire in 1867. In 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, it witnessed grim scenes as hundreds of thousands of Armenians arrived at the end of forced death marches from Anatolia. Thousands died in Dayr and surrounding areas, many at the Ra's al-'Ain springs outside the town. France occupied Dayr az-Zawr in 1921 and made it the seat of a large garrison. In 1946 it became part of independent Syria. A memorial to the Armenian victims was completed in 1990.
It has a regional-level museum, Arabian Cultural Center and has a some academic faculties as Agriculture, Science, Arts & Human Sciences, Education, Law and Medicine with many vocational high schools and professional institutes. Local daily newspaper Al Furat published there.
The Armenian Orthodox church in the town contains a memorial to the victims of the genocide of 1915, and is an important centre of commemoration, especially on 24 April.
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