| Daraa درعا |
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Daraa
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa Governorate |
| District | Daraa District |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Mohammad Khaled al-Hannus[1] |
| Elevation | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 177,200 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Area code(s) | 15 |
Daraa (Arabic: درعا), also Darʿā, Dara’a, Deraa, Dera, and Derʿā ("fortress", compare Dura-Europos), is a city in southwestern Syria, near the border with Jordan, with a population of approximately 177,200.[2] It is the capital of Daraa Governorate, historically part of the ancient Hauran region. The city is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Damascus on the Damascus-Amman highway, and is used as a stopping station for travelers.
Daraa is an ancient city dating back to the Canaanites. It was mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets at the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III between 1490 and 1436 BC. It was known in those days as the city of Atharaa, and was later mentioned in the Old Testament as Edrei in the Kingdom of Bashan. Located in the city itself are a few ruins including caves and ancient dwellings, a Roman amphitheater, and the old Oumari Mosque which is of some architectural significance, dating back to the Umayyad and Ayyubid eras.
Daraa has recently suffered from reduced water supply in the region. Thousands of people protested in the city as part of the 2011 Syrian protests.[3]
Contents |
| Climate data for Dara'a | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 13.3 (55.9) |
14.7 (58.5) |
18.0 (64.4) |
23.6 (74.5) |
28.5 (83.3) |
31.3 (88.3) |
32.6 (90.7) |
32.6 (90.7) |
31.3 (88.3) |
27.8 (82.0) |
21.0 (69.8) |
15.2 (59.4) |
24.16 (75.48) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.2 (37.8) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
9.3 (48.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
15.8 (60.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
18.6 (65.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
12.8 (55.0) |
7.8 (46.0) |
4.6 (40.3) |
10.78 (51.41) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 60.9 (2.398) |
49.4 (1.945) |
42.3 (1.665) |
15.2 (0.598) |
3.4 (0.134) |
1.0 (0.039) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.4 (0.016) |
9.4 (0.37) |
22.9 (0.902) |
45.9 (1.807) |
250.8 (9.874) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 10 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 48 |
| Source: World Meteorological Organization | |||||||||||||
The city of Daraa was the starting point of the 2011 uprising against the regime lead by Bashar Al-Assad. It all started when 15 children from the same family (Al-Abazeed) were arrested in early March 2011 for writing an anti regime slogan on the wall of their school. The children's ages ranged between 9 and 15 years. After attempts to negotiate the release of the children were rejected by the local government, a few hundred protesters gathered in front of Oumari Mosque on March 15, 2011 calling for reforms and end of corruption. Soon after the gathering increased in size and it is reported that over 3000 people protested on the first day. This protest was faced with Syrian security forces opening fire on the protesters killing 4 people[4].
Since then, the city of Daraa and the surrounding villages have had daily protests. Which lead to several waves of major crack downs on the city which started on March 23 with invading the Oumari mosque which was being used as a field hospital for the injured during the protests. In early April, the Syrian Army's fourth fleet lead by Maher Al-Assad (Bashar's younger brother) surrounded the area of Oumari mosque shelling neighborhoods with heavy artillery.
It is reported that over 500 civilians have been killed in Daraa since the start of the uprising.
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