Khabab
| Khabab خبب | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
  Khabab | |
| Coordinates: 33°0′51.39″N 36°16′29.76″E / 33.0142750°N 36.2749333°E | |
| Country |
 Syria |
| Governorate | Daraa Governorate |
| District | Al-Sanamayn District |
| Nahiyah | Al-Sanamayn |
| Elevation | 700 m (2,300 ft) |
| Population (2004 census) | |
| • Total | 3,379 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Website | http://www.chabab.sy/ |
Khabab (Arabic: خبب, Syriac: ܟܚܐܒܐܒ, Khababb) is a town located in southern Syria in the Hauran plain, part of the Daraa Governorate, 57 km (~36 miles) south of Damascus and about the same distance from the city of Daraa.
The old name of the town is Abiba in the old Syrian languages Aramaic, Syriac, (Assyrian), it means a plain green grass.
History
In 1596 Khabab appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as Habab and was part of the nahiya of Bani Kilab in the Qada of Hauran. It had a Muslim population consisting of 45 households and 30 bachelors, and a Christian population consisting of 3 households and 2 bachelors. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives.[1]
Climate
Weather in Khabab follows the southern region of Syria, a moderate with a few waves of a cold winter and relatively hot in the summer.
The climate in Khabab clearly shows the seasons sequence, summer the air tends to be heat during the day with a beautiful night with a dry breeze, and autumn begins with yellow leaves and cooler weather followed by cold winters, especially in the months of December and January and February, where spring begins with March.
Rainfall average ~250 mm (till year 2000), temperature Min, Max (-4 Winter)-(38 Summer) C temperature average (4.4 Winter)-(30 Summer) C
Demographics
The population inside the town is 8,000-10,000 (According to the seasons in summer most people return summer vacations) and around 40,000 who are living outside Syria, most of them are scattered between, France, USA, Canada, Brazil, and Australia and a number of Arab countries.
- Population Growth: 1.01%
- The proportion: Females 51%, Males 49%.
The population of Khabab are Christians and follow the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine).
There are four churches in Khabab: cathedral of St Mary,basilica of St Rita, and St Elliot, St Mikael are ancient and dilapidated need to re-explore and revived in addition there tow in the Sisters Nunnery and Archdiocese, and a Nunnery of the Besançon Charity Sisters (Sisters of Divine Charity).
The most common language spoken is Arabic. Other languages include French and the original language of the church is Greek. English is beginning to become more commonly spoken.
Economy
The people in Khabab are farmers basically (as the most of southern Syria) reliance on agriculture was the only source of livelihood. In recent years, people's dependence on agriculture has remarkably dropped down for several reasons, including:
- Dependency on rainfall and this affects the amount of the crop by the amount of rainfall and the most important rainfed crops are wheat, barley and lentils. irrigation agriculture become commonly used for vegetables as: tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, etc., and common fruit trees as: grapes, olives, almonds became an important crop.
- Most of the residents are employees in the public sector or the private sector, therefore, now monthly salary is the basic income source.
- Youth migration to the main cities, especially the capital, Damascus,and out-migration to the Gulf region or Europe or America or Australia, and the youth generation in the town are no longer interested in following in the life pattern of their parents and grandparents, concerning agriculture.
- That a number of people head to work in the areas of commercial and industrial.
Education and culture
The literacy rate at of the highest levels in Syria, to the attention of the people in education, there are a large number of distinctive competencies of the people of the village .. The school was that follow the Archdiocese and the monastery the most important reasons to encourage the education and science in khabab as well as the surrounding villages.
There are seven schools in the town, distributed as follows: kindergarten, two schools of basic education (primary) and four of middle and high stage.
There is a high number of intellectuals and teachers work in the villages and cities of the province Daraa.
Public infrastructure
Khabab have many public facilities as health clinic and a hospital is under construction, Telephone Central, and there is the "Farmers Association","Agricultural guidance", and police station and another one for highway police on the international Syrian Jourdain highway passing next to the town, public consumer shop, bakery, Municipality as well as the sports club, "Khabab social and cultural club", and also train station . In addition to the local market in the town center, which contains a number of shops for the various activities of the population, pharmacies, doctors, and dentists, and veterinarians, maintenance shops for electrical and electronic,computer accessories shop, blacksmith shops, Carpenters,cars car center and a public park is being prepared now, ... etc.
References
- ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 209.
Bibliography
- Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft.
Sources
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