Al-Thawrah
Al-Thawrah (Arabic: ٱلثَّوْرَة, romanized: aṯ-Ṯawrah), also known as Al-Tabqah (Arabic: ٱلطَّبْقَة, romanized: aṭ-Ṭabqah, also aṭ-Ṭabaqah),[1] is a city in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) west of Raqqa. The name "al-Thawrah" literally means "The Revolution", in reference to the Baathist March 8th revolution in 1963.[2] The Tabqa Dam and Lake Assad on the Euphrates, an important energy source for Syria, are near al-Thawrah.[3] The city had a population of 69,425 as of the 2004 census.[4] It is part of the Tabqa Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.[2]
Al-Thawrah
ٱلثَّوْرَة Al-Tabqah • ٱلطَّبْقَة | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Al-Thawrah in 1995 | |
  Al-Thawrah Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 35°50′12″N 38°32′53″E | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Raqqa |
| District | al-Thawrah |
| Subdistrict | al-Thawrah |
| Control |  Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria |
| Elevation | 328 m (1,076 ft) |
| Population (2004 census) | |
| • Total | 69,425 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
Syrian civil war
On 26 November 2012, during the Syrian civil war, a main route from Raqqa to Aleppo passing through al-Thawrah along the Euphrates was dotted with both government and Syrian rebel checkpoints.[5] On 11 February 2013, rebel groups including the al-Nusra Front and Liwa Owais al-Qorani took over the city.[6] On 21 November, there was fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in the town,[7] but by 25 November, the rebels were back in control. The Islamic State took control in January 2014.[8]
On 22 March 2017, SOHR reported that an international coalition airstrike killed or injured more than 40 people.[9] The BBC reported 27 killed and 40 wounded.[10] During ISIL rule, the town's Catholic, Antiochian Orthodox Church and Assyrian Church of the East churches were turned into a parking garage, a weapons factory and a barn, with ISIL militants destroying all Christian symbols on the three churches. The Shia Omar Bin al-Khatab Mosque was destroyed and an Ismaili place of worship was turned into a children's training centre.[11] During IS rule, high ranking IS members would reside in the city, escaping the bombardments on its capital Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces captured the town in the 2017 Battle of Tabqa[12][13] during which an estimated 40% of the buildings were either damaged or destroyed.[3]
Demographics
Prior to the Civil War, the majority of the city's inhabitants were Sunni Arabs, with Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian as well as Ismaili and Shiite Arab minorities.[14] The Assyrian minority consisted of around 1,000 people, with about half belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East, originating from the Khabour River villages, and the other half being Syriac Orthodox Christians, along with a few Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Protestant families.[15] But now the Christians have left and very few returned after liberation.
Climate
| Climate data for Al-Thawrah | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) |
13.8 (56.8) |
18.5 (65.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
30.3 (86.5) |
35.1 (95.2) |
37.7 (99.9) |
37.7 (99.9) |
34.2 (93.6) |
27.9 (82.2) |
20.0 (68.0) |
12.7 (54.9) |
25.3 (77.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
16.8 (62.2) |
22.2 (72.0) |
26.6 (79.9) |
29.0 (84.2) |
29.0 (84.2) |
25.4 (77.7) |
19.6 (67.3) |
12.8 (55.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
17.9 (64.2) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) |
2.2 (36.0) |
5.4 (41.7) |
9.4 (48.9) |
14.2 (57.6) |
18.2 (64.8) |
20.4 (68.7) |
20.4 (68.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
11.3 (52.3) |
5.7 (42.3) |
2.3 (36.1) |
10.6 (51.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 37 (1.5) |
24 (0.9) |
34 (1.3) |
25 (1.0) |
15 (0.6) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
1 (0.0) |
10 (0.4) |
18 (0.7) |
32 (1.3) |
196 (7.7) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org [16] | |||||||||||||
Notes
- "At Tabqah: Syria " Geographical Names
- "Beyond Rojava: North and East Syria's Arab Regions" (PDF). Rojava Information Center. June 2021. p. 9.
- Fergus, Kelly (12 September 2017). "Tabqa Schools Reopen for Syrian Children Despite Ongoing War". The Globe Post. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- Al-Thawrah population
- "Syria rebels seize dam". AAP. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
- "Rebels take control of military airport in North Syria, NGO says". Now.mmedia.me. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
- "Fierce Syria clashes on Lebanese border force government to launch tighter border policies". Al Bawaba. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- Diaa Hadid (5 January 2014). "Syrian rebels battle Al-Qaeda-linked fighters". The Daily Star.
- "More than 40 casualties, wounded and missing in a new massacre carried out by international coalition’s warplanes in Tabaqa city", syriahr.com, 22 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- "IS conflict: US airlift backs new assault near Raqqa stronghold", bbc.co.uk, 22 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- "IS eliminated all Shiites, Christians and Ismailis belongings | ANHA". Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- "US-backed Syrian forces 'fully capture' Tabqa from ISIL". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- "US-backed forces seize Syria's Tabqa, dam from ISIS". Agence-France Presse. Al Arabiya. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- "IS Eliminated All Shiites, Christians and Ismailis Belongings". Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- "Stranded: the Forgotten Assyrians of Al-Tharwah, Syria". Assyrian International News Agency. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- "Climate: Al-Thawrah". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
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