Tadamon, Syria

Until the 1960s, the area of Tadamon was largely covered by orchards.[1] However, the area began to be populated by Syrians who had fled the Golan Heights after Israel occupied that region in the 1967 Six Day War.[1] The area also saw an influx of Syrians moving in from the countryside of Damascus.[1] Most of the people who moved to Tadamon built their homes without government permits and the area has since developed as an informal neighborhood where roughly 90% of homes lack formally registered property deeds.[1]

During the Syrian Civil War, in 2012, most of Tadamon was overrun by rebels fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[1] In 2013, the area was the site of the Tadamon massacre, where 280+ people were executed by Syrian Military Intelligence personnel. In 2015, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), took over part of the district from the FSA.[1] Government forces reasserted complete control of Tadamon in a military offensive in 2018.[1]

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tadamon had a population of 86,793 in the 2004 census.[2] According to Agence France-Presse, Tadamon had a pre-war population of 250,000 but most of the inhabitants fled the area during war.[1] As of late 2018, the population of the district is around 65,000.[1]