Deir ez-Zor Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة دير الزور /
ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Dayr az-Zawr'') is one of the fourteen
governorates (provinces) of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. It is situated in eastern Syria, bordering
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. It has an area of 33,060 km
2 (12,760 sq mi) and a population of 1,239,000 (2011 estimate).
The capital is
Deir ez-Zor. It is divided roughly equally from northwest to southeast by the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
. Most of the territory on the river's left bank is part of the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, while that on the right bank is controlled by the
Syrian government.
Districts
The governorate is divided into three
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
(
manatiq
Minṭaqah ( ; plural ''manāṭiq'' ) is a first-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia and Chad and for a second-level administrative division in several other Arab countries. It is often translated as ''region'' or ''district'', but the ...
). The districts are further divided into 14 sub-districts (
nawahi):
*
Deir ez-Zor District (7 sub-districts)
**
Deir ez-Zor Subdistrict
**
Al-Kasrah Subdistrict
**
Al-Busayrah Subdistrict
**
Al-Muhasan Subdistrict
**
Al-Tabni Subdistrict
**
Khasham Subdistrict
**
Al-Suwar Subdistrict
*
Abu Kamal District
Abu Kamal District ( ar-at, منطقة البوكمال, manṭiqat Albūkamāl) is a district of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in northeastern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Abu Kamal. At the 2004 census, the district had a popula ...
(4 sub-districts)
**
Abu Kamal Subdistrict
**
Hajin Subdistrict
**
Al-Jalaa Subdistrict
**
Al-Susah Subdistric
*
Mayadin District
Mayadin District ( ar, منطقة الميادين) is a district (mantiqah) administratively belonging to Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 official census, the district had a population of 247,171. Its administrative centre is the city ...
(3 sub-districts)
**
Mayadin Subdistrict
**
Diban Subdistrict
**
Al-Asharah Subdistrict
History
On 6 September 2007 Israel attacked and destroyed a facility in the governorate that Israel claimed was a nuclear site
[IAEA: Syria tried to build nuclear reactor](_blank)
Associated Press Latest Update: 04.28.11, 18:10 in
Operation Outside the Box
Operation Outside the Box ( he, מבצע מחוץ לקופסה, ''Mivtza MiHutz LaKufsa''), also known as Operation Orchard ( he, מבצע בוסתן, ''Mivtza Bustan''), was an Israeli airstrike on a suspected nuclear reactor,[North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...]
. In 2011, the IAEA confirmed it had been a nuclear weapons site.
Syrian Civil War
In the course of
Syrian Civil War, as the Syrian Army has concentrated its forces on wresting back control of Aleppo, rebels have slowly gained ground in the eastern tribal heartland, aiming to control the country's 200,000 barrel-a-day oil output.
[Khaled Yacoub Oweis]
"Assad's Aleppo focus allows rebel gains in Syria's east"
Reuters, Aug 14, 2012 In August 2012, units of the
Free Syrian Army (FSA) targeted the remaining isolated outposts of the Syrian Army forces in north-east Syria, where the FSA controls all the main roads. There were said to be only 3 Army outposts left in Deir ez-Zor province countryside and they were under attack. On November 30, 2012, Syrian troops withdrew from
Omar oil field, one of the last regime positions east of Deir ez-Zor city near the Iraqi border. This meant that the rebels controlled the country's major fields. This happened after Syrian troops lost the
Conoco
Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Curr ...
gas reserve on November 27. The insurgents took control of an oil field for the first time on November 4 when they overran Al-Ward, the most important in the province. After also losing control of Al-Jofra field also in November, the army controlled not more than five fields, all located to the west of Deir ez-Zor city. Residents in Deir ez-Zor used crude oil for heating and agriculture for lack of fuel On 1 January 2013, it was reported that two thirds of Deir ez-Zor Governorate was under rebel control.
["سوريا - أهم المناطق التي سيطر عليها الجيش الحر عام 2012"](_blank)
Al Jazeera, 1 January 2013.
Siege of Deir ez-Zor
On April 11, 2014,
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...
(ISIL) withdrew from Abu Kamal to the T2 oil site, where a Syria-Iraq pipeline runs.
On 3 July, Syrian Organisation for Human Rights (SOHR) said that all towns and villages on the route from Abu Kamal to Al-Bab, passing through Raqa province, were now under ISIL control. Only the provincial capital Deir ez-Zor and the military airport were not under ISIL control. The city of Deir ez-Zor was split between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and an amalgam of rebel groups.
In 2014 ISIL forces massacred an estimated 900 members of the
Al-Shaitat tribe in the governorate, following resistance to the group's control of the area. In early 2016, the forces of the
Syrian Democratic Forces entered the governorate following the
Al-Shaddadi offensive. Up until October 2017, ISIL controlled all of the countryside while Syrian Government forces held out in the capital. On 14 October 2017, Russia confirmed that Al-Mayadeen was
recaptured by the Syrian army amid major offensive. The Syrian Army fully secured the Deir ez-Zor on 3 November and on 17 November 2017, ISIL surrendered the island of Hawijat Kati, bringing all areas around the city under Army control following the
two-month offensive. On 23 October 2017, the Syrian troops began an
offensive towards Abu Kamal, being ISIL's last stronghold in the governorate. The city was captured on 19 November 2017 after changing hands three times.
ISIL insurgency in Deir ez-Zor
In 2018 ISIL started insurgency in Deir ez-Zor.
Demographics
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
constitute about 90% of the population of the governorate, a vast majority being
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...
. In the 1980s, some Arabs converted to
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
whose population do not exceed 5,000. About a thousand
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...
live in the governorate as well.
The most significant Arab tribes are the Bu Kamal, the Shuwayt,
Al-Shaitat, Bakir, Bu Kamil, Mashahda, Bu Khabour, Qaraan and Bu Hassan who all are part of the 'Egaidat confederation. Beside the 'Egaidat confederation, other tribes include the
Al-Baggara, Abeed, Kul’ayeen, and Albu Saraya.
Historic Sites
*
Dura-Europos
Synagogue of Dura-Europas*
Mari
See also
*
Sanjak of Zor
*
2017 Deir ez-Zor missile strike
References
External links
edeiralzorThe First Complete website for Deir ez-Zor news and services
Governorates of Syria
Upper Mesopotamia
{{DeirZorSY-geo-stub