Al-Hawl
|
al-Hawl الهول |
|
|---|---|
| Town | |
 al-Hawl
|
|
| Coordinates: 36°23′29″N 41°09′05″E / 36.3914°N 41.1514°ECoordinates: 36°23′29″N 41°09′05″E / 36.3914°N 41.1514°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
|
| Governorate | al-Hasakah |
| District | al-Hasakah |
| Subdistrict | al-Hawl |
| Elevation | 452 m (1,483 ft) |
| Population (2004) | 3,409 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Geocode | C4519 |
al-Hawl (Arabic: الهول, translit. al-Ḩawl, lit. '"swampland"'), also spelled al-Hol, al-Hool and al-Houl, is a town in eastern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is administrative center of the al-Hawl Nahiya consisting of 22 municipalities.
At the 2004 census, the town had a population of 3,409.
During the Syrian Civil War, al-Hawl was seized and held under occupation by Islamic State forces. For both its strategic significance and its almost uniformly Arab population, it had become one of the major strongholds of the IS in northeastern Syria. On 13 November 2015, Al-Hawl was liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in what was considered the SDF's first strategic success, since its establishment by People's Protection Units (YPG) and allied forces.
The town is located some 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of al-Hasakah, on the southern bank of the dried-out wadi ‘Aţā Allāh. While the wadi has dried out, the spring ‘Ayn al-Hawl, located south of the town, still carries water. Nearby villages include Sheikh Ma'ad with the Sheikh Ma‘ad shrine to the north, just across the wadi.
North of the town is a significant road junction connecting the provincial capital with the Iraqi border. While the northeastern branch proceeds towards Tall Hamis and the Rabia border crossing, the southeastern branch towards the Sinjar mountains passes through the town southeastwards, reaching the Makhfar Umm Jaris border crossing after some 20 kilometres (12 mi).
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