Al-Rai, Syria
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Çobanbey جوبان باي Al-Rai (الراعي) |
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| Town | |
![Çobanbey[1] is located in Syria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Syria_adm_location_map.svg)
![Çobanbey[1]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Red_pog.svg/6px-Red_pog.svg.png "Çobanbey[1]"){kind=small} Çobanbey
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| Coordinates: 36°36′43″N 37°26′48″E / 36.6119°N 37.4467°ECoordinates: 36°36′43″N 37°26′48″E / 36.6119°N 37.4467°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
|
| Governorate | Aleppo |
| District | al-Bab |
| Subdistrict | al-Rai |
| Population (2004) | 4,609 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Geocode | C1250 |
Çobanbey (Turkish: Çobanbey, Arabic: جوبان باي) or Chobān Bayk (Arabic: جوبان باي, translit. Chobān Bāyk) also known as Al-Rai (Arabic: الراعي; al-Ra'i or al-Rayi), is a small town in northern Aleppo Governorate, northern Syria.
With 4,609 inhabitants, as per the 2004 census, al-Rai is administrative center of the sparsely populated Nahiya al-Rai. Located at the Baghdad Railway and close to the Turkish border, right across Elbeyli, it is however a strategically important village. Nearby localities include the Kurdish-majority villages of Qantarah, 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) to the west, and Akhtarin, some 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) to the southwest. Larger towns are Azaz, some 35 kilometers (22 mi) to the west, and Jarablus and Manbij, both some 45 kilometers (28 mi) to the east.
The city and its surrounding area is pre-dominantly populated by Syrian Turkmen and serves as a cultural center.
The Çobanbey Railway Border Gate which had been closed since 1981, was reopened on 22 December 2009 after the 62km line between Aleppo and Çobanbey was renewed. The opening ceremony was attended by the transport ministers of Turkey and Syria, Binali Yıldırım and Yarob Süleyman.
In the Syrian Civil War, al-Rai was captured by Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces and held until early February 2014, when the FSA-allies the Al-Tawhid Brigade and Liwa al-Fateh were assaulted by a predominantly Chechen unit of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, (ISIL) who seized the town on 3 February 2014.
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Wikipedia