Al-Sukhnah, Syria
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Al-Sukhnah السخنة Al-Sukhanah |
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|---|---|
| Town | |
 Al-Sukhnah
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| Coordinates: 34°53′12.5″N 38°52′19.5″E / 34.886806°N 38.872083°ECoordinates: 34°53′12.5″N 38°52′19.5″E / 34.886806°N 38.872083°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
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| Governorate | Homs |
| District | Tadmur |
| Subdistrict | Al-Sukhnah |
| Occupation |
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
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| Elevation | 1,512 ft (460 m) |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 16,173 |
Al-Sukhnah (Arabic: السخنة, also spelled al-Sukhanah) is a town in eastern Syria under the administration of the Homs Governorate, located east of Homs in the Syrian Desert. Nearby localities include Mayadin and al-Asharah to the east, al-Taybah and Raqqa to the north, Salamiyah to the west, Arak and Tadmur (Palmyra) to the southwest.
According to Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Sukhnah had a population of 16,173 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Sukhnah nahiyah ("subdistrict") which consists of six localities with a collective population of 21,880 in the 2004 census. The town's inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Al-Sukhnah has attracted hundreds of residents from nearby villages in the past century and is currently a processing center for natural gas.
Al-Sukhnah means "the Warm" in Arabic, and is so named because of the nearby sulphur springs. As late as the early 20th century, the inhabitants of the village would bathe in the hot springs.
In 634, following the capture of Arak by the Rashidun army of Khalid ibn Walid, al-Sukhnah peacefully received the Muslim force upon hearing the generous surrender terms negotiated for Arak. In 1225, al-Sukhnah was described by Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi as "a small town in the Syrian Desert, lying between Tadmur and 'Urd and Arak. Beside its spring are palm trees. It is on the road of one going to Damascus from Raqqa, and you come to it before reaching Arak." In the mid-14th century, Ibn Batuta wrote that al-Sukhnah was "a pretty town", with a mostly Christian population. He noted that the al-Sukhnah received its name from the heat of its water, and that there were bathhouses in the town.
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