al-Hasakah الحسكة |
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City | |
Location of al-Hasakah in Syria | |
Coordinates: 36°30′42″N 40°44′32″E / 36.5117°N 40.7422°ECoordinates: 36°30′42″N 40°44′32″E / 36.5117°N 40.7422°E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | al-Hasakah |
District | al-Hasakah |
Subdistrict | al-Hasakah |
Elevation | 300 m (1,000 ft) |
Population (2004) | 188,160 |
• Metro | 251,570 |
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Area code | +963 52 |
Geocode | C4360 |
Al-Hasakah (Arabic: الحسكة, Kurdish: Hesîçe, Syriac: ܚܣܟܗ, translit. Ḥasake, Turkish: Haseke), also known as Al-Hasakeh, Al-Kasaka or simply Hasakah, is the capital city of the Al-Hasakah Governorate and it is located in the far northeastern corner of Syria. With a population of 188,160 residents in 2004, Al-Hasakah is among the ten largest cities in Syria and the largest in the governorate. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") consisting of 108 localities with a combined population of 251,570 in 2004.
Al-Hasakah has an ethnically diverse population of Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians. The Khabur River runs through Al-Hasakah and the rest of the governorate.
Al-Hasakah is 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Turkish border-city of Qamishli. The Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates River flows through the city, downriver from Ras al-Ayn, another border town. The Jaghjagh River flows into the Khabur River at Al-Hasakah.
In the city centre, an ancient tell is identified by Dominique Charpin as the location of the city of Qirdahat. Another possibility is that it was the site of the ancient Aramean city of Magarisu, mentioned by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala who fought the Arameans near the city. The etymology of Magarisu is Aramaic (from the root mgrys) and means "pasture land". The city was the capital of the Aramean state of Bit-Yahiri invaded by Assyrian kings Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II.