Kobanî

Kobanî Ayn al-Arab (عين العرب)
City and nahiyah
View of Kobanî during the siege of 2014
Kobanî Location in Syria
Coordinates: 36°53′28″N 38°21′13″E / 36.8910278°N 38.3536111°E / 36.8910278; 38.3536111Coordinates: 36°53′28″N 38°21′13″E / 36.8910278°N 38.3536111°E / 36.8910278; 38.3536111
Country	Syria
Governorate	Aleppo
District	Ayn al-Arab
Subdistrict	Ayn al-Arab
de facto	Rojava
Canton	Kobani
Founded	1915
Area
• City	7 km2 (3 sq mi)
Elevation	520 m (1,710 ft)
Population (2004 census, unless stated otherwise)
• City	44,821
• Estimate (2015)	40,000
• Nahiyah	78,130
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)
P-Code	C1946
Geocode	SY020600

Kobanî (Kurdish: ‎‎ كۆبانی  pronounced [koˈbaːniː], also rendered Kobanê [koˈbaːne]), officially Ayn al-Arab (Arabic: عين العرب‎‎ North Levantine pronunciation: [ʕeːn elˈʕɑrɑb]), is a city in the Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, lying immediately south of the border with Turkey. As a consequence of the Syrian Civil War, the city has been under control of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia since 2012. In 2014, it was declared to be the administrative center of the Kobanî Canton of the de facto autonomous Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava.

From September 2014 to January 2015, the city was under siege by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Most of the city was destroyed and most of the population fled to Turkey. In 2015, many returned and reconstruction began.

Prior to the Syrian Civil War, Kobanî was recorded as having a population of close to 45,000. The majority of inhabitants were Kurds, with Arab, Turkmen, and Armenian minorities.