Ruad Island

Arwad أرواد
Town
Satellite image of Arwad
Arwad
Coordinates: 34°51′22″N 35°51′32″E / 34.85611°N 35.85889°E / 34.85611; 35.85889
Country	Syria
Governorate	Tartus
District	Tartus
Subdistrict	Arwad
Area
• Total	0.2 km2 (0.08 sq mi)
Population (2004 census)
• Total	4,403
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Arwad (Arabic: أرواد‎) – formerly known as Arados (Greek: Ἄραδος), Arvad, Arpad, Arphad, and Antiochia in Pieria (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια τῆς Πιερίας), also called Ruad Island – located in the Mediterranean Sea, is the only inhabited island in Syria. The town of Arwad covers the entire island. It is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Tartus (ancient Tortosa), Syria's second largest port. Today, it is mainly a fishing town. Plans have been unveiled in May 2016 to renovate the island to become a tourist attraction.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Arwad had a population of 4,403 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the Arwad nahiyah ("subdistrict") of which it is the only locality. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.

The name Arvad is noted in the Bible as the progenitor of the Arvadites, a Canaanite people.

The island was settled in the early 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians. Under Phoenician control, it became an independent kingdom called Arvad Aradus or Jazirat (the latter term meaning "island"). The Phoenician name for the city was probably ???????????????? (Aynook). The city has been cited as one of the first known examples of a republic in the world, in which the people, rather than a monarch, are described as sovereign. In Greek it was known as Arados. The city also appears in ancient sources as Arpad and Arphad. The city was renamed Antiochia in Pieria by Antiochus I Soter. The island was important as a base for commercial ventures into the Orontes valley.

Located some 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Tripolis, it was a barren rock covered with fortifications and houses several stories in height. The island was about 800 m long by 500 m wide, surrounded by a massive wall, and an artificial harbor was constructed on the east toward the mainland. It developed into a trading city in early times, as did most of the Phoenician cities on this coast. It had a powerful navy, and its ships are mentioned in the monuments of Egypt and Assyria. It seems to have had a sort of hegemony over the northern Phoenician cities, from the mouth of the Orontes to the northern limits of Lebanon, something like that of Sidon in the south. It had its own local dynasty and coinage, and some of the names of its kings have been recovered.