Salamiyah

Salamiyah سلمية
View of Salamiyah
Nickname(s): The mother of Cairo
Salamiyah Location in Syria
Coordinates: 35°0′42.48″N 37°3′9″E / 35.0118000°N 37.05250°E / 35.0118000; 37.05250Coordinates: 35°0′42.48″N 37°3′9″E / 35.0118000°N 37.05250°E / 35.0118000; 37.05250
Country	Syria
Governorate	Hama Governorate
District	Salamiyah District
Settled	3500 BCE
Elevation	475 m (1,558 ft)
Population (2004 census)
• Total	66,724
• Ethnicities	Arab
• Religions	Ismailis, Alawites, Atheists.
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Area code(s)	33

Salamiyah (Arabic: سلمية‎‎ Salamīya) is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located 33 kilometres (21 miles) southeast of Hama, 45 kilometres (28 miles) northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was the birthplace of the second Fatimid Caliph Muhammad al-Qaim Bi-Amrillah, whose dynasty would eventually establish the city of Cairo, and the early headquarters of his father Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah who founded the Fatimid Caliphate. The city is an important center of the Shi'ite Nizari Ismaili and Taiyabi Ismaili Muslim sects and also the birthplace of poet Muhammad al-Maghut. The population of the city is 66,724 (2004 census). In the recent years, with the development of frontlines in Syrian Civil War, the city has grown in its strategic importance. With the Al-Rastan becoming a pocket out of the control of the government along the Homs-Hama Motorway, and the developments in Idlib governorate resulting in the government also losing control of large segments of the main Hama-Aleppo Highway, Homs-Salamiyah, Hama-Salamiyah, and Salamiyah-Ithriya-Aleppo roads become major lines connecting these major government-held areas. This importance has been why the town is site for occasional ISIS or Rebel mortar attacks.