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Singora

Songkhla
สงขลา
City
City of Songkhla
City of Songkhla
Songkhla is located in Thailand
Songkhla
Songkhla
Coordinates: 7°12′22″N 100°35′48″E / 7.20611°N 100.59667°E / 7.20611; 100.59667
Country  Thailand
Provinces Songkhla Province
Amphoe Mueang Songkhla District
Elevation 11 m (36 ft)
Population (2006) 75,048
Time zone ICT (UTC+7)

Songkhla (Thai: สงขลา, pronounced [sǒŋ.kʰlǎː]), also known as Singgora or Singora (Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรา), is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048. Songkhla lies 968 km (601 mi) south of Bangkok.

Despite being smaller than the neighboring city Hat Yai, Songkhla is the capital of Songkhla Province as well as the Mueang Songkhla district (Songkhla town district).

Due to its location at the opening of Songkhla Lake to the Gulf of Thailand, Songkhla is a fishing town and also an important harbour. It is the major seaport on the east side of the Isthmus of Kra.

The name Songkhla is actually the Thai corruption of Singgora (Jawi: سيڠڬورا); its original name means "the city of lions" in Malay (not to be confused with Singapura). This refers to a lion-shaped mountain near the city of Songkhla. Archaeological excavations on the isthmus between Lake Songkhla and the sea reveal that in the 10th through the 14th century this was a major urbanized area, and a center of international maritime trade, in particular with Quanzhou in China. The long Sanskrit name of the state that existed there has been lost; its short Sanskrit name was Singhapura ("Lion City") (not to be confused with Singapura), a city state. The short vernacular name was Satingpra, coming from the Mon-Khmer sting/steng/stang (meaning "river") and the Sanskrit pura ("city").


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