Yalda يلدا |
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Village | |
Coordinates: 33°27′46″N 36°19′18″E / 33.46278°N 36.32167°E | |
Country |
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Governorate | Rif Dimashq Governorate |
District | Markaz Rif Dimashq |
Nahiyah | Babbila |
Population (2004 census) | |
• Total | 28,384 |
Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
• Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Yalda (Arabic: يلدا, also spelled Yelda) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located on the southern outskirts of Damascus to the west of the Yarmouk Camp. Nearby localities include al-Hajar al-Aswad, Jaramana, Sayyidah Zaynab, al-Sabinah and Babbila. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Yalda had a population of 28,384 in the 2004 census. The town is also in the Babbila nahiyah consisting of 13 towns and villages with a combined population of 341,625.
The town has ancient ruins including foundations of hewn stone and Corinthian columns of basalt.
Yalda was visited by Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi in the early 13th-century, during Ayyubid rule. He noted that it was "a village lying some 3 miles from Damascus. The final n is sometimes left out, and the name pronounced Yalda."