Provinces of Syria

Syria houses fourteen provinces or governorates. The provinces are further divided into sixty four districts. The districts on the other hand are sub-divided into 206 sub-districts. The sub-districts finally comprises village that are tagged as the smallest administrative units in Syria. The fourteen provinces of Syria are as follows:

• Al Hasakah
• Ar Raqqah
• Al Qunaytirah
• Al Ladhiqiyah (Latakia)
• Dayr az Zawr
• Dar’a
• As Suwayda’
• Dimashq (Damascus)
• Hims (Homs)
• Idlib
• Aleppo (Halab)
• Hamah
• Rif Dimashq (Damascus Countryside)
• Tartus

The governor appoints officials for each districts and sub-districts who look after the administration functionalities. The elected officials work in collaboration with the elected district councils and ensure to attend to the local needs of the residents. Besides, they also act as intermediaries between the conventional local leaders (clan leaders or village chiefs) and central government authority.

Aleppo Governorate or Halab is the most populated governorate in Syria and records an approximate population of 4,045,166 (as per 2004 census). This implies that the province occupies about 23% of the overall population of Syria. On the other, with an approximate population of 90,000, Al Qunaytirah ranks the most thinly populated province of Syria. In terms of land area, Hims holds the prominent position with an approximate area of 40,940 km² and with 118 km² Dimashq is believed to have the smallest land area.