Aleppo Governorate - Borders and Landscape

Borders and Landscape

The governorate has a 221 kilometres (137 mi) long northern boundary with the Kilis, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa provinces of Turkey. To the west lie the Sanjak of Alexandretta (disputed with Turkey) and the Idlib Governorate. To the south lie the Ḥamā Governorate River Euphrates forms most of the southern half of the eastern boundary with the Raqqah Governorate.

The governorate lies on a plateau known as the Aleppo plateau. The eastern and northern boundaries of the governorate correspond roughly to the eastern and northern boundaries of the plateau, although the northeastern portion of the governorate crosses the Euphrates valley into the Jazīrah plateau. The southeastern end of the governorate is continuous with the arid steppe of the northern Syrian Desert. To the south lie the eastern plains of Hama, and to the southwest lie the northern plains of Idlib.

The average elevation of the terrain is 379 metres (1,243 ft). The surface gradually slopes down in north-south and west-east directions. The surface undulates gently with an amplitude of 10–30 m for each wave. The lowlands are covered with combined Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments that average 4–5 km in thickness over the whole surface.

Starting from the valley of the Euphrates, the terrain rises forming the Manbij plain and then sinks again at the Dhahab river valley in the east of Aleppo Governorate. The Dhahab drains the highlands north of Bāb and runs in a north-south direction for about 50 km until it drains into Lake Jabboul. West of the Dhahab valley the terrain rises again forming Mount ʻAqīl (Mount Taymar) west of Bāb and Mount Ḥaṣṣ west of Lake Jabboul. The terrain sinks again forming the valley of River Quwēq. The endpoint of Quwēq, the Maṭkh swamp (249 metres (817 ft)), is the lowest point in Aleppo Governorate. West of the Quwēq is Mount Simeon. South of Mount Simeon are the plains of Idlib. River ʻIfrīn runs west of Mount Simeon. To the west of River ʻIfrīn the land rises again forming Mount Kurd. The highest point in the governorate, Mount Bulbul (1,269 metres (4,163 ft)), is located in the northern part of Mount Kurd. River ʻIfrīn runs from north to south between Mount Simeon and Mount Kurd and then turns west to the Orontes valley, thus separating Mount Kurd from Mount Ḥārim to the south.

The governorate is generally deforested except for a dispersed forest of about 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi) on the eastern slope of Mount Kurd where it faces the plain of Aʻzāz. The main trees are Aleppo Pine and oak.

Arable land makes up 66% of the total area in the governorate. The main crops are olives, figs, plums, pomegranates, vegetables, grains, rice, and pistachios. Pistachio is called in Syria fustuq Ḥalabī (Aleppo pistachio). Agriculture was traditionally supported by rivers; the main rivers in Aleppo are the Quwēq, ʻIfrīn, Sājūr, Dhahab, Aswad, and Euphrates. However, all of these rivers arise in Turkey, and due to irrigation projects on the Turkish side of the border the flow of these rivers dropped so much that most of them could no longer support agriculture. The Quwēq, for example, dried up completely in the 1950s. The vanishing of the rivers forced farmers to depend largely on rainfall and on water diverted from the Euphrates. A pumping station at Maskanah (95 km east of Aleppo) provides drinking water for Aleppo from the Euphrates. Recently Euphrates water has been diverted to revive the dead Qwēq river, and thus revive agriculture in the plains south of Aleppo. Urban areas, highlands, swamps, forests, and grazing land make up 34% of the total area of the governorate. The remaining 14% is a desert area in the southeast that is continuous with the Syrian Desert and known as Aleppo Desert (Arabic: بادية حلب).

The largest lake in the governorate is Lake Jabboul, a Ramsar salt lake located 40 kilometres (25 mi) southeast of Aleppo. Lake Assad (the largest lake in Syria) separates Aleppo Governorate from Raqqa Governorate. Other artificial lakes include the Lake of 17 April on River ʻIfrīn and the revived Shabāʼ Lake on River Quwēq.

Archeological sites are abundant in the governorate, especially at Mount Simeon in the west and the plains that extend beyond towards Antioch and Idlib. This region, known as the Limestone Massif, has the largest concentration of Late Antiquity churches in the world, with a unique Syrian architectural style. It also has the famous Dead Cities of Syria.