Hauran

Hauran, (Arabic: حوران‎ / ALA-LC: Ḥawrān), also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries generally extends from near Damascus and Mt. Hermon in the north to the Ajloun mountains of Jordan in the south. The area includes the Golan Heights on the west and is bounded there by the Jordan Rift Valley; it also includes Jabal ad-Duruz in the east and is bounded there by more arid steppe and desert terrains. The Yarmouk River drains much of the Hauran to the west and is the largest tributary of the Jordan River.

The volcanic soils of Hauran make it one of the most fertile regions in Syria; it produces considerable wheat and is particularly famous for its vineyards. The region receives above-average annual precipitation but has few rivers. Hauran relies mainly on annual snow and rain during winter and spring and many of the ancient sites contain cisterns and water storage facilities to better utilize the seasonal rainfall. The area is unlike other historical fertile areas of Syria, (the Orontes and the Euphrates river valleys), which rely on controlled irrigation systems for their farming productivity. Since the mid 1980s, Syria has built a considerable number of seasonal storage dams within the headwaters of the Yarmouk River drainage basin.

Read more about Hauran:  History, Major Cities, Villages, Roman Bridges, Famous Figures From Houran, Gallery