Homs - Demographics

Demographics

Homs was one of the largest cities in Islamic Syria in the 12th-century with a population of 7,000. In 1785, the inhabitants of Homs numbered more than 2,000 and the population was divided almost evenly between Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians. The 1860s saw a rise in the population to 15,000–20,000. By 1907, Homs had roughly 65,000 inhabitants, of which two thirds were Muslims and the remainder Christians. In the 1981 census, the population stood at 346,871, rising to 540,133 in 1994. According to the 2004 census by Syria's Central Bureau of Statistics, Homs had a population of 652,609 of which 51.5% were male and 48.5% female. In an independent 2005 estimate the city had 750,000 residents, and as of 2008 the population was estimated at about 823,000.

Today, Homs' population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, and is made up of Sunni Muslims, of Alawite Muslims, Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Christians. In the 1880s, the Survey of Western Palestine noted that there were 5,500 Greek Orthodox Christians and 1,500 Syriac Orthodox Christians. The Syriac Patriarchate was transferred to Homs from Mardin in 1933, but relocated once more to Damascus in 1959.

Homs camp, a Palestinian refugee camp, is located within the city of Homs, and has a population of nearly 14,000. Most of its residents are originally from the Acre and Haifa areas in what had been northern Palestine (present-day Israel.) During the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th-century, about 20,000 Armenians immigrated to Homs and the surrounding villages. A small Greek community also exists in the city.