Aleppo , one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world
Aleppo (Arabic: حلب ['ħalab], Turkish: Halep, Greek: Αλεππο) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate; the Governorate extends around the city for over 16,000 km² and has a population of 4,393,000, making it the largest Governorate in Syria by population. Aleppo is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world; it knew human settlement since the eleventh millennium B.C. through the residential houses that were discovered in Tell Qaramel.[1] It was known to antiquity as Khalpe, Khalibon, and to the Greeks as Beroea. During the Crusades, and again during the French Mandate, the name Alep was used: "Aleppo" is an Italianised version of this. It occupies a strategic trading point midway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates. Initially, Aleppo was built on a small group of hills surrounding the prominent hill where the castle is erected.[2] The small river Quwēq (قويق) runs through the city.
Dec 24, 2002
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