Governorate

A governorate is an administrative division of a country. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states, provinces, or colonies, the term governorate is often used in translation from non-English-speaking administrations.

The most common usage is as a translation of the Arabic Muhafazah. It may also refer to the guberniya and general-gubernatorstvo of Imperial Russia or the 34 gobernaciones of Imperial Spain.

Arab countries

The term governorate is widely used in Arab countries to describe an administrative unit. Some governorates combine more than one wilayah; others closely follow traditional boundaries inherited from the Ottoman Empire's vilayet system.

With the exception of Tunisia, all translations into the term governorate originate in the Arabic word muhafazah.

Homs Governorate

Homs Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة حمص‎ / ALA-LC: Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ) is one of the fourteen muhafazat (governorates or provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from 40,940 km² to 42,223 km². It is thus geographically the largest governorate of Syria. Homs Governorate has a population of 1,763,000 (2010 estimate). The Homs governorate is divided into 6 administrative districts (mantiqah). Homs is the capital city of the district of Homs. Its governor is Talal al-Barazi.

A Homs Governorate also formed part of Ottoman Syria, when it was also known as the Sanjak of Homs.

Districts

The governorate is divided into 7 districts (manatiq):

The districts are further divided into 25 sub-districts (nawahi).

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Syrian Army

The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) (Arabic: الجيش العربي السوري‎ al-Jaysh al-’Arabī as-Sūrī), is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services. The Syrian Army originated in local military forces formed by the French after World War I, after France obtained a mandate over the region. It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year.

Since 1946, it has played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting five military coups (two in 1949, including the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état and the August 1949 coup by Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi, 1954, 1963, 1966, and in 1970. It has fought four wars with Israel (1948, the Six Day War in 1967, 1973, and 1982 in Lebanon) and one with Jordan (Black September in Jordan, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during the Persian Gulf War, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Internally, it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82 Islamist uprising in Syria, and since early 2011 has been heavily engaged in fighting the Syrian Civil War, the most violent and prolonged war the Syrian Army has taken part in since its establishment in the 1940s.

National Reconciliation

National Reconciliation is the term used for establishment of so-called 'national unity' in countries beset with political problems. In Afghanistan the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan government under Babrak Karmal issued a ten-point reconciliation program in 1985 upon the advice of Soviet leadership. Karmal appointed a six member group who belonged to no political party to his government to prusue the task.Mohammad Najibullah later intensified and broadened the proposals in 1987 and ended early in the 1990s to stop the Afghan civil war which had haunted the country since 1978 after the Saur Revolution. At the National Reconciliation meeting they came to the conclusion that the Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan should withdraw.

The new constitution

In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev was selected Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev pushed new president Mohammad Najibullah to come with a peace proposal in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. On 15 January 1987 Najibullah requested a six-month ceasefire between Mujahideen and government forces, in this period he came up with various of proposals aimed at "National Reconciliation." The resistance replied to these proposals at a general meeting in Ghur Province in July 1987. The meeting was called together by Mujahideen resistance leader Ismail Khan in Herat Province. Najibullah's proposal was rejected and the six-month ceasefire agreement ended.

Daraa Governorate

Dara`a Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة درعا‎ / ALA-LC: Muḥāfaẓat Dar‘ā ) is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 3,730 km². It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra Governorate to the west, Rif Dimashq Governorate to the north and Al-Suwayda Governorate to the east. The governorate has a population of 998,000 (2010 census office estimate). The capital is the city of Daraa.

Several clashes have occurred within the governorate throughout the Syrian civil war.

Districts

The governorate is divided into 3 districts (manatiq):

These are further divided into 17 sub-districts (nawahi).

See also

External links