Aleppo

Aleppo(Arabic Ḥalab, Turkish Halep) is the leading city of northern Syria. It is situated in the northwestern part of the country, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border. Aleppo is located at the crossroads of great commercial routes and lies some 60 miles (100 km) from both the Mediterranean Sea (west) and the Euphrates River (east). The city’s Arabic name, Ḥalab, is of ancient Semitic origin. It is first mentioned in the archives of the ancient city of Ebla at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE as the site of an important temple dedicated to the Near Eastern storm god Hadad. In the late 20th century, archaeologists discovered the buried remains of this temple at the site of Aleppo’s medieval citadel, atop the hill at the city’s centre. The oldest parts of the temple date to the 3rd millennium BCE, and the building was renovated several times over the succeeding millennia.

The boundaries of modern Syria drawn by the United Kingdom and France at the end of World War I had the effect of cutting Aleppo off from territories that had been essential to its function as a centre hub of international trade, including Iraq and southeastern Turkey, especially the port city of İskenderun. However, Aleppo’s manufacturing sector continued to develop, and the city soon became an industrial centre rivaling Damascus. The city experienced a massive population expansion in the 20th century caused by migration from rural areas, and large residential developments were constructed to keep up with the demand for housing.The rise in the mid-20th century of a new political structure dominated by ʿAlawite (Shīʿite minority sect) military officers at the expense of the traditional Sunni urban elite led occasionally to outbreaks of violence. In 1979 a simmering insurgency against the regime of Pres. Ḥafiz al-Assad took a brutal turn when militants massacred approximately 50 cadets, most of them ʿAlawites, at a military academy in Aleppo. The government responded with a massive military deployment to Aleppo in 1980, and several hundred people were killed by special forces hunting militants in the city.Aleppo initially remained quiet when demonstrations broke out against the regime of Pres. Bashar al-Assad in early 2011 and was thus spared the brutal reprisals by Syrian security forces. However, as the crisis evolved into a civil war, Aleppo became a centre of armed opposition activity, and the city saw full-fledged combat beginning in the summer of 2012.

(Source:Encyclopedia Britannica)