Suwayda
Suwayda
ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of the Suwayda city, October 2011 | |
| Coordinates: 32°42′45″N 36°34′00″E / 32.71250°N 36.56667°E | |
| Grid position | 296/235 |
| Country | Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Suwayda |
| Subdistrict | Suwayda |
| Control | Syrian transitional government (Al-Jabal Brigade) |
| Elevation | 3,543 ft (1,080 m) |
| Population (2020 census) | |
| 120,000 | |
| • Metro | 138,822 |
| Demonym(s) | Arabic: سويداوي, romanized: Suwaydāwi |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Area code | 16 |
| Geocode | C6147 |
| Climate | Csa |
Suwayda (Arabic: ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء, romanized: as-Suwaydāʾ), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan.
It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east. The city is referred to by some as "Little Venezuela" due to the city's influx of affluent Venezuelan Syrian immigrants. Many of them originally emigrated from Suweida in the nineteenth century, so when their descendants returned, they brought back the Spanish language and South American culture.