Tyre, Lebanon
Tyre
صور | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Latin | Ṣūr |
The Egyptian harbour with the submerged ancient columns with the skyline of the modern city in the background, aerial view of Tyre. | |
| Coordinates: 33°16′15″N 35°11′46″E / 33.27083°N 35.19611°E | |
| Country | Lebanon |
| Governorate | South Governorate |
| District | Tyre |
| Municipalities | Al-Aabbassiyah, Ain Baal, Burj el-Shamali, Sour |
| Established | c. 2750 BCE |
| Area | |
• City | 4 km2 (2 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 17 km2 (7 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• City | 60,000 |
| • Density | 15,000/km2 (39,000/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 174,000 |
| Demonym | Tyrian |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, vi |
| Designated | 1984 (8th session) |
| Reference no. | 299 |
Tyre (/ˈtaɪər/; Arabic: صُور, romanized: Ṣūr; Phoenician: 𐤑𐤓, romanized: Ṣūr; Hebrew: צוֹר, romanized: Ṣōr; Ancient Greek: Τύρος, romanized: Týros) is a city in Lebanon, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix, and Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan noted that "One can call Tyre a city of ruins, built out of ruins".
Tyre is the fifth-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, and Baalbek. It is the capital of the Tyre District in the South Governorate. There were approximately 200,000 inhabitants in the Tyre urban area in 2016, including many refugees, as the city hosts three of the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon: Burj El Shimali, El Buss, and Rashidieh.