Rif Dimashq Governorate

Rif Dimashq Governorate (Arabic: محافظة ريف دمشق <span title=" transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">Moḥaafaẓat Reef Demashq, literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is in the southwestern part of the country. It borders the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa and al-Suwayda (comprising the historic Hauran region) in the southwest, Homs in the north, Lebanon in the west and Jordan in the south. The capital is the city of Douma.

مُحافظة ريف دمشق
Governorate
Map of Syria with Rif-dimashq highlighted
Coordinates (Damascus): 33.5°N 37°E / 33.5; 37
Country	Syria
Capital	Douma
Manatiq (Districts)	10
Area
• Total	18,032 km2 (6,962 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	2,836,000
• Density	157.28/km2 (407.34/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	SY-RD
Main language(s)	Arabic

The Governorate completely surrounds the city-governorate of Damascus and it has an area of 18,032 km² and a population of 2,273,074 (2004 census).

Districts

The governorate is divided into ten districts (Arabic: مناطق ; manatiq). There were nine district until February 2009, when Qudsaya District was created from parts of Markaz Rif Dimashq and Al-Zabadani districts. The districts are further divided into 37 sub-districts.There is a small village belonging to the Damascus countryside (Ghouta) called Aqraba, which is characterized by its fields and agricultural orchards. (Arabic: نواحي ;nawahi).

The Districts of Rif Dimashq Governorate

Districts	Population (Census 2004)
Markaz Rif Dimashq	837,804
Douma	433,719
Al-Qutayfah	119,283
Al-Tall	115,937
Yabroud	48,370
An-Nabek	80,001
Al-Zabadani	63,780
Qatana	207,245
Darayya	260,961
Qudsaya	105,974
Total Governorate	2,273,074