Aleppo

Aleppo (Arabic: حلب‎ Ḥalab [ˈħalæb], other names) is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 (2005 official estimate), expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant. For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppo is distinct in identity, architecture and culture, all shaped by a markedly different history and geography. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it has been inhabited since perhaps as early as the 6th...