LATAKIA

major syrian seaport.

On the Mediterranean Sea, Latakia was known in Greek as Laodicea after the name of the mother of Seleucus Nicator (301–281 c.e.), who built it. A fertile coastal plain stretches around Latakia (Arabic, al-Ladhaqiyya ). According to the 1982 administrative divisions of Syria, the province of Latakia included 4 mintaqas (sections) based on Latakia, Jabala, al-Haffa, and al-Qardaha, 13 nahiyas (subdivisions) based on 13 towns, 501 villages, and 590 farms. The population of Latakia province in 2002 was 1 million; the city population was about 345,000.

abdul-karim rafeq

latakia kind of Turkish tobacco produced near Latakia, the ancient Laodicea, seaport of Syria. XIX.