- Arabic:
- درعا (Darʿā)
- Greek:
- Edrei
Daraa
News •
Daraa, town, southwestern Syria. It is the chief town of the Ḥawrān region of Syria. Earning the nickname “the cradle of the revolution,” Daraa was the site of the first protests of the 2011 uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s government, which eventually turned into the brutal and lengthy Syrian Civil War.
A road and rail junction located less than 6 miles (10 km) from the Jordanian border on the Wadi Jride, Daraa is the focal point for communications and transportation between Amman and Damascus. There are no local industries, but Daraa serves as a market center and garrison town. The town contains ruins from the Greco-Roman period and a mosque built in 1253. The decisive Battle of the Yarmouk River (636), which led to the annihilation of the Byzantine forces and the capture of Syria by the Arabs, was fought near the town; it also was the scene of fighting during World War I.
On March 6, 2011, a group of teenagers who were inspired by the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprising were arrested after writing graffiti that used the Arab Spring slogan: “The people want the fall of the regime.” Locals took to the street in protest against the action as well as the generally poor treatment of Daraa by the government. The following week, protests spread across Syria; they continued to escalate and culminated in the Syrian Civil War. Although the war largely subsided by 2020, with Daraa under government control, it was reignited in late 2024; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which became the dominant rebel force in 2019, took control of Daraa on December 7. Damascus was taken the following day and Bashar al-Assad fled the country, ending decades of rule by the Assad regime.
Daraa is the center of a grain-growing (especially wheat and barley) region. In the late 20th century, the Syrian government instituted a number of programs to improve agricultural production in Daraa and the surrounding region. Improved farming methods were introduced, and efforts were made to remove the numerous lava rocks that have hindered land cultivation. Pop. (2004) 97,969.