# Al-Thawrah

Al-Thawrah (Arabic: ٱلثَّوْرَة, romanized: ad-Ṭhawrah), also known as Al-Tabqah (Arabic: ٱلطَّبْقَة, romanized: aṭ-Ṭabaqah, Kurdish: Tebqa), is a city in Raqqa Governorate, Syria, approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) west of Raqqa. Al-Thawrah was the original name the settlement, which up until the 1960s had been relatively small. The city had a population of 69,425 as of the 2004 census. It is part of the Tabqa Region of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

## Etymology

The name "al-Thawrah" literally means "The Revolution", in reference to the Baathist March 8th revolution in 1963.

## History
### Syrian civil war

On 26 November 2012, during the Syrian civil war, a main route from Raqqa to Aleppo passing through al-Talwrah along the Euphrates was dotted with both government and Syrian rebel checkpoints. On 11 February 2013, rebel groups including the al-Nusra Front and Liwa Owais al-Qorani took over the city. On 21 November, there was fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in the town, but by 25 November, the rebels were back in control.
In January 2014, The Islamic State took control of the city. During ISIL rule, the town's Catholic, Antiochian Orthodox Church and Assyrian Church of the East churches were turned into a parking garage, a weapons factory and a barn, with ISIL militants destroying all Christian symbols on the three churches. The Shia Al Zahraa' Mosque was destroyed and an Ismaili place of worship was turned into a children's training centre. In addition, high ranking IS members would reside in the city, to escape the bombardments on its capital Raqqa.
On 22 March 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces began the Battle of Tabqa to retake the city, as the international coalition assisted by conducting airstrikes. SOHR reported that the airstrikes killed or injured more than 40 people, while the BBC reported 27 killed and 40 wounded. On May 10, 2017, the SDF successfully recaptured the city, during which an estimated 40% of the buildings were either damaged or destroyed.

## Demographics

Prior to the Civil War, the majority of the city's inhabitants were Sunni Arabs, with Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian as well as Ismaili and Shiite Arab minorities. The Assyrian minority consisted of around 1,000 people, with about half belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East, originating from the Khabour River villages, and the other half being Syriac Orthodox Christians, along with a few Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Protestant families. But now the Christians have left and very few returned after liberation.

## Geography

The Tabqa Dam and Lake Assad on the Euphrates, an important energy source for Syria, are near the town.

### Climate

Climate data for Al-Thawrah :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) | 13.8 (56.8) | 18.5 (65.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 30.3 (86.5) | 35.1 (95.2) | 37.7 (99.9) | 37.7 (99.9) | 34.2 (93.6) | 27.9 (82.2) | 20.0 (68.0) | 12.7 (54.9) | 25.3 (77.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.0 (42.8) | 8.0 (46.4) | 11.9 (53.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 22.2 (72.0) | 26.6 (79.9) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.0 (84.2) | 25.4 (77.7) | 19.6 (67.3) | 12.8 (55.0) | 7.5 (45.5) | 17.9 (64.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) | 2.2 (36.0) | 5.4 (41.7) | 9.4 (48.9) | 14.2 (57.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.4 (68.7) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.3 (52.3) | 5.7 (42.3) | 2.3 (36.1) | 10.6 (51.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 37 (1.5) | 24 (0.9) | 34 (1.3) | 25 (1.0) | 15 (0.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.0) | 10 (0.4) | 18 (0.7) | 32 (1.3) | 196 (7.7) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org ||||||||||||||