Answer the questions at the end based on the text.

Damascus is the capital and likely the largest city of Syria, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the battle for the city. It is commonly known in Syria as "ash-Sham" and nicknamed as the "City of Jasmine". In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural centre of the Levant and the Arab world. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 .

Located in south-western Syria, Damascus is the centre of a large metropolitan area of 2.6 million people (2004). Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau above sea level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.

First settled in the second millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries.

1. What city is this article talking about?
2. Located where?
3. Why did the population of Aleppo go down?
4. What is the city's nickname?
5. and the population?
6. Is it the oldest city?
7. Its a major cultural center of wht?
8. What river flows through it?
9. and why is there a semi arid climate ther?
10. When was it first settled?
1. Damascus
2. Syria
3. no
4. the city of Jasmine
5. 1,711,000 .
6. one of them
7. the Levant
8. The Barada River
9. because of the rain shadow effect.
10. in the second millennium BC