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Al-Ghab Plain

The Ghab Plain (Arabic: سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, romanizedSahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, around 25 km north-west of Hama.[1][2]

The valley was flooded for centuries by the waters of the Orontes River, which rendered it a swamp.[3][4] The "Ghab project", beginning in the 1950s, drained the valley to make it habitable, arable land,[5] providing an extra 41,000 hectares (160 sq mi) of irrigated farmland.[6]


The valley separates the al-Ansariyah mountains in the west from the Zawiyah mountain range and the plateau region to the east.[1] It is 63 kilometres (39 mi) long and 12.1 kilometres (7.5 mi) wide.[3]

Fisheries[edit]

Before its drainage, the Ghab was the center of the catfish (Silurus glanis) (sallōr or samak aswad) fisheries of the Orontes valley.[7]

Al-Ruj Plain[edit]

Northeast of the Ghab Plain is found another smaller plain, known as al-Ruj Plain (Rouj basin).[8] It is located between the Ghab Plain, and Amouk Plain. This is an agriculturally prosperous enclave just west of the town of Idlib.[2] Many ancient archaeological sites are located there.

Federal Research Division (2004), , Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4191-5022-7

Syria a Country Study

Sofer, Arnon (1999), , Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 978-0-8476-8511-0

Rivers of fire: the conflict over water in the Middle East

de Miranda, Adriana (2007), , L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER, ISBN 978-88-8265-433-7

Water architecture in the lands of Syria: the water-wheels

Salman, Salman M. A. (2009), , World Bank Publications, ISBN 978-0-8213-7953-0

The World Bank Policy for Projects on International Waterways: An Historical and Legal Analysis