State of Damascus | |||||||||||
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| 1920–1925 | |||||||||||
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 Location of the State of Damascus (yellow) within theMandate for Syria | |||||||||||
| Status | 1920–1922 State administered according to theFrench Mandate of Syria 1922–1925 State of theSyrian Federation (administered according to theFrench Mandate of Syria) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Damascus | ||||||||||
| Common languages | French Arabic | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||||
| 25 July 1920 | |||||||||||
• State of Damascus was declared | 3 September 1920 | ||||||||||
• Jabal Druze State separated | 1 May 1921 | ||||||||||
| 28 June 1922 | |||||||||||
| 1 January 1925 | |||||||||||
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TheState of Damascus (French:État de Damas;Arabic:دولة دمشقDawlat Dimashq) was one of the six states established by theFrench GeneralHenri Gouraud in theFrench Mandate of Syria which followed theSan Remo conference of 1920 and the defeat ofKing Faisal's short-lived monarchy in Syria.
The other states were theState of Aleppo (1920), theState of Alawites (1920), theState of Jabal Druze (1921), theSanjak of Alexandretta (1921), and theState of Greater Lebanon (1920), which later became the modern country ofLebanon.
The State of Damascus was declared by the French GeneralHenri Gouraud on 3 September 1920,[1] withDamascus as its capital. The first president of the new state wasHaqqi Al-Azm. The state of Damascus included Damascus and its surrounding region, in addition to the cities ofHoms,Hama and theOrontes river valley.
The new Damascus state lost four Qada's (sub-districts) that had been part of the Vilayet (district) of Damascus during Ottoman times to the mainlyChristianMount Lebanon to create the newState of Greater Lebanon. The territory separated from Damascus corresponds today to theBiqa' valley plussouth Lebanon. Damascus, and later Syria, continuously protested the separation of these lands and kept demanding them back throughout the mandate period. The population of these regions, which was mainlyMuslim, also protested the separation from Damascus.
On 28 June 1922, general Gouraud announced theSyrian Federation which included the states of Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite state. In 1924, the Alawite State was separated again. The Syrian Federation became theState of Syria on 1 January 1925.
| General Distribution of Population in the State of Damascus according to the French census in 1921-22[2] | |||||||
| Religion | Inhabitants | Percentage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunni | 447,000 | 75.1% | |||||
| Christians | 67,000 | 11.3% | |||||
| Foreigners | 49,000 | 8.2% | |||||
| Twelvers | 9,000 | 1.5% | |||||
| Ismailis | 8,000 | 1.3% | |||||
| Jews | 6,000 | 1.1% | |||||
| Alawis | 5,000 | 0.8% | |||||
| Druzes | 4,000 | 0.7% | |||||
| Total | 595,000 | 100% | |||||
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