Municipalities of Syria
The Syrian Arab Republic (informally Syria), one of the 20 republics of the Arab Union, consists of 115 municipalities (Arabic: بلديات baladiyāt; sg. بلدية baladiyah), which are the republic's units of local government and constitute the third and lowest tier of government in the Arab Union.
Each municipality is administrated by an elected municipal government called a "council" (مجلس majlis; pl. مجالس majālis), and thus municipalities are often referred to informally as "council areas" (مناطق المجالس manāṭiq al-majālis; sg. منطقة المجلس minṭaqat al-majlis). Councils can take one of two forms of municipal government: mayor–council governments (the more common form, accounting for over two thirds of councils) consist of an elected mayor, who appoints a council to act as his cabinet and administration; council–manager governments instead consist of an elected council of 7 to 20 members, which acts as the legislative and top administrative body of the municipality, who appoint a professional manager to advise the council and execute its authority in day-to-day affairs.
Municipal governments (councils) are directly answerable to the government of Syria, and derive their political authority via devolution according to the provisions of the Municipal Administration Act of 2000.
List of municipalities[edit | edit source]
| Municipality | Population | Gov't type | Mayor/manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markez Dimashq | 448,780 | Council–manager | Adel el-Olabi |
| El-Mouhajreen | 655,473 | Council–manager | Michel el-Obeidi |
| Mezzeh | 504,279 | Council–manager | Ali Keshishian |
| Midan | 856,270 | Council–manager | Youssef Amin |
| Abu Jarash | 869,345 | Council–manager | Hanna el-Hilmi |
