Qatana

Qatana () is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Qatana District of Rif Dimashq Governorate. Qatana has an altitude of 879 meters. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 33,996 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the Qatana Subdistrict, which contained 19 localities with a collective population of 147,451 in 2004. The population reflects Syria's general religious diversity, and is made up primarily of Sunni Muslims, with minorities of Greek Orthodox Christians, Assyrians (mostly Syriac Catholics), Druze and Alawites.

==History== In the early 13th century, during Ayyubid rule, Yaqut al-Hamawi noted Katana as "one of the villages of Damascus". Tamerlane camped at Qatana during the siege of Damascus in 1400–1401; hence, the region was called as "Wadi al-Ajam" afterwards.