According to the latest census, the population of the city of Hasakah is 153,705, and it is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, and Assyrians.

The city of Hasakah, the seat of Hasakah Governorate, is situated in a fertile region among the most agriculturally productive areas of Syria, where the cultivation of cotton, wheat, barley, sesame, yellow maize, potatoes, soybeans, and vegetables of all kinds is widespread. Hasakah has a number of factories for agricultural and food industries, and the Hasakah region is likewise renowned for its livestock wealth, as well as its oil wealth and petroleum installations, in addition to a number of traditional industries and a number of modern industrial projects launched by the state in the city of Hasakah and its districts, among them very important agricultural and industrial projects.

Malikiyah

The visitor leaving the Syrian city of Qamishli and heading east, after covering thirty kilometers, finds himself climbing into a low mountainous region, interspersed with plateaus, plains, and hollows, and with many watercourses and plains. He is forever on a gentle ascent or a slight descent until he reaches the city of Malikiyah, which he then leaves after passing through its center heading north. The scenes follow one another and he remains captivated by them until he reaches Ain Diwar in the far north. This small village witnessed the last total solar eclipse and drew great media attention, for it hosted the most famous astronomers in the world.

The city of Malikiyah lies in the far northeast of Syria, in Hasakah Governorate, which is known as the Jazira, in a relatively elevated area about a thousand kilometers from the capital Damascus. It is separated by about six kilometers from the Turkish border, and about eighteen kilometers from the Iraqi border.

Malikiyah overlooks the Tigris River, and behind it rises Mount Judi in Turkey with its lofty summit, upon which Noah's Ark is believed to have come to rest.

In the year 1928 this city became part of Syrian territory after the border between Syria and Turkey was demarcated. The city is known by the name "Derik." From that date it began to grow and expand and came to life with activity.

Malikiyah is distinguished by some of its old buildings: the government house (the Seraglio), which is now the headquarters of the district directorate; the old church; and the old mosque. The remains of the French barracks still stand, bearing witness to the French entry into the city and their rule over it throughout the years of their occupation between 1920 and 1946.

Perhaps the most famous thing that distinguishes this city from others is the presence of petroleum in its area known as Rmeilan and Karatchok, and of gas in Suwaidiyah, in addition to its famous bridge known as the Roman Bridge.

Malikiyah has abundant rainfall, and the annual [?] average there far exceeds 500 millimeters; it is therefore considered one of the richest areas of the Jazira in groundwater. It is also distinguished by deep, highly fertile volcanic soil, and natural meadows abound in it, growing in the spring season to the point that in some places they reach a meter [in height].

The climate of Malikiyah is hot in summer, like the rest of the Jazira, and cold in winter owing to the region's elevation and its proximity to the Turkish mountains, which are cloaked in snow in this season.

Its farmers are known for their eagerness to plant trees and apricots, peaches of all kinds, cotton, and grains.

The rural way of life prevails in Malikiyah, and there is no doubt that the strong family bond is almost the sole prevailing force, with no room for individualist tendencies. The inhabitants of Malikiyah, in their various groups of Kurds, Syriacs, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, are distinguished by their excessive generosity, for the guest occupies the foremost place in the home. Early marriage is also widespread in the region, and the modern character prevails over wedding rites in the city, whereas in the countryside the traditional character prevails, differing from one group to another.

Among the other joys of Malikiyah are the feast of Nowruz on the 21st of March, which people celebrate by going out into nature; the feast of Britah [?]; and Labor Day; in addition to the religious feasts, when they receive the pilgrims by decorating the entrances of their homes with tree branches and religious phrases, and animals are slaughtered and celebrations are held.

Amuda

The city of Amuda lies in Hasakah Governorate on the Syrian-Turkish border. To its east is the city of Qamishli, 30 km away, and to its west the town of Darbasiyah, 26 km away; it is 75 km from the city of Hasakah, which lies to its south. It is considered one of the oldest cities in the governorate and the largest subdistrict in the country, and about 172 villages and farms are affiliated with it.

The history of Amuda: The name of Amuda is mentioned in the book "Nashwat al-Mudam fi al-Awda ila Dar al-Salam" by the famous author, the erudite scholar Mahmud al-Alusi, who visited it during his journey in the year 1267 AH and noted that it had 70 houses and a mosque. This indicates that it was a thriving village a hundred and fifty years ago, and it is among the oldest villages and towns of the governorate. The civilizational indications of a human presence in the Amuda region geographically are the presence of archaeological tells, among them Tell Amuda, Tell al-Mal (Mozan), and Tell Hittin [?] (Chagar Bazar); these tells were surveyed and excavated for antiquities, which were found to belong to ancient civilizations more than three thousand years old. Numerous peoples successively settled in this region, and the Arabs settled in it following the Arab-Islamic conquests, and it took on designations such as Diyar Bakr, Diyar Mudar, and Diyar Rabia — Amuda belonged to Diyar Mudar. In later eras Amuda became a village belonging to the province of Mardin under Ottoman rule, then became independent of it after the borders were formed, and came to belong to Hasakah Governorate. After the entry of French forces into Syria and the imposition of their protection over it, Amuda became the seat of an administrative subdistrict in the year 1926, belonging to the district of Qamishli. It remained so until independence in the year 1946.

Amuda was subjected to aerial bombardment by the French in the year 1936, when France burned the houses and then five aircraft raided the city, the aim being to crush the patriotic spirit of the people of Amuda and to drive them out to Turkey and the neighboring villages. This date is known as the date of the "Tousha" (the massacre).

This city contributed to the Algerian revolution: on the 13th of November 1960, about 250 children were martyred, burned in the cinema, which was screening a film whose proceeds were dedicated to the Algerian revolution. The reason for Amuda being named with this name is not known, as there are no reliable references concerning the reason for the naming. The elderly circulate a legendary tale relating that the daughter of the king of Mardin bore a child out of wedlock and ordered her son to be taken away, so the man charged with this task hung him on a column (amud) erected near what is now Tell Amuda, and when a passing caravan discovered him, the people passed on the story of the column and the child, and the region came to be known by the name "the column." Then, when the village was built, it was named Amuda. This story has details and its course of events is doubtful.

Darbasiyah

The reason for naming this city Darbasiyah is in honor of the name of Saint Mar Asia, who had a grand principal church in their village of Mansuriyah (Turkey); and whoever stands outside the city of Darbasiyah and looks to its north sees the road lying open before him to the church of Saint Mar Asia in Mansuriyah. For this reason the site attracted those fleeing from the tyranny of the Ottomans, and they called it at the time "the road of Saint Mar Asia" (Darb al-Qiddis Mar Asia), and in short "Darb Asia"; and this compound word is today pronounced as if it were a single word, "Darbasiyah," after the definite article "al-" was added to it in accordance with the particular usage of the Arabic language. This word is compounded of two words, "darb" and "Asia." As for the first word, it is given in the Misbah dictionary: "The darb is the entrance between two mountains, its plural is durub, and its origin is not Arabic; the Arabs use it in the sense of 'gate.'"

As for the word Asia, it too is Syriac (asyo) [illegible], meaning the physician and sage who heals people's illnesses, and here it refers to Saint Mar Asia, who was so named in Syriac because God had endowed him with the gift of healing illnesses.

The believing reader may wonder how this can be?

The answer: The existence of the church of Saint Mar Asia, which was in Mansuriyah south of Mardin (in present-day Turkey), is very ancient, dating back hundreds of years. It was known among the people of this region that Saint Mar Asia the Sage is an intercessor for the sick, and so people from all directions would carry their sick heading for the church bearing his name in Mansuriyah, to obtain healing from our Lord Jesus Christ through his intercession. And the passage of people over the years from the south was through this district that is today called Darbasiyah. Since most people in ancient times spoke the Syriac language, they gave to this region and to the road passing through it leading to Mansuriyah, where the church of Mar Asia is, a name in the eternal Syriac language (its pronunciation in Arabic being Darbo d-Asyutho, its translation being "the road of healing"); and when the manner of pronouncing the word was Arabized it became Darbasiyah, and with the addition of the definite article "al-" it became al-Darbasiyah. We must not fail to mention an important observation, namely that Darbasiyah was the Turkish village facing today's Syrian Darbasiyah, the two being separated by the border line. When the children of our people migrated from Mansuriyah to Syria because of the persecutions that befell them, they built the church of Mar Asia and around it the city, and named it Darbasiyah. As for today, the Darbasiyah of Turkey has had its name changed and become "Şenyurt."