Abu Kamal

Abu Kamal () or Al-Bukamal () is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the Abu Kamal District and the local subdistrict (Abu Kamal Subdistrict). Just to the south-east is the Al-Qa'im border crossing to the town of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate. Etymology When part of the Ottoman Empire, Abu Kamal was called kışla, pronounced locally as "qashla", which is a Turkish word for "military barracks". This name "Qashla" is still used by some inhabitants of the area, especially by elderly villagers. The name "Al-Bukamal" () means "the family of Kamal", Kamal being the tribe that lives there, whereas the name "Abu Kamal" means "the father of Kamal". History In the 17th century, Abu Kamal was the seat of a sanjak of the Ottoman Empire in the Rakka Eyalet. It was a kaza (subdistrict) center within Zor Sanjak until the end of Ottoman rule in 1918. In 1896, the old mud village was relocated a mile upstream because it was in danger of being ruined by flooding. The new village was built from stone and had wide streets. The village and its subdistrict formed the center of the Arab Uqaydat tribe and was largely Sunni Muslim, with the exception of a small Christian community originally from Deir ez-Zor and Mosul. At the beginning of the 20th century, it contained eighty houses, the residence of the kaymakam (kaza governor), a police station, a ferry, and had a population of about 500. The kaza of Abu Kamal in 1890 had a population of 15,000. Abu Kamal became part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon in 1921, and the French made it the seat of a large garrison. In 1946 it became part of independent Syria. Abu Kamal's position at the border of Syria and Iraq has made it an important commercial as well as political center.