Al Hasakah

An ancient tell has been identified in the city centre by Dominique Charpin as the location of the city of Qirdahat. Another possibility is that it was the site of the ancient Aramean city of Magarisu, mentioned by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala, who fought the Arameans near the city. The etymology of Magarisu is Aramaic (from the root mgrys) and means "pasture land". The city was the capital of the Aramean state of Bit-Yahiri, which was invaded by Assyrian kings Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II. Excavations in the tell discovered remains dating to the Middle-Assyrian, Byzantine and Islamic eras. The last level of occupation ended in the fifteenth century. A period of 1,500 years separated the Middle-Assyrian and Byzantine levels. There are numerous other archaeological tells in the surrounding area, such as Tall Sulaymānī, which is 7.6 kilometers to the north of the city. …

Al-Hasakah has a Mediterranean-influenced semi-arid climate (BSh) with very hot dry summers and cool wet winters with occasional frosty nights.

There are more than forty mosques in the city, as well as at least nine church buildings, serving a large number of Christians of various rites. The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary is the episcopal see of the non-metropolitan Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Al Hasakah-Nisibis, which depends directly on the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch. …

The economy of Hasaka is based on agriculture. The Jazira region, in which the city is situated, has long been known as "breadbasket" and "green island". In 2011, the region's wheat production made up 55% of Syria's total output, with Hasakah alone contributing more than 50%. Meanwhile, the region's cotton yield made up 78% of Syria's total production during that year, with Hasakah contributing 35%. In 2011, the Al-Hasakah Governorate accounted for roughly 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Syria's output of around 380,000 bpd. The region also holds a substantial amount of natural gas reserves. Following the Syrian civil war and in particular the Turkish occupation of Rojava many acres of farmland were rendered unusable, as Turkish forces cut off the Allouk water station in Serê Kaniyê (Raʾs al-ʿAin). This also led to a deterioration in the city's health conditions. …

In 1939, French mandate authorities reported the following population numbers for different ethnic/religious groups in al-Hasakah city centre: In 1992, Al-Hasakah was described as "an Arab city with a growing Kurdish population." Christians—mostly Assyrians, plus a smaller number of Armenians—also live in the city. In 2004, the city's population was 188,160. Al-Hasakah has an ethnically diverse population of Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians, with a smaller number of Armenians.