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Al-Ghab Plain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ghab Plain (Arabic: سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, romanized: Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, around 25 km north-west of Hama.[1][2]
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The valley was flooded for centuries by the waters of the Orontes River, which rendered it a swamp.[3][4] The "Ghab project", beginning in the 1950s, drained the valley to make it habitable, arable land,[5] providing an extra 41,000 hectares (160 sq mi) of irrigated farmland.[6]
The valley separates the al-Ansariyah mountains in the west from the Zawiyah mountain range and the plateau region to the east.[1] It is 63 kilometres (39 mi) long and 12.1 kilometres (7.5 mi) wide.[3]