Rojava Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Rojava
Flag Emblem
Areas under the region's administration
Status	De facto autonomous region of Syria
Capital	Ayn Issa 36°23′7″N 38°51′34″E / 36.38528°N 38.85944°E / 36.38528; 38.85944
Largest city	Raqqa
Official languages	See languages Kurdish Arabic Syriac-Aramaic
Government	Libertarian socialist federated semi-direct democracy

• Co-Presidents	Îlham Ehmed Mansur Selum
• Co-Chairs	Amina Omar Riad Darar

Legislature	Syrian Democratic Council
Autonomous region

• Transitional administration declared	2013
• Cantons declare autonomy	January 2014
• Cantons declare federation	17 March 2016
• New administration declared	6 September 2018

Area
• Total	50,000 km² (19,000 sq mi)
Population
• 2018 estimate	≈2,000,000
Currency	Syrian pound (SYP)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
Driving side	right

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), sometimes referred to by the name Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir Ez-Zor. The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian Civil War, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part.

While entertaining some foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any international state or organization. Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnic Turkmen, Armenians and Circassians.

Images for kids

The Khabur river, near Dūr-Katlimmu
Sharat Kovakab, a volcano near the city of Al-Hasakah
Having been part of the Fertile Crescent, Northern Syria has several Neolithic sites such as Tell Halaf.
Ruins of the "Red House" of the Assyrian site Dur-Katlimmu exposed by excavations (6th century AD)
The Ba'athist government of Syria under Hafez al-Assad (pictured c. 1987) implemented Arabization policies in northern Syria.
Kurds celebrating Newroz in Girê Tertebê, near Qamishlo, in 1997
Kurds, Assyrians, and Arabs demonstrate against the Syrian government in Qamishli, 6 January 2012
Military situation in December 2015, the SDF would be successful in pushing ISIS out of northern Syria
A YPJ fighter, November 2014
A YPG Sniper in defense of Northern Syria from Turkey, Afrin
Ras al-Ayn shelling during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.
Theater center in Rojava in Kobani 2014
High school students in Tev-Cand in a classroom, dancing during a class on Syrian culture
Public performance in the AANES (Rojava) in administration Tev Cand
Children in (AANES) school curriculum children learning to play instruments and arts
Sustainable micro-irrigation system in Syria created by the AANES in southern Afrin.
Border crossing at Semalka between Iraqi Kurdistan government and the AANES on the Tigris river.
The autonomous administration is supporting efforts for workers to form cooperatives, such as this sewing cooperative in Derik.
SDF-controlled territory (green) and Turkish-occupied territory (red) in October 2019
Female fighters of the YPJ play a significant combat role in the region.
HXP militiamen on parade in 2016.
Satellite images of the village of Husseiniya in 2014 and 2015, reportedly leveled by the YPG.
SDF Yazidis praying in a Yazidi temple, with a mural of the holy Melek Taus, in AANES (Rojava) following the expulsion of ISIS
A YPJ soldier next to a large reservoir in Northern Syria
The streets of Qamishli during Christmas
Town center of Raqqa, 2009
Salih Muslim, co-chairman of the region's leading Democratic Union Party (PYD) with Ulla Jelpke at Rosa Luxemburg Foundation in Berlin
A demonstration in the city of Afrin in support of the YPG against the Turkish invasion of Afrin, 19 January 2018

Rojava facts for kids

Images for kids

See also