Aleppo

Aleppo (Arabic: ﺣﻠﺐ Ḥalab) is the main city of northern Syria. While it is not known exactly when the region first came to be populated, it is thought to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. It is located approximately 50km (30 miles) south of the border with Turkey and is mid-way between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates River. Its population was about 2.3 million in 2005, making it the largest in the country, but Aleppo is on the front line of the Syrian civil war which has been fought since 2011 and so more recent precise estimates are unavailable. Currently, the city is divided between forces of the Syrian government and rebel groups, in what has been described by the United Nations as the "ultimate humanitarian shame".