As-Safira

As-Safira (Arabic: السَّفِيْرَة / ALA-LC: as-Safīrah; Aleppo dialect: Sfīre) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. It is the administrative center of the as-Safira District. As Safīrah has an altitude of 348 meters (1,142 ft), and a population of 106,382 as of 2007^[update], making it the 11th largest city per geographical entity in Syria.

As-Safira is the administrative center of Nahiya as-Safira and as-Safira District.

As-Safira السفيرة Sfireh, Sipri[1]
City
As-Safira Location in Syria
Coordinates: 36°04′N 37°22′E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Aleppo
District	Al-Safira
Subdistrict	Al-Safira
Control	Syrian Interim Government[2]
Elevation	348 m (1,142 ft)
Population  (2007 est.)
• Total	106,382
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	+3

Name

Medieval geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi spells the name Asfīrah^[3] (أسفيرة), not as-Safira (السفيرة), which indicates that the definite article in the modern spelling is a result of hypercorrection.

As-Safira was known in pre-Islamic times as Sipri.^[1] Historians^[4] have suggested that the name Sipri may have come from the Akkadian word siparru meaning "bronze", which might indicate that copper was mined and bronze was worked there.

History

Since ancient times the city has been the distribution point for salt gathered from the nearby Sabkhat al-Jabbul.

Archeological findings

Main article: Sefire steles

The Sfire I Treaty which may contain 8th century BCE evidence of a deity called "Most High."

Geography

Climate

As-Safira has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk).

Climate data for As Safira
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	10.8 (51.4)	13.3 (55.9)	17.7 (63.9)	23.1 (73.6)	29.6 (85.3)	34.7 (94.5)	37.0 (98.6)	37.4 (99.3)	33.7 (92.7)	28.2 (82.8)	20.0 (68.0)	12.9 (55.2)	24.9 (76.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	1.8 (35.2)	2.6 (36.7)	5.2 (41.4)	8.9 (48.0)	13.6 (56.5)	17.9 (64.2)	20.5 (68.9)	20.7 (69.3)	16.9 (62.4)	12.1 (53.8)	6.6 (43.9)	3.5 (38.3)	10.9 (51.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	59 (2.3)	48 (1.9)	32 (1.3)	36 (1.4)	17 (0.7)	2 (0.1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (0.0)	16 (0.6)	19 (0.7)	59 (2.3)	289 (11.3)
Average snowy days	0.9	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.2	1.2
Source: Climate-data.org.