Alawite State

35°31′27″N 35°46′58″E / 35.524212°N 35.782646°E / 35.524212; 35.782646

Territory of the Alawites
(1920–1922)
Territoire des Alaouites
Alawite State
(1922–1936)
État des Alaouites
دولة العلويين
1920–1936
Flag of Alawite State
The Alawite State (purple) in the Mandate of Latakia
The Alawite State (purple) in the Mandate of Latakia
Status1920–1922
Territory administered according to the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
1922–1924
State of the Syrian Federation (administered according to the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon)
1925–1936
State administered according to the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
Common languagesFrench
Arabic
Religion
Shia Islam (Alawism), Sunni Islam, Christianity
Historical eraInterwar period
• French occupation
1918
• Established
2 September 1920
• State declared
1923
• Named "Government of Latakia"
1930
• Disestablished
3 December 1936
Preceded by
Succeeded by
1920:
OETA
1924:
Syrian Federation
1922:
Syrian Federation
1936:
Syrian Republic
Today part ofSyria

The Alawite State (Arabic: دولة جبل العلويين, Dawlat Jabal al-‘Alawiyyīn; French: État des Alaouites), initially named the Territory of the Alawites (French: territoire des Alaouites), after the locally-dominant Alawites from its inception until its integration to the Syrian Federation in 1922, was a French mandate territory on the coast of present-day Syria after World War I.[1] The French Mandate from the League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946.[2]

The use of "Alawite", instead of "Nusayri", was advocated by the French early in the Mandate period and referred to a member of the Alawite faith. In 1920, the French-named "Alawite Territory" was home to a large population of Alawites.[3]

  1. ^ Alawite Territory (Sanjak of Latakia 1920–1936), From [1]
  2. ^ Provence, Michael. The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005.
  3. ^ Khoury, Philip S. Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920–1945. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.