Rif Dimashq Governorate in the context of "Damascus Governorate"

Maaloula (Arabic: مَعلُولَا; Western Neo-Aramaic: ܡܥܠܘܠܐ ,מעלולא, romanized: Maʿlūlā) is a town in southwestern Syria. The town is located in the Rif Dimashq Governorate and is 56 km northeast of Damascus, and is built into the rugged mountainside at an altitude of more than 1,500m. It is known as one of three remaining villages where Western Neo-Aramaic is spoken, the other two being the nearby smaller villages of Jubb'adin and Bakh'a. However, Bakh'a was vastly destroyed during the Syrian Civil War, and all the inhabitants fled to other parts of Syria or to Lebanon.

Al-Sarkha, Bakh'ah or Bakh'a (Western Neo-Aramaic: ܒܟܥܐ - בכעא lit. 'to cry or to weep', Arabic: الصرخة or بخعة) is a depopulated Syrian village in the Yabroud District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Sarkha had a population of 1,405 in the 2004 census. The village, inhabited by Sunni Muslims of Aramean descent, it was vastly damaged during the Syrian Civil War, and all of the inhabitants fled to other parts of Syria or to Lebanon as refugees. As of 1 February 2025, the village is still completely uninhabited. It was one of the only three remaining villages where Western Neo-Aramaic is spoken, alongside Maaloula and Jubb'adin.

Following their conversion to Islam in the 18th century, the inhabitants of Bakh'a underwent a religious transformation, shifting from being exclusively Christian to entirely Muslim.

Jubb'adin (Western Neo-Aramaic: ܓܦܥܘܕ - גפעוד Ġuppaʿōḏ lit. 'the well of Eden or the well of Audius', Arabic: جبعدين) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located northeast of Damascus in the Qalamoun Mountains. Nearby localities include Saidnaya and Rankous to the southwest, Yabroud and Maaloula to the northeast, and Assal al-Ward to the northwest.

The village is among the three last remaining villages where Western Neo-Aramaic is still spoken. Most of the younger people in the village are bilingual and speak both Western Neo-Aramaic and Syrian Arabic fluently. Jubb'adin is the main source of modern poetry written in the Western Neo-Aramaic language, thanks to its many poets. The environment is colder than in most other Syrian cities and villages due to its altitude.

Yabroud District (Arabic: منطقة يبرود, romanized: manṭiqat Yabrūd) is a district of the Rif Dimashq Governorate in southern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Yabroud. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 48,370.

Rankous or Rankus (Arabic: رنكوس) is a Syrian town and summer resort in the province's Damascus countryside (Rif Dimashq) located in Mount Qalamoun (anti-Lebanon) in Syria, 45 km from Damascus, with a total area of 22.277 km ², extends between 1650 and 2150 m. The climate of the town is cool in summer and cold in winter. The rate of rain and snow usually varies between 350 and 650 mm. The mountains surrounding the town are covered with snow in winter. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Rankous had a population of 7,717 in the 2004 census.

The town is famous for the cultivation of fruit trees: apples, pears, cherries, almonds, apricots, and vegetables: potatoes, peas, many types of vegetables. There are many types of livestock Rankous, such as sheep, goats, cows, poultry.

Yabroud or Yabrud (Arabic: يَبْرُود, romanized: Yabrūd) is a city in Syria, located in the Rif Dimashq (i.e. Damascus' countryside) governorate about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the capital Damascus. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Yabroud had a population of 25,891 in the 2004 census.

Jabroudian caves were discovered in the area in 1930. During the Syria Civil War the area was controlled by rebels from 2011 to 2014, before being retaken by government forces.

Assal al-Ward (Arabic: عسال الورد; also spelled Asal el-Ward) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located northeast of Damascus along the Syrian–Lebanese borders. Nearby localities include Hala, Hosh Arab and al-Qutayfah to the southeast, Rankous, Saidnaya, Douma and al-Tawani to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Assal al-Ward had a population of 5,812 in the 2004 census. The town is also the administrative center of the Assal al-Ward nahiyah which consists of three towns with a combined population of 8,766. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.

On 7 December 2024, the Syrian opposition group known as the Southern Operations Room, in co-ordination with the Military Operations Command, led forces that entered the Rif Dimashq region of Syria from the south, and those forces then came within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the capital Damascus. The Syrian Army withdrew from multiple points in the outskirts. Concurrently with the advance towards Damascus, opposition militia Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in the north launched an offensive into Homs, while the Syrian Free Army advanced into the capital from the southeast. By 8 December 2024, rebel forces entered the city's Barzeh neighborhood. According to official state reports in Russian mass media and media footage, President Bashar al-Assad left Damascus by air to Moscow, where he was granted asylum, sealing the fall of his regime.