Palmyra (/ˌpɑːl-maɪrə/; Arabic: تَدْمُر, romanized: Tadmur; Palmyrene: 𐡶𐡣𐡬𐡥𐡴 Tadmor) is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate.

The ruins of ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are situated about 500 metres (1⁄3 mile) southwest of the modern city centre.

[5][6] During the Syrian Civil War, the city's population significantly increased due to the influx of internally displaced refugees from other parts of the country.

[8] The etymology of "Tadmur" is vague; Albert Schultens considered it to be derived from the Semitic word for dates ("Tamar"),[note 1][10] in reference to the palm trees that surround the city.

[note 2][11] 13th century Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi states Tadmur was the name of the daughter of one of Noah's distant descendants and that she was buried in the city.

[8] Michael Patrick O'Connor argued for a Hurrian origin of both "Palmyra" and "Tadmur",[8] citing the incapability of explaining the alterations to the theorized roots of both names, which are represented in the adding of a -d- to "Tamar" and a -ra- to "palame".

[15] There is a Syriac etymology for Tadmor, referring to dmr "to wonder", and Tedmurtā (Aramaic: ܬܕܡܘܪܬܐ) "Miracle"; thus Tadmūra means "object of wonder", most recently affirmed by Franz Altheim and Ruth Altheim-Stiehl (1973), but rejected by Jean Starcky (1960) and Michał Gawlikowski (1974).

[19] On 13 May 2015, the militant terrorist organization the Islamic State (IS) launched an attack on the modern town, raising fears that the iconoclastic group would destroy the historic city.

[26] In March 2016 a large-scale offensive by the SAA (supported by Hezbollah and Russian airstrikes) initially regained the areas south and west of the city.

Quwatli Street is the main road and runs east-west, starting from the Saahat al-Ra'is Square on the western edge of the town.