Tartus comprises roughly half of Syria's Mediterranean coastline; offshore lie five small islands, the largest of which is Arwad.

[5] The Nahr al-Kabir river forms the border with Lebanon to the south.

[6] Tartus is the regional capital; other major settlements include Al-Hamidiyah, Al Qadmus, Al-Sawda, Ayn ash Shams, Baniyas, Qusaybah and Safita.

[2] A 2011 UNOCHA estimate put the population at 797,000, though this has likely changed since the start of the war.

[8] There is a small Cretan Greek community concentrated in Al-Hamidiyah, the descendants of refugees who fled the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.