Alawite State

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. The French Mandate from the League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946.

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 with the term literally referring to a "follower of Ali". In 1920, the French-named "Alawite Territory" was home to a large population of Alawites.

Geography

The region is coastal and mountainous, home to a predominantly-rural, heterogeneous population. During the French Mandate period, the society was divided by religion and geography; the landowning families and 80 percent of the population of the port city of Latakia were Sunni Muslim. More than 90 percent of the province's population was rural, and 82 percent were Alawites.

The Alawite State bordered Greater Lebanon on the south; the northern border was with the Sanjak of Alexandretta, where Alawites made up a large portion of the population. To the west was the Eastern Mediterranean. The eastern border with Syria ran roughly along the An-Nusayriyah Mountains and the Orontes River from north to south. The modern Latakia and Tartus Governorates roughly encompass the Alawite State.