rakka
Rakka, also spelled Raqqa or Ar-Raqqah, is a city in northern Syria and the administrative capital of Raqqa Governorate. It is situated on the Euphrates River, northeast of Damascus and east of Aleppo, near the Tabqa Dam. The city has long served as a regional trading and cultural hub for centuries, with evidence of settlement dating back to ancient times under various empires.
In the early 2010s, Raqqa drew international attention after being captured by the Islamic State in 2013–2014,
Name and transliteration: The Arabic name الرقة is commonly transliterated as Ar-Raqqah or Raqqa; older English-language sources