Aruad

Arwad - formerly known as Arados, Arvad, Arpad, Arphad, and Antiochia in Pieria, also called Ruad Island - located in the Mediterranean Sea, is the only inhabited island in Syria. The town of Arwad covers the entire island. It is located 3km from Tartus, Syria's second largest port. Today, it is mainly a fishing town. Plans have been unveiled in May 2016 to renovate the island to become a tourist attraction.According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Arwad had a population of 4,403 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the Arwad nahiyah of which it is the only locality. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.HistoryAncient historyThe name Arvad is noted in the Bible as the progenitor of the Arvadites, a Canaanite people.The island was settled in the early 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians. Under Phoenician control, it became an independent kingdom called Arvad Aradus or Jazirat (the latter term meaning "island"). The Phoenician name for the city was probably