What is "al-sawda"

Al-Sawda (, also spelled Sauda or al-Soda) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 15 kilometers northeast of Tartus. Nearby localities include Annazah to the northeast, Maten al-Sahel to the northwest, Husayn al-Baher to the west, Dweir al-Shaykh Saad to the southwest, Awaru to the south, Khirbet al-Faras to the southeast and Khawabi to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Sawda had a population of 4,064 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the al-Sawda nahiyah ("sub-district") which contained 27 localities with a collective population of 32,925 in 2004. The inhabitants are predominantly Christians, of the Greek Orthodox Church.