Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria, the oldest current capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth holiest city in Islam. Known colloquially in Syria as
aลก-ล ฤm (ุงูุดููุงู
) and dubbed, poetically, the "City of Jasmine", Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world. Situated in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area. Nestled among the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50ย mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230ย ft) above sea level, Damascus experiences an arid climate because of the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.