Talk:Sweida

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A news item involving Sweida was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the In the news section on 29 July 2018.

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On 24 November 2025, it was proposed that this article be moved from Suwayda to Sweida. The result of the discussion was moved.

Amphitheater

Is there any source for an amphitheater found in Suada? The picture shows clearly not an amphitheater, but rather a small theater or even a curia.

Enlil2 (talk) 21:16, 26 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

After reviewing the change history of this and the merged Dionysias article, I will revert the description of the picture to "Agora of Dionysias". Still, a source for the claim in the text is missing. Enlil2 (talk) 13:16, 1 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

About climate

Two things:
1. "The average temperature is 15.5 °C." contrasts with the 15.9 °C daily mean temperature given in the table.
2. "This location is classified as BSk by Köppen and Geiger." In my opinion, somewhat strange wording; additionally, the precipitation threshold is 318 mm (15.9 × 20). As there is 364 mm of precipitation in a year, the climate type technically is not semi-arid.

I'm writing this here for further feedback. 109.186.0.66 (talk) 15:38, 6 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Multiple vandalism edits

Could someone please restore the latest revision on 19 October, as all edits after that are only vandalism.

I cannot revert from my current device and probably won't be able to for a while.

- RamiPat (talk) 23:31, 5 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@David O. Johnson: would it be possible if you do that

- RamiPat (talk) 23:32, 5 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It's been done. David O. Johnson (talk) 23:36, 5 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks!

- RamiPat (talk) 23:55, 5 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 24 November 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. Moved as an uncontested request with minimal participation. If there is any objection within a reasonable time frame, please ask me to reopen the discussion; if I am not available, please ask at the technical requests page. (closed by non-admin page mover) Jeffrey34555 (talk) 04:36, 8 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Suwayda → Sweida – It is officially and commonly known as Sweida, and is also referred to by this name in various sources –yeagvr · ✉ 20:45, 24 November 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. Jeffrey34555 (talk) 21:10, 1 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Note: WikiProject Syria has been notified of this discussion. Jeffrey34555 (talk) 21:10, 1 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Requested move 1 January 2026

It has been proposed in this section that Sweida be renamed and moved to SuwaydaSuwayda.

A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.

Please use {{subst:requested move}}. Do not use {{requested move/dated}} directly.

Links: current log • target log • direct move

Sweida → SuwaydaSuwayda – WP:COMMONNAME since if you search up "Suwayda" on Google, you would see more of said "Suwayda" then "Sweida". GuesanLoyalist (talk) 00:54, 1 January 2026 (UTC) GuesanLoyalist (talk) 00:54, 1 January 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 01:28, 8 January 2026 (UTC) — Relisting. TarnishedPath^talk 05:07, 24 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. According to Reuters, BBC, New York Times, and CBS News, Sweida was clearly more common in 2025. Of the sources I checked, only Al Jazeera has a slight predominance of the former name. So it looks like there was a change in the commonname. FromCzech (talk) 12:03, 5 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: I'm fairly certain the nominator meant to request this page be moved to Suwayda instead of Suwayda Governorate; the nominator also initiated a move request at Talk:Sweida Governorate#Requested move 1 January 2026 for that page to be moved to Suwayda Governorate. Steel1943 (talk) 16:32, 6 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Correct! I am GuesanLoyalist and 100% of what you just said is all true. GuesanLoyalist (talk) 21:25, 6 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose - "Sweida" is the WP:COMMONNAME per multiple reliable sources, and the preferred and official spelling used by the Syrian Government. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 10:33, 7 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
+1 Note that this move, if suceeded, will revert consensus from the previous page move. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 05:55, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
“Suwayda” was the long-standing name of this article until last month. There was neither consensus nor participation in the last page move: the nominator requested the name change claiming the city “is officially and commonly known as Sweida”, without showing any proof, and a closing admin granted it because there was zero participation. —Al Ameer (talk) 06:19, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
the nominator requested the name change claiming the city “is officially and commonly known as Sweida”, without showing any proof Yes, they didn't link any website, but WP:OFFICIAL applies here too. SANA, the official news agency of Syria, has called it "Sweida" rather than "Suwayda", so it's at least preferred by the government or implied to be official. Also, the closer was not an admin. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 06:40, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
As WP:OFFICIAL makes clear, an official (government-used) name does not trump COMMONNAME (meaning the most common name in reliable, English-language sources in general). Nevertheless, thank you for providing that link, which at least confirms that "Sweida" is the preferred spelling of the new (post-2025) Syrian authorities (SANA articles from before that time seem to be unavailable, probably due to the change in regime). Al Ameer (talk) 16:25, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Support "Suwayda" appears to be the common transliteration in English-language sources, as indicated by the Ngrams. Not sure if super recent usage should be the deciding factor here, but even then, the two spellings appear to neck-in-neck for 2025 [1]. For context, "Suwayda" is closer to the actual spelling in modern standard Arabic, hence why most sources probably preferred this transliteration, while "Sweida" is closer to the vernacular pronunciation, which could account for why news sources have been using this transliteration instead lately. Al Ameer (talk) 16:51, 7 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Note: Related discussion at Talk:Sweida Governorate#Requested move 1 January 2026. TarnishedPath^talk 01:30, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Note: WikiProject Cities and WikiProject Syria have been notified of this discussion. TarnishedPath^talk 01:31, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Support – Did a quick check of "Suwayda" and "Sweida" on Google Ngrams and Google News searches limited to the past year, but it seems like everything I wanted to say has already been said by Al Ameer. Sweida does not seem to be the definitive common name in any time period. Yue🌙 (talk) 18:09, 8 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Support – per above. R3YBOl (🌲) 11:53, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Google Trends shows that Sweida predominates in English-language countries in last year. Google Ngrams only shows data up to 2022 and is therefore irrelevant as an argument for the prevailing name in 2025 (2026). FromCzech (talk) 12:50, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Couple things: that's not how commonname policy works: 2022 happens to be the most recent year that Ngrams measures but 2022 is not ancient history and certainly the past several decades up to 2022 would be relevant here. Second, not that super recent usage is the deciding factor, but can you explain how you are reading that "Sweida" predominates over "Suwayda" in the Google Trends for 2025? What I'm seeing is that both spellings are neck-in-neck with "Sweida" having only a slight advantage. Al Ameer (talk) 16:25, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Support – per Al Ameer's comment on WP:COMMONNAME. ―Eduardogobi (talk) 18:29, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
"per Al Ameer's comment on WP:COMMONNAME" @Eduardogobi, which comment? Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 18:39, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - I would like to invite everyone else that hasn't participated in this discussion, as if the move request here earns consensus, it could be consistent there too. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 18:37, 9 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Comment – Given that this discussion revolves around WP:COMMONNAME, I decided to re-evaluate the sources provided by FromCzech, alongside those from insurgency-related pages, and noted that Al-Jazeera prefers both "Sweida" and "Suwayda" (preferring the latter 14 v 16 pages), CNN also prefers "Sweida" and "Suwayda" (preferring the latter 4 v 16 pages), BBC prefers "Sweida" and Suweida (preferring the latter 13 v 19 pages), the Guardian prefers "Sweida" and "Suwayda" (preferring the former 21 v 6 pages) and the NYT and Reuters overwhelmingly prefer Sweida as pointed out previously, alongside France 24 and AP.

The preference for Suwayda comes from the fact that Southern Syria clashes (July 2025–present) and Supreme Legal Committee in Suwayda, which both use the proposed spelling. BSMIsEditing (talk) 16:40, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for breaking down usage in recent news articles.

Unlikely that preference for “Suwayda” has anything to do with the WP page about the recent battles or the recently formed autonomous body in the region. We generally do not know for certain why some sources prefer one transliteration or another, but as I mentioned above “Suwayda” is closer to the modern standard Arabic spelling and “Sweida” is closer to the vernacular pronunciation. —Al Ameer (talk) 04:20, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose per FromCzech and Freedoxm. There is clear evidence that the current name is the more common at the present time. — Amakuru (talk) 14:47, 21 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Support - Per Al Ameer's comment. Caltine (talk) 10:12, 28 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]