Akakir (Arabic: عكاكير, also spelled Akakeer) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located southwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Kafr Ram to the west, Fahel to the south, al-Shinyah to the southeast, al-Taybah al-Gharbiyah to the east, Maryamin to the northeast and Kafr Kamrah and Awj to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Akakir had a population of 2,495 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.[2]

Akakir عكاكير Akakeer
Village
Akakir Location in Syria
Coordinates: 34°52′22″N 36°23′44″E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Hama
District	Masyaf
Subdistrict	Awj
Elevation	759 m (2,489 ft)
Population  (2004)
• Total	2,495
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

In 1829, during the late Ottoman era, Akakir was part of Jabal Gharbi, a fiscal region inhabited by members of the Alawite community,[3] and paid 1,812 qirsh to satisfy the takalif, a tax meant to cover the expenses of the annual hajj ("pilgrimage") to Mecca. This was a decrease from 1818 when the village paid 2,312 qirsh.[4] It was classified as an Alawite village in 1838 by English scholar Eli Smith.[2] In 1929 Akakir was one of five villages (the other three were al-Bayyadiyah, al-Rusafa, Abu Qubays and Baarin) to be ceded to the Alawite State from the qadaa ("subdistrict") of Masyaf of the Sanjak of Hama.[5]

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