Latakia, or Latakiyah (and often locally transliterated as Lattakia) is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages.
Like many Seleucid cities, Latakia was named after a member of the ruling dynasty.First named Laodicea by Seleucus I Nicator in honor of his mother, Laodice, the original name survives in its Arabic form as al-Ladhiqiyyah ,from which the French Lattaquié and English Latakia or Lattakia derive.To the Ottomans, it was known as Turkish: Lazkiye, and its Latin name is Latin: Laodicea ad
