Al-Raqqah ( ), also called
Rakka,
Raqqa and
Ar-Raqqah, is a city in
Syria located on the north bank of the
Euphrates River, about east of
Aleppo. It is located east of the
Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The city was the capital of the
Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of
Caliph Harun al-Rashid. With a population of 220,488 based on the 2004 official census, al-Raqqah was the sixth largest city in Syria.