Al-Qabu, Syria

Al-Qabu is a town in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located northwest of Homs. Nearby localities include al-Shinyah to the north, Taldou and Kafr Laha to the northeast, Sharqliyya to the east, al-Mahfurah to the south, Rabah to the southwest and Fahel to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Qabu had a population of 4,870 in the 2004 census. The inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.
Al-Qabu is both the administrative and commercial center of its subdistrict, providing essential services for the surrounding villages. It contains a police station, health center, telephone center, cultural center, agricultural and commercial advisory institutions, primary, secondary and vocational schools. Government or public-sector jobs provided the bulk of employment as of 2009, with a small proportion engaged in agriculture. The principal crops were olive and fig trees, the orchards of which envelope the village. Al-Qabu lacked waste treatment and had a dearth of public and private transportation, despite the large number of residents working government jobs outside the town.