Qastal Ma'af

Qastal Ma'af (قسطل معاف) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located north of Latakia. Nearby localities include Kesab to the north, Mashqita and Ayn al-Bayda to the south and Rabia to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qastal Ma'af had a population of 585 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of the Qastal Ma'af nahiyah ("subdistrict"), which consisted of 19 localities with a collective population of 16,784 in 2004. The inhabitants of the town are predominantly Turkmen Sunni Muslim, and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and subdistrict are predominantly Alawites.