Syria's southern province of Daraa, where rebels and the regime reached a ceasefire deal on Friday, is the birthplace of the 2011 anti-government uprising that became a devastating seven-year war.
Here is some background about the agricultural region that lies south of Damascus, bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
- First spark -
In early March 2011, following the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, around a dozen youths scribbled slogans hostile to President Bashar al-Assad on the wall of their school in the provincial capital, Daraa city.
Authorities reacted harshly, jailing them and according to activists, torturing them.
It was the spark of an unprecedented uprising.
On March 15, the first demonstrations for "a Syria free of tyranny... without corruption or theft or monopoly of wealth" erupted in Damascus, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north.
- Poverty -
The demonstrations in Daraa were at first directed against the government's economic policies.
The Sunni Muslim town, which had 75,000 residents before the conflict began, had fallen into poverty, worsened by a years-long drought that had prompted a rural exodus.
Protestors attacked symbols of the regime, including telecoms company Syriatel, in which a cousin of Assad is a majority stakeholder.
Protestors also chanted anti-corruption slogans in neighbouring towns.
- Heart of protests -
On March 23, 2011, security forces killed at least 100 people in Daraa city, according to activists and witnesses.
Assad fired the unpopular town governor and intelligence chief but failed to calm the unrest.
On April 26 the army was sent in and Daraa's protest movement was crushed after a 10-day military operation that saw hundreds arrested.
Human Rights Watch condemned "crimes against humanity", pointing to systematic killings, beatings and torture.
- Rebel bastion -
Daraa province is one of the last bastions of Syrian rebel forces, which have lost vast swathes of territory to the regime, notably since a vast military intervention by key regime ally Russia.
Different opposition groups controlled nearly 70 percent of the province before a government offensive launched in June, although the Islamic State jihadist group also has a marginal presence.
The regional capital is mainly in the hands of pro-government forces.
Having seen regular clashes between regime forces and insurgents, Daraa province was covered by a July 2017 ceasefire brokered by Russia, Jordan and the United States that included the southern provinces of Quneitra and Sweida.
It was also one of several "de-escalation zones" established by regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel backer Turkey.
- New target -
The regime turned its sights back on Daraa after the April 2018 fall of the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus.
On June 19 military planes dropped new flyers on the rebel-held half of Daraa city, calling on residents to expel "terrorists" as did "your brothers did in Eastern Ghouta and Qalamun".
The same day they launched an offensive, backed by their Russian allies, on rebel-held areas of the province.
The assault has since pushed more than 320,000 people to flee their homes, while the government has been able to retake several areas, notably the ancient city of Bosra al-Sham, a UNESCO World Heritage Site held by rebels since March 2015.
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