Manbij plain is a vast plain on the eastern Aleppo plateau

Aleppo plateau

Aleppo plateau is a low, gently undulating plateau of northern Syria. It lies at the northern end of the junction between the Arabian Plate and the African Plate at the Dead Sea Rift. The plateau lies mostly in the Aleppo Governorate and Idlib Governorate...

 in northern Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and southeastern Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. The plain runs along the western bank of river Euphrates

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

 for approximately 140 km from Nizip

Nizip

Nizip is a district of Gaziantep Province of southeastern Turkey.As of 2010, the population of the city is 96,229. It is located 45 km from the city of Gaziantep, 95 km from Şanlıurfa , and 35 km from Karkamış, which is an old city also known historically as Gilgamesh. It is quite...

 to Maskanah, with an average width of 15–30 km. It is located within the Manbij

Manbij District

Manbij is a Syrian district administratively belonging to Aleppo Governorate. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 408,143. Its administrative centre is the city of Manbij....

 and Jarābulus

Jarabulus District

Jarablus is a Syrian district administratively belonging to Aleppo Governorate. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 58,889. Its administrative centre is the city of Jarabulus. Turkmen Elbeyli and Barak people forms the majority....

 districts of Aleppo Governorate

Aleppo Governorate

Aleppo Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,744,000 , almost 23% of the total population of Syria. The governorate is the fifth in area with an area of 18,482 km², about 10% of the total area of...

 in Syria, and the Nizip and Karkamış districts of Gaziantep Province

Gaziantep Province

Gaziantep Province is a province in south-central Turkey. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep which had a population of 853,513 as of 2000. Its neighbours are Adıyaman at north, Şanlıurfa at east, Syria and Kilis at south, Hatay at southwest, Osmaniye at west and Kahramanmaraş at northwest.An...

 in Turkey.

Borders and description

The average elevation of the plain is around 400 m. It gradually slopes up from east to west. The plain can be divded into a northern and southern parts. The northern part extends from Nizip to Manbij. This part is surrounded by the Aintab plateau

Aintab plateau

Aintab plateau or Gaziantep plateau is a low, gently undulating plateau that forms the westernmost part of the Southeastern Anatolia Region in Turkey. It forms the northwestern end of the Arabian Plate where it meets the Anatolian Plate at the East Anatolian Fault. The plateau lies in the Turkish...

 from north and west. It is traversed from west to east by the Nizip, Merzimen (Bozatlı), and Sajur

Sajur

Sajur is a Druze town in the Galilee region of northern Israel, with an area of 3,000 dunams . It achieved recognition as an independent local council in 1992...

 rivers. It is inhabited by a Turkmen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

 density in addition to Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

s and other ethnic minorities. The Turkmen call this plain Barak plain after the name of a Turkmen tribe. In Syria it is called the northern Manbij plain.

The southern plain extends from Manbij to Maskanah. It is bounded from west by the Dhahab valley and Lake Jabboul. In the south it is joined by the arid steppe of the northern Syrian Desert

Syrian Desert

The Syrian Desert , also known as the Syro-Arabian desert is a combination of steppe and true desert that is located in the northern Arabian Peninsula covering 200,000 square miles . also the desert is very rocky and flat...

.

Irrigation based agriculture has been practiced in the plain since ancient times. Archeological remains from the paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

 have been discovered in the Sajur valley. The ancient Zeugma on the Euphrates is found in the northern end of the plain.