Tyrus is a redirect to this article. For other meanings, see Tyrus (disambiguation).
Tyros (Arabic صور, DMG Ṣūr) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The coastal city on the Mediterranean was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and, according to Greek mythology, the birthplace of Europa, her brothers Kadmos and Phoinix, and Carthage's founder Dido. Because of the numerous ruins of Tyros from ancient times, the city as a whole was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984. After numerous wars in recent decades, the dictum of French archaeologist Ernest Renan in 1860 also applies to many modern parts of Tyros: "Tyros is a city of ruins, built from ruins."
With a 2016 estimated population of around 200,000 in the agglomeration, Tyros is considered the fourth largest city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon. It is the capital of Tyros district in the governorate of South Lebanon. A large part of the population is made up of refugees, as Tyros is the location of three of the country's official twelve Palestinian refugee camps: Al Bass, Burj al-Shemali, and ar-Rashidiya.
