There are two main cities in the governorate of Al Hasakeh, one is Al Hasakeh the other is Qamishli. The population in these cities is predominantly Christian and Kurdish. The surrounding areas are mostly desert where Bedouins roam.

The history of this region is not yet fully determined as archaeologists are still excavating. There are many artificial mounds that are being excavated most important of which are Tell Brak, Tell Khalaf, and Tell Aryan. It is thought that this area was important to the kingdom of Surbato in the Third Millennium BC. It was followed by the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Hittites, Arameans, and Assyrians who controlled this valley until 606 BC. It then fell like the rest of Syria into the hands of the Persians, then the Greeks, the Romans, and the Arabs. This area was an important trading route during the Abbassid dynasty, whose capital was in Baghdad. 

The village of Ain Diwar in the northeastern tip was put on the map recently as one of the few places in the world that saw the Solar Eclipse of 11 August, 1999 very clearly. Many astronomers and tourists visited from Lebanon and European countries, where visibility was less clear.