Qamishli, city in northeastern Syria, center of an administrative district in the Governorate of Hasakah. It lies on the Turkish border, which divides it from the Turkish town of Nusaybin. Qamishli was founded in 1926 as a station on the Taurus Railway. The town expanded with influxes of Armenian, Assyrian Christians and Kurdish refugees. It's the seat of an Armenian and a Syrian Catholic archbishopric. Qamishli is an agricultural market and a center of an extremely fertile area. Its main products are wheat and cereals. It also has a sawmill and a cement factory. Qamishli began to grow rapidly after the discovery of an oil filed at Qarah Shuk, 80 km east of the city. Population (1987 estimate) 126,236.