Map of Syria | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Since 1976 Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon ostensibly in a peacekeeping capacity. Talks with Israel over the return of the Golan Heights have recently been revived.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 193 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Territorial sea: 35 nm

Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast

Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plain; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum

Land use: 28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 3% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: there are 35 Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights


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Population: 12,010,564 (July 1989), growth rate 3.8% (1989; in addition, there are 10,500 Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights

Nationality: noun - Syrian(s; adjective - Syrian

Ethnic groups: 90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian; French and English widely understood

Religions: 74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects; 10% Christian (various sects)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 44 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1000 population (1989)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1989)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1000 live births (1989)

Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 69 years female (1989)

Total fertility rate: 6.8 children born/woman (1989)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 47%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Syrian Arab Republic

Government type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963

Capital: Damascus

Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah; Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda, Dara, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Madinat Dimashq, Tartus

Dependent areas

Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration; formerly United Arab Republic

National holiday: National Day, 17 April (1946)

Constitution: 12 March 1973

Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Executive branch: Chief of State President Lt. Gen. Hafiz al-ASSAD (since 22 February 1971; Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, Dr. Rifat al-ASSAD, and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984; Head of Government Prime Minister Mahmud ZUBI (since 1 November 1987)

Legislative branch: Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Navy

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB - Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITU, IWC - International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Minister-Counselor, Charge d'Affaires ad interim Bushra KANAFANI; Chancery at 2,215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 232-6,313; US - Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh, Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29, Damascus; telephone Õ963å (11) 333,052 or 332,557, 330,416, 332,814, 332,315

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; similar to the flags of the YAR which has one star and Iraq which has three stars (in a horizontal line centered in the white band) - all green and five-pointed; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Syria's rigidly structured Bathist economy is turning out roughly the same amount of goods in 1989 as in 1983, when the population was 20% smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts to match Israel's military strength, a fall-off in Arab aid, and insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit
For which Syrian businessmen have long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled Syria to cut back its substantial imports of light crude. A long-term concern is the additional drain of upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation projects are completed toward the end of the 1990s.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: cotton, wheat, barley, tobacco; sheep and goats

Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, petroleum

Industrial production growth rate: 8.1% (1986 est.)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 5.0% (1986)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues NA; expenditures $4.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.95 billion (1988)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1987 est.)
Commodities: petroleum, textiles, fruits and vegetables, phosphates
Partners: Italy, Romania, USSR, US, Iran, France

Imports: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1987 est.)
Commodities: petroleum, machinery, base metals, foodstuffs and beverages
Partners: Iran, FRG, USSR, France, GDR, Libya, US

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $4.86 billion (1988 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Syrian pounds (LS) per US$1 - 11.2250 (fixed rate since 1987), 3.9250 (fixed rate 1976-87)


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Electricity access

Electricity production

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $1.187 billion, 25.8% of central government budget (1988)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 95 total, 93 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines: 1,304 km crude oil; 515 km refined products

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 672 km; of little economic importance

Merchant marine: 14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,365 GRT/58,713 DWT; includes 13 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs