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.

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

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

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

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)

Birth rate: 44 births/1000 population (1989)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1000 population (1989)

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

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

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)

Literacy: 47%

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

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

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

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

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.

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)

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

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

Debt external: $4.86 billion (1988 est.)

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

Electricity
Capacity: 2,619,000 kW capacity; 9,173 million kWh produced, 790 kWh per capita (1988)

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

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

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

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

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