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Syria (Arabic Suriyah), officially Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah
al Suriyah (Syrian Arab Republic), republic in southwestern Asia, bounded on the north by
Turkey, on the east by Iraq, on the south by Jordan and Israel, and on the west by Lebanon
and the Mediterranean Sea. Syria has an area of about 185,050 sq. km (about 71,498 sq.
mi.). The capital and largest city is Damascus, also spelled Dimashq.
 Land and Resources
Syria has an extreme east-to-west distance of about 830 km (about 515 mi.) and an extreme
north-to-south distance of about 740 km (about 460 mi.). Along the Mediterranean coast,
which is about 160 km (about 100 mi.) long, lies a narrow plain extending inland as far as
32 km (20 mi.). Parallel to this plain is the Jabal an Nusayriyah, a narrow range of
mountains and hills, south of which, along the border of Syria and Lebanon, are the
Anti-Lebanon Mountains, the site of Mount Hermon, the highest point in the country at 2814
m (9232 ft). The Anti-Lebanon range tapers off into a hilly region called the Golan
Heights (captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War) in the southwestern corner of Syria.
Much of the rest of the country consists of a plateau, which is bisected in the northeast
by the valley of the Euphrates (known in Syria as Al Furat) River. The plateau area north
of the Euphrates is called the plain of Al Jazìrah. The semicircular plateau area in the
southeastern is in the Syrian Desert. The Euphrates, the longest river in Syria, flows
diagonally across the country from Turkey in the north to Iraq on the east. The second
longest river, the Orontes, originates in the Lebanese portion of the Anti-Lebanon
Mountains and flows north through western Syria to Turkey.
Climate
. 
West of the Jabal an Nusayriyah, Syria has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot,
dry summers and mild, wet winters. Yearly rainfall ranges from about 510 to 1020 mm (about
20 to 40 in) in the coastal area, from about 255 to 510 mm (about 10 to 20 in) between
Halab (Aleppo), and Damascus, and from 127 mm (5 in) to less than 25 mm (less than 1 in)
in the desert area in the southeast. Regional variations in temperature are comparatively
slight. At Halab, in the northwest, the average August temperature is about 30° C (about
86° F) and the average January temperature is about 4.4° C (about 40° F). At Tudmur, in
the central region at the edge of the Syrian Desert, the corresponding temperatures are
about 30.8° C (about 87.5° F) and about 6.4° C (about 43.5° F).
Natural Resources
Petroleum, natural gas, phosphate rock, asphalt, and salt are the main Syrian minerals
found in sufficiently large quantities for commercial exploitation. Small deposits of
coal, iron ore, copper, lead, and gold exist, primarily in mountainous regions. Good
farmland is located in the coastal region and in parts of the valleys of the Orontes and
Euphrates rivers.
Plants and Animals
Syria has comparatively limited areas of abundant natural vegetation. On the whole the
nonarable areas are too dry to support extensive plant life, and virtually all of the
arable areas have been stripped of natural cover. Along the coast, however, are found some
reed grasses, wild flowers, trees, and shrubs, including buckthorn and tamarisk. In the
Anti-Lebanon Mountains are forests of Aleppo pine and Syrian and valonia oak. The
mammalian wildlife of Syria includes the antelope, deer, wildcat, porcupine,
squirrel, and hare. Birds native to the country include the flamingo, pelican, bustard, ostrich, eagle,
and falcon. Lizards and chameleons are found in the desert.
Population
 Syria is populated chiefly by Arabs, who constitute about 90
percent of the population. The largest non-Arab minorities are Kurds, most of whom are
pastoral people concentrated along the Turkish border, and Armenians, who dwell chiefly in
the larger cities. The Syrian Desert is the most sparsely populated part of Syria. The
most densely settled area of the country is in the west.
Population Characteristics
The population of Syria (1995 estimate) is about 14,775,000, giving the country an overall
population density of about 80 persons per sq. km (about 207 per sq. mi.). Population
growth during the early 1990s was estimated at 3.6 percent a year. Political Divisions and
Principal Cities
Syria is divided into 13 governorates and the municipality of Damascus. The capital and
largest city of the country is Damascus, with a population (1992 estimate) of 1,451,000.
Major cities include Halab (1992 estimate, 1,445,000), Homs (518,000), Al Ladhiqìyah
(284,000), and Hamah (254,000).
Religion
 The
overwhelming majority of the Syrian population is Sunni Muslim. Other Muslims include
Ismailis, Shiites, and Alawites (a schism of the Shiite branch). Of the non-Muslims in
Syria, most are Christians, primarily Greek and Armenian Orthodox. Religious minorities
include Druze, who follow a religion related to Islam, and a community of approximately
1000 Jews.
Education
Primary education is free and compulsory for all children, but about 36 percent of the
adult Syrian population was estimated to be illiterate in the early 1990s. During the same
period about 2.5 million pupils were enrolled annually in primary schools, about 850,000
students attended secondary schools, and about 53,300 students were enrolled in vocational
institutes. Syria has universities in Damascus, Halab, Homs, and Al Ladhiqìyah, with a
total annual enrollment in the mid-1990s of about 170,000 students. Also in Damascus is
the Arab Academy (1919), which is devoted to the study of Arabic language, literature,
history, and culture. Other institutes and colleges specialize in social work,
agriculture, industry, technology, and music.
Libraries and Museums The public libraries in Halab, Damascus, Homs, and Al Ladhiqìyah
house the principal collections of the country. Other major repositories include the
Damascus University Library, with more than 150,000 volumes, and the Assad National
Library, also in Damascus. The most notable museum is the National Museum, in Damascus,
which has collections that include Asian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The
museums at the site of the ancient city of Palmyra and in Halab are noted for their
archaeological holdings.
Economy
Syria is primarily an agricultural country, and most workers engage in crop farming or
herding for a livelihood. The country has about 5 million hectares (about 12.4 million
acres) of arable land and about 8.3 million hectares (about 20.5 million acres) of
permanent meadows and pastureland. Much of the tilled acreage is irrigated, but extensive
areas lie unused for lack of water. Irrigation is necessary even in many regions that
receive substantial annual rainfall, because most of the rainfall occurs during the winter
rather than during the growing season. Much of the acreage under cultivation suffers from
soil exhaustion because of insufficient use of fertilizers and failure to rotate crops. A
major irrigation project in the Euphrates River valley is designed to bring an additional
640,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) under cultivation. The estimated annual national
budget in the early 1990s included about $5.4 billion in domestic revenue and $7.5 billion
in expenditure, including capital expenditures of $2.9 billion. Syria is heavily dependent
on aid from the major Arab oil-producing states.
Agriculture
Despite climatic handicaps, Syria produces a wide variety of crops, some in sufficient
quantity for export. The major crops are cereals, primarily wheat and barley; cotton,
 which was raised in increasingly large quantities beginning in the late
1950s and accounted for more than half the national export revenues before the ascendancy
of oil in the mid-1970s; and tobacco, grapes, olives, citrus fruits, and vegetables. In
the early 1990s Syrian wheat production totaled about 3 million metric tons per year;
barley, 1.1 million tons; seed cotton, 689,000 tons; grapes, 533,000 tons; olives, 491,000
tons; tomatoes, 448,000 tons; and watermelons, 347,000 tons. Syrian livestock in the same
period included approximately 762,000 cattle, 42,000 horses, 165,000 asses, 15.8 million
sheep, 986,000 goats, and 16 million chickens.
Manufacturing
Syrian manufacturing industries began to grow substantially in the 1960s. The government encouraged industrialization by raising tariffs on imported
consumer goods and providing tax exemptions and credit for domestic industries. During the
period when Syria was federated with Egypt in the United Arab Republic (February 1958
through September 1961), governmental involvement in the economic sector was greatly
expanded, and in July 1961, shortly before Syria seceded from the union, most industrial
concerns were nationalized. After the secession, except for a large textile concern and
several flour mills, Syrian industry was denationalized. The requirement that companies
distribute 25 percent of their profits to their employees was retained, however. Many of
the industries that were returned to private management after the break with Egypt were
renationalize in 1965.
Textiles constitute the largest single manufacturing industry in Syria. Cotton and silk
textile production was about 26,000 metric tons per year in the early 1990s. Syrian
artisans continue to be noted, as in centuries past, for the fine quality of their silk
brocades and rugs and for their artistic metalwork in brass, copper, silver, iron, and
steel. Annual cement production was about 3.2 million tons. The soap, glass, flour,
tobacco, tanning, vegetable oil, and food-processing industries are growing, and about 27
million metric tons of crude petroleum were produced annually in the early 1990s.
Energy About 20 percent of Syria's electricity is generated in hydroelectric facilities,
and the remainder is produced in conventional thermal installations. The annual output in
the early 1990s was 11.9 billion kilowatt-hours.
Currency and Banking
The basic unit of currency is the Syrian pound, divided into 100 piasters
(22 pounds equal U.S.$1; official rate since 1991). Syrian banking was formerly controlled
by foreign companies. After the achievement of full independence in 1946, banking
operations were conducted to an increasing extent by Syrian-owned banks. Until 1956
currency was issued by the largest commercial bank in Syria, the French-owned Banque de
Syrie et du Liban. In that year the Syrian government established a new, state-owned bank,
the Central Bank of Syria, and authorized it to issue the national currency.
Foreign Trade
 In the past, Syria imported
considerably more than it exported each year. However, Syria's closer alliance with
Western nations and the Gulf States in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War (1991)
stimulated high economic growth in the private sector and increased export earnings. In
the early 1990s Syrian imports had an estimated annual value of about $2.7 billion, and
exports had a yearly value of about $3.5 billion. The principal imports were manufactures
of many types, including machinery, transportation equipment, iron and steel, refined
petroleum, textiles, and chemical products. Syria also imported grain, livestock products,
and other agricultural goods. The principal exports were petroleum, which in 1974
supplanted raw cotton as the leading export; cotton and other textile items; preserved
foods, beverages, tobacco, phosphates, fruits and vegetables. The chief buyers of Syrian
exports were Romania, Italy, France, and Russia and the other successors of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Imports were supplied chiefly by Iran, Libya, Germany,
France, Italy, and Russia and the other successors of the USSR. Much revenue was derived
from fees charged to foreign countries for piping oil through Syria. Considerable foreign
currency also came from the expenditures of the many tourists who visit the country each
year.
Transportation and Communications
Transportation and communications facilities in Syria are owned and operated by the state.
Some 2050 km (some 1275 mi.) of railroads connect the major cities of Syria and extend to
the national frontiers of all neighboring countries except Israel. These include three
relatively new lines connecting Homs to Damascus, Damascus to Halab, and Tartus to Al
Ladhiqìyah. Syria has about 30,210 km (about 18,770 mi.) of roads, of which 94 percent
are paved. Approximately 112,900 passenger cars and 131,600 buses, trucks, and other
commercial vehicles were in use in Syria in the early 1990s. Al Ladhiqìyah is the main
seaport; port facilities at Tartus were developed in the 1980s. The national air carrier
is Syrian Arab Airlines; the main international airport serves Damascus.
Telephones in Syria numbered about
512,600 and radios about 3.3 million in the early 1990s. Television service began in 1960,
and more than 770,000 sets were in use by 1991. The country's leading daily newspapers are
al-Baath and al-Thawrah, published in Damascus; al-Jamahir al-Arabia, published in Halab;
and al-Fida, published in Hamah.
National and official holidays
Weekend holidays : Friday
1 January : New years's day
8 March : Revolution day
21 March : Mother's day
1 May : May day
6 May : Martyrs day
6 October : October liberation day
25 December : Christmas
Government
An interim constitution issued in 1964 (suspended in 1966) declared Syria to be a
democratic socialist republic. In 1971 a provisional constitution was decreed by the head
of state, General Hafez al-Assad. In 1973 a permanent constitution creating a People's
Council as the national legislature was approved by referendum.
Executive
The chief executive and head of state of Syria is a
president, who is popularly elected to a seven-year term. The president appoints a council
of ministers, which is headed by a prime minister. Three vice presidents were appointed in
March 1984.
Legislature
The legislature of Syria is the People's Council. It is made
up of 195 members, popularly elected to terms of about four years.
Political Parties
The leading political grouping in Syria is the National
Progressive Front, formed in 1972. Its main component is the Baath Arab Socialist party,
founded in 1947.
Judiciary
The highest tribunal in Syria is the High Constitutional
Court, which sits in Damascus. Other judicial bodies include the Court of Cassation and
lesser courts of appeal in each of the country's 13 governorates, summary courts, and
courts of first instance.
Defense
Military service is compulsory for men in Syria, and normally
lasts for a period of 30 months. The country's armed forces in the early 1990s included an
army of about 300,000 members, an air force of about 40,000, and a navy of about 8000.
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