|
Background: |
Following the breakup of the
Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its
independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and
experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria
united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In
September 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic
was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the
Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a
bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. During the
1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return.
Following the death of President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was
approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops -
stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were
withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict between
Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did
not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah. |
|
Location: |
Middle East, bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
35 00 N, 38 00 E |
|
Map references: |
Middle East |
|
Area: |
total: 185,180 sq km
land: 184,050 sq km
water: 1,130 sq km
note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than North
Dakota |
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 2,253 km
border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km,
Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km |
|
Coastline: |
193 km |
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm |
|
Climate: |
mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny
summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February)
along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus
|
|
Terrain: |
primarily semiarid and desert
plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: unnamed
location near Lake Tiberias -200 m
highest point: Mount Hermon
2,814 m |
|
Natural resources: |
petroleum, phosphates, chrome
and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum,
hydropower |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 24.8%
permanent crops: 4.47%
other: 70.73% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
13,330 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
46.1 cu km (1997) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
Total: 19.95 cu km/yr
(3%/2%/95%)
Per capita: 1,048 cu m/yr (2000) |
|
Natural hazards: |
dust storms, sandstorms |
|
Environment - current issues: |
deforestation; overgrazing;
soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from raw sewage and
petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
|
|
Geography - note: |
there are 42 Israeli
settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights (August 2005 est.) |
|
Population: |
19,314,747
note: in
addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights -
20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli
settlers (July 2007 est.) |
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 36.5% (male
3,633,562/female 3,423,435)
15-64 years: 60.1% (male
5,952,275/female 5,664,236)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male
303,346/female 337,893) (2007 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 21.1 years
male: 20.9 years
female: 21.2 years (2007 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
2.244% (2007 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
27.19 births/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
4.74 deaths/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2007 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.06
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.061 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.051 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.898 male(s)/female
total population: 1.049 male(s)/female
(2007 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 27.7 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 27.94 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 27.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 70.61
years
male: 69.27 years
female: 72.02 years (2007
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
3.31 children born/woman (2007
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
less than 500 (2003 est.)
|
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 200 (2003 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians,
and other 9.7% |
|
Religions: |
Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim
(includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%,
Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo) |
|
Languages: |
Arabic (official); Kurdish,
Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat
understood |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 79.6%
male: 86%
female: 73.6% (2004 census)
|
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
Syrian Arab Republic
conventional short form: Syria
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah
local short form: Suriyah
former: United Arab
Republic (with Egypt) |
|
Government type: |
republic under an authoritarian
military-dominated regime |
|
Capital: |
name: Damascus
geographic coordinates: 33 30 N, 36 18 E
time
difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins 1 April; ends 30
September |
|
Administrative divisions: |
14 provinces (muhafazat,
singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar
Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims,
Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus |
|
Independence: |
17 April 1946 (from League of
Nations mandate under French administration) |
|
National holiday: |
Independence Day, 17 April
(1946) |
|
Constitution: |
13 March 1973 |
|
Legal system: |
based on a combination of
French and Ottoman civil law; Islamic law is used in the family court
system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state:
President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000); Vice President Farouk
al-SHARA (since 11 February 2006) oversees foreign policy; Vice President
Najah al-ATTAR (since 23 March 2006) oversees cultural policy
head
of government: Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI (since 10
September 2003); Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdallah
al-DARDARI (since 14 June 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers
appointed by the president
elections: president approved by
popular referendum for a second seven-year term (no term limits);
referendum last held on 27 May 2007 (next to be held in May 2014); the
president appoints the vice presidents, prime minister, and deputy prime
ministers
election results: Bashar al-ASAD approved as
president; percent of vote - Bashar al-ASAD 97.6% |
|
Legislative branch: |
unicameral People's Council or
Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held on 22-23 April 2007 (next
to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party
- NA; seats by party - NPF 172, independents 78 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Judicial Council
(appoints and dismisses judges; headed by the President); national level -
Supreme Constitutional Court (adjudicates electoral disputes and rules on
constitutionality of laws and decrees; justices appointed for four-year
terms by the President); Court of Cassation; Appeals Courts (Appeals
Courts represent an intermediate level between the Court of Cassation and
local level courts); local level - Magistrate Courts; Courts of First
Instance; Juvenile Courts; Customs Courts; specialized courts - Economic
Security Courts (hear cases related to economic crimes); Supreme State
Security Court (hear cases related to national security); Personal Status
Courts (religious; hear cases related to marriage and divorce) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
legal parties: National
Progressive Front or NPF [President Bashar al-ASAD, Dr. Suleiman QADDAH]
(includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar
al-ASAD]; Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar
al-ASAD]; Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallah Nasr Al-DIN];
Syrian Arab Socialist Union or ASU [Safwan QUDSI]; Syrian Communist Party
(two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yusuf Rashid FAYSAL]; Syrian Social
Nationalist Party [Ali QANSU]; Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL]);
illegal parties: Kurdish Azadi Party [Khayr al-Din MURAD]; Kurdish
Democratic Alliance [Abd al-Hamid DARWISH] (includes four parties);
Kurdish Democratic Front (includes three parties but no designated
leader); Kurdish Democratic Union Party or PYD [Ali MUHAMMAD]; Kurdish
Future Movement; Kurdish Yekiti Party [Hasan SALEH]; National Democratic
Front [Hassan Abd al-AZEM] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Damascus Declaration [Riyad
SEIF, secretary general] (a broad alliance of opposition groups including:
Committee for Revival of Civil Society [Michel KILO, Riyad SEIF]; Kurdish
Democratic Alliance; Kurdish Democratic Front; National Democratic Front;
Syrian Human Rights Society or HRAS [Fawed FAWUZ]); National Salvation
Front (alliance between former Vice President Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, the
SMB, and other small opposition groups); Syrian Muslim Brotherhood or SMB
[Sadr al-Din al-BAYANUNI]; (operates in exile in London; endorsed the
Damascus Declaration but is not an official member) |
|
International organization participation: |
ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO,
G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS,
MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Imad MUSTAFA
chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 232-6313
FAX: [1] (202) 234-9548 |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Michael CORBIN
embassy:
Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansour Street, No. 2, Damascus
mailing
address: P. O. Box 29, Damascus
telephone: [963] (11)
3391-4444
FAX: [963] (11) 3391-3999 |
|
Flag description: |
three equal horizontal bands of
red (top), white, and black, colors associated with the Arab Liberation
flag; two small, green, five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered
in the white band; former flag of the United Arab Republic where the two
stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; similar to
the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band, Iraq, which has an Arabic
inscription centered in the white band, and that of Egypt, which has a
gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band; the current design dates
to 1980 |
|
Economy - overview: |
The Syrian economy grew by an
estimated 3.5% in real terms in 2007 led by the petroleum and agricultural
sectors, which together account for about one-half of GDP. Higher crude
oil prices countered declining oil production and led to higher budgetary
and export receipts. Damascus has implemented modest economic reforms in
the past few years, including cutting lending interest rates, opening
private banks, consolidating all of the multiple exchange rates, raising
prices on some subsidized items, most notably, gasoline and cement, and
establishing the Damascus Stock Exchange-which is set to begin operations
in 2008. In October 2007, for example, Damascus raised the price of
subsidized gasoline by 20%, and may institute a rationing system in 2008.
In addition, President ASAD signed legislative decrees to encourage
corporate ownership reform, and to allow the Central Bank to issue
Treasury bills and bonds for government debt. Nevertheless, the economy
remains highly controlled by the government. Long-run economic constraints
include declining oil production, high unemployment and inflation, rising
budget deficits, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy
use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and
water pollution. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$86.59 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$29.28 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
3.5% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$4,500 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 24.6%
industry: 24.4%
services: 51% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
5.457 million (2007 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 26%
industry: 14%
services: 60% (2003 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
10% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
11.9% (2006 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
7% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
23.8% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $8.45 billion
expenditures: $10.38 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
37.3% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
wheat, barley, cotton, lentils,
chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk |
|
Industries: |
petroleum, textiles, food
processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, cement, oil seeds
crushing |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
-0.4% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
34.94 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 57.6%
hydro: 42.4%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
|
|
Electricity - consumption: |
34 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
|
Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (2007) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2007 est.) |
|
Oil - production: |
390,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
245,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
150,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
160,000 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
2.5 billion bbl (2007 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - production: |
8.5 billion cu m (2006 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
5.1 billion cu m (2006 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
0 cu m (2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
240 billion cu m (1 January
2007 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$-2.16 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$10.9 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
crude oil, petroleum products,
fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals,
wheat |
|
Exports - partners: |
Iraq 27.3%, Germany 12.2%,
Lebanon 9.5%, Italy 6.6%, Egypt 5.3%, Saudi Arabia 4.7% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$11.49 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and transport
equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal
products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper |
|
Imports - partners: |
Saudi Arabia 12.3%, China 7.9%,
Egypt 6.2%, UAE 6%, Italy 4.9%, Ukraine 4.8%, Germany 4.7%, Iran 4.5%
(2006) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
$77.85 million (2005 est.)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$6.039 billion (31 December
2007 est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$6.61 billion (31 December 2007
est.) |
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$NA |
|
Currency (code): |
Syrian pound (SYP) |
|
Currency code: |
SYP |
|
Exchange rates: |
Syrian pounds per US dollar -
50.0085 (2007), 51.689 (2006), 50 (2005), 48.5 (2004), 52.8 (2003)
note: data for 2004-06 are the public sector rate; data for
2002-03 are the parallel market rate in 'Amman and Beirut; the official
rate for repaying loans was 11.25 Syrian pounds per US dollars during
2004-06, |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
3.243 million (2006) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
4.675 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment: fair
system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades,
including fiber-optic technology
domestic: the number of
fixed-line connections has increased markedly since 2000; mobile-cellular
service growing rapidly and teledensity has reached 25 wireless telephones
per 100 persons; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay network
international: country code - 963; submarine cable connection
to Cyprus; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1
Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); coaxial cable and microwave radio
relay to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey; participant in Medarabtel
|
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 14, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)
|
|
Radios: |
4.15 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
44 (plus 17 repeaters) (1995)
|
|
Televisions: |
1.05 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.sy |
|
Internet hosts: |
119 (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
|
Internet users: |
1.5 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
90 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 26
over
3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 15
914 to 1,523 m:
3
under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 64
1,524
to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 52
(2007) |
|
Heliports: |
7 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
gas 2,794 km; oil 2,000 km
(2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 2,711 km
standard gauge: 2,460 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge:
251 km 1.050-m gauge (2006) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 94,890 km
paved: 19,073 km
unpaved: 75,817 km (2004) |
|
Waterways: |
900 km (not economically
significant) (2005) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 96 ships (1000
GRT or over) 353,351 GRT/512,597 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 7,
cargo 82, container 1, livestock carrier 4, petroleum tanker 1, roll
on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 10 (Jordan 2, Lebanon 4, Romania
4)
registered in other countries: 164 (Bolivia 1, Cambodia 32,
Comoros 8, Cyprus 2, Dominica 2, Georgia 54, Hong Kong 1, North Korea 7,
Lebanon 1, Libya 1, Malta 4, Mongolia 1, Panama 24, Sierra Leone 8,
Slovakia 2, St Kitts and Nevis 5, St Vincent and The Grenadines 11,
unknown 2) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Latakia, Tartus |
|
Military branches: |
Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian
Arab Army (includes Syrian Arab Navy), Syrian Arab Air and Air Defense
Force (includes Air Defense Command) (2005) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18 years of age for compulsory
military service; conscript service obligation - 30 months (18 months in
the Syrian Arab Navy); women are not conscripted but may volunteer to
serve (2004) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 18-49:
4,356,413
females age 18-49: 4,123,339 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 18-49:
3,453,888
females age 18-49: 3,421,558 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49: 225,113
females age 18-49: 211,829 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
5.9% (2005 est.)
|
|
Disputes - international: |
Golan Heights is
Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer
Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964; lacking a treaty or
other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria
boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon
has claimed Shaba'a farms in the Golan Heights; 2004 Agreement and pending
demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan; approximately two million
Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq with the majority taking refuge in
Syria and Jordan |
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons: |
refugees (country of
origin): 700,000 - 1.2 million (Iraq), 434,896 (Palestinian Refugees
(UNRWA))
IDPs: 305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights
during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2006) |
|
Trafficking in persons: |
current situation: Syria
is a destination country for women from South and Southeast Asia and
Africa for domestic servitude and from Eastern Europe and Iraq for sexual
exploitation; women are recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants,
but some face conditions of exploitation and involuntary servitude
including long hours, non-payment of wages, withholding of passports and
other restrictions on movement, and physical and sexual abuse; Eastern
European women recruited for work in Syria as cabaret dancers are not
permitted to leave their work premises without permission and have their
passports withheld; some displaced Iraqi women and children are reportedly
forced into sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 3 - Syria
does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so |
|
Illicit drugs: |
a transit point for opiates,
hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets; weak
anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it
vulnerable to money laundering |
This page was last updated on 12 February, 2008
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