Syria
Coordinates: 35°N 38°E / 35°N 38°E
Syria is a country in the Middle East, the west part of Asia. It borders (from south to north) on Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Its western part faces the Mediterranean Sea and it shares a maritime border with Cyprus. Its eastern and northern parts are mountainous.
Syrian Arab Republic ٱلْجُمْهُورِيَّةُ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلسُّورِيَّةُ (Arabic) <span title="Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Language/data/ISO 639 override' not found. transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah | |
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| Motto: | |
| Anthem: | |
_-_SYR_-_UNOCHA.svg) | |
| Capital and largest city | Damascus 33°30′N 36°18′E / 33.500°N 36.300°E |
| Official languages | Arabic[1] |
| Ethnic groups (2014[2]) | 90% Arab 10% Other |
| Religion | 87% Islam 2% Christianity[3] 3% Druze[4] |
| Demonym(s) | Syrian |
| Government | Unitary dominant-party semi-presidential Ba’athist republic under an authoritarian hereditary dictatorship[5] |
| Bashar al-Assad | |
| Hussein Arnous | |
| Hammouda Sabbagh | |
| Legislature | People's Council |
| Establishment | |
| 8 March 1920 | |
• State of Syria under French mandate | 1 December 1924 |
| 14 May 1930 | |
• De jure Independence | 24 October 1945 |
• De facto Independence | 17 April 1946 |
• Left the United Arab Republic | 28 September 1961 |
| 8 March 1963 | |
| 27 February 2012 | |
| Area | |
• Total | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1850: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (87th) |
• Water (%) | 1.1 |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 17,500,657 (66th) |
• 2010 census | 21,018,834 |
• Density | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1850: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (70th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate |
• Total | $50.28 billion[3] |
• Per capita | $2,900[3] |
| GDP (nominal) | 2014 estimate |
• Total | $24.6 billion[3] (167) |
• Per capita | $831[3] |
| Gini (2014) | 55.8[7] high |
| HDI (2019) |  0.567[8]medium · 151st |
| Currency | Syrian pound (SYP) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +963 |
| ISO 3166 code | SY |
| Internet TLD | .sy سوريا. |
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The current president and head of state is Bashar al-Assad. Syria's national capital is Damascus. The biggest city is Aleppo. The Syrian civil war began in 2011.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi Shia, 10% Christian, 3% Druze, 1% Ismaili Shia 0.4% Twelver Shia, and 0.1% Yazidi.[9]
History
Syria has a very long history. It was a land of Phoenicians. Later it became part of the Achaemenid Empire, Roman Empire, and then the Eastern Roman Empire. In those days people spoke the Syriac language. The city Antioch was great and one of the important cities in Christendom. The Umayyad Caliphate took control of Syria in the 7th century. In this Arab Empire people began to speak the Arabic language. Today most Syrian people believe in Islam but there are still Christians too.
When World War I started, the Ottoman Empire ruled Syria and many other places. When it ended, France controlled Lebanon and Syria. Britain had Iraq, Jordan and Palestine. They drew a border between Iraq and Syria in 1920. France controlled Syria until 1946 when Syria became its own country.[10]
Syria was part of the United Arab Republic with Egypt in 1958-1961. Syria had some wars with Israel and some territories like the Golan Plateau were occupied by Israel.
In 2011 with the Arab Spring a bloody civil war began against President Bashar al-Assad.
Kurdish people control a small part of the northern region called Rojava.
It is also known as Western Kurdistan.
Geography
Syria is between latitudes 32° and 38° N, and longitudes 35° and 43° E. It is mostly arid plateau. The area bordering the Mediterranean is fairly green. The Euphrates, Syria's most important river, crosses the country in the east.
The climate in Syria is dry and hot. Winters are mild.
Politics and government
Syria is a republic. The old Constitution of Syria was started on 13 March 1971.[11] It made Syria as a secular socialist state. Islam was the majority religion. A new constitution has been in place since 2012.
Branches of government
The executive branch is the president, two vice presidents, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers. The constitution says the president must be a Muslim.[11] It does not make Islam the state religion. According to the 2012 constitution, the president is elected by the Syrian people in a direct election.
The People's Council is the legislative branch.
State control
Nearly all of Syria’s radio and television outlets are state owned. The Ba'ath Party controls nearly all newspapers.[12]
Human rights
Syria's human rights are among the worst in the world, according to human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch.[13] The authorities arrest democracy and human rights activists, censor websites, detain bloggers, and have travel bans.
Governorates
Syria has fourteen Governorates, or muhafazat. The governorates are divided into sixty districts. The governorates are:
Military
The President of Syria is commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces. There are about 400,000 troops. Ethnic Kurds have their own army called YPG. The Males must go in the military when they are age 18.[14]
Economy
Syria is a middle-income country. The economy is based on agriculture, oil, industry, and tourism.
Transport
Syria has three international airports (Damascus, Aleppo and Lattakia). They are hubs for Syrian Air. Foreign airlines also fly to them.[15] Most Syrian cargo is carried by Chemins de Fer Syriens, the Syrian railway company.
Demographics
| Population in Syria[16][17] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Million | ||
| 1971 | 6.6 | ||
| 1990 | 12.7 | ||
| 2009 | 21.9 | ||
| Source: OECD/World Bank/UNO | |||
Most people live in the Euphrates valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert.
Education is free from ages 6 to 12. All children this age must attend school.
Sports
The most popular sports in Syria are football, basketball, swimming, and tennis. Damascus was home to the fifth and seventh Pan Arab Games. Many popular football teams are based in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, and Latakia.
Syria Media
The national anthem of Syria, performed instrumentally by the U.S. Navy Band circa May 2003.
Syria (orthographic projection) disputed
Female figurine, 5000 BC Ancient Orient Museum
Ishqi-Mari, king of the Second Kingdom of Mari, circa 2300 BC
Amrit Phoenician Temple
Ancient city of Palmyra before the war
Roman Theatre at Bosra in the province of Arabia, present-day Syria
The ancient city of Apamea, an important commercial center and one of Syria's most prosperous cities in classical antiquity
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Related pages
References
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide about: Syria |
- ↑ "Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic – 2012" (PDF). International Labour Organization. International Labour Organization. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ↑ "Syria". CIA World factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Syria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ↑ "Syria: Ethnic Shift, 2010–mid 2018". gulf2000.columbia.edu. Columbia University Gulf2000. 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- ↑ "Constitution of Syria 2012". Scribd. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ↑ "Syrian ministry of foreign affairs". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
- ↑ "World Bank GINI index". World Bank. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ↑ "Religion in Syria - 1943 Syrian Census". Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ↑ "Report of the Commission Entrusted by the Council with the Study of the Frontier between Syria and Iraq". World Digital Library. 1932. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Constitution of Syria". Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- ↑ "Freedom House report on Syria (2010)" (PDF). Freedom House. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
- ↑ Syria among worst for rights abuses: HRW report. Reuters. 2011-01-24. https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/24/us-syria-rights-idUSTRE70N5S620110124. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
- ↑ Syria – Overview. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Syria – travel guides at Wikivoyage". Wikivoyage.org. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- ↑ CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion Archived 2009-10-12 at the Wayback Machine Population 1971–2008 IEA pdf Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine pages 83–85
- ↑ "UNData app". data.un.org. Retrieved 29 March 2022.