Syria

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. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April of 2005. Over the past decade, Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over the return of the Golan Heights.

• 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

• primarily semiarid and desert plateau;
• narrow coastal plain;
• mountains in west

• deforestation;
• overgrazing;
• soil erosion;
• desertification;
• water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes;
• inadequate potable water

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.91 male(s)/female

total population:

1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

noun:

Syrian(s)

adjective:

Syrian

• Arabic (official);
• Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood;
• French, English somewhat understood

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)

• 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

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

chief of state:

• President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000);
• Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim ibn Said KHADDAM (since 11 March 1984) and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984)

head of government:

Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI (since 10 September 2003)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
• referendum/election last held 10 July 2000 - after the death of President Hafiz al-ASAD, father of Bashar al-ASAD - (next to be held 2007);
• vice presidents appointed by the president;
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president

election results:

Bashar al-ASAD elected president; percent of vote - Bashar al-ASAD 97.29%

note: Hafiz al-ASAD died on 10 June 2000; on 20 June 2000, the Ba'th Party nominated Bashar al-ASAD for president and presented his name to the People's Council on 25 June 2000

• Supreme Constitutional Court (justices are appointed for four-year terms by the president);
• High Judicial Council;
• Court of Cassation;
• State Security Courts

• Arab Socialist Unionist Movement [Ahmed al-AHMED];
• National Progressive Front or NPF (includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party; the governing party) [President Bashar al-ASAD, secretary general];
• Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallal Nasr Al-DIN];
• Syrian Arab Socialist Party or ASP [Safwan QUDSI];
• Syrian Communist Party (two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yuusuf Rashid FAYSAL];
• Syrian Social National Party [Jubran URAYJI];
• Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL]

• conservative religious leaders;
• Kurdish Democratic Alliance [leader NA];
• Kurdish Democratic Front [leader NA];
• Muslim Brotherhood (operates in exile in London) [Ali Badr Eddine al-BAYANOUNI];
• National Democratic Front [Hassan Abd al-AZIM]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Imad MUSTAFA

chancery:

2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 232-6313

FAX:

[1] (202) 234-9548

chief of mission:

Ambassador Margaret SCOBEY

embassy:

Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansur Street, No. 2, Damascus

mailing address:

P. O. Box 29, Damascus

telephone:

[963] (11) 333-1342

FAX:

[963] (11) 331-9678

• 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 three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line 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

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

general assessment:

fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology

domestic:

coaxial cable and microwave radio relay network

international:

• country code - 963;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region);
• 1 submarine cable;
• coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey;
• participant in Medarabtel

total:

2,711 km

standard gauge:

2,460 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:

251 km 1.050-m gauge (2004)

total:

45,697 km

paved:

6,489 km (including 1,001 km of expressways)

unpaved:

39,208 km (2002)

total:

120 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 446,981 GRT/636,620 DWT

by type:

bulk carrier 8, cargo 105, container 1, livestock carrier 4, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1

foreign-owned:

12 (Egypt 1, Greece 1, Jordan 2, Lebanon 7, Romania 1)

registered in other countries:

73 (2005)

• Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964;
• Lebanon claims Shaba'a farms in Golan Heights;
• international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence personel stationed in Lebanon since October 1976;
• Syria protests Turkish hydrological projects regulating upper Euphrates waters;
• 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan

refugees (country of origin):

413,827 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA))

IDPs:

170,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2004)

• a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for regional and Western markets;
• weak anti-money-laundering controls, bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money-laundering