Syria

• 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

total:

19.95 cu km/yr (3%/2%/95%)

per capita:

1,048 cu m/yr (2000)

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

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

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:

0.89 male(s)/female

total population:

1.05 male(s)/female (2009 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)

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

• 14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah);
• Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah (Latakia), Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq (Damascus), Tartus

• 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

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%

• 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)

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]; 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])

opposition parties not legally recognized:

• Arab Democratic Socialist Union Party [Hasan Abdul AZIM];
• Arab Socialist Movement;
• Democratic Ba'th Party [Ibrahim MAHKOS];
• National Democratic Front [Hasan Abdul AZIM, spokesman] (includes five parties - Arab Democratic Socialist Union Party [Hasan Abdul AZIM], Arab Socialist Movement, Democratic Ba'th Party [Ibrahim MAHKOS], People's Democratic Party [Riad al TURK], Revolutionary Workers' Party [Abdul Hafeez al HAFEZ]);
• People's Democratic Party;
• Revolutionary Workers' Party [Abdul Hafeez al HAFEZ]

Kurdish parties (considered illegal):

• Azadi Party [Kheirudin MURAD];
• Future Party [Masha'l TAMMO];
• Kurdish Democratic Alliance (includes four parties);
• Kurdish Democratic Front (includes three parties);
• Yekiti Party [Hasan SALEH, Fu'ad ALEYKO]

other parties:

Nahda Party [Abdul Aziz al MISLET]; Syrian Democratic Party [Mustafa QALAAJI]

• Damascus Declaration National Council [Riyad SEIF, secretary general] (a broad alliance of opposition groups and individuals including: Committee for Revival of Civil Society [Michel KILO, Riyad SEIF]; Communist Action Party [Fateh JAMOUS]; Kurdish Democratic Alliance; Kurdish Democratic Front; Liberal Nationalists' Movement; National Democratic Rally; and 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)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Imad MOUSTAPHA

chancery:

2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 232-6313

FAX:

[1] (202) 265-4585

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Maura CONNELLY

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

• 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

agriculture:

19.2%

industry:

14.5%

services:

66.3% (2006 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

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 with telephone subscribership reaching 40 per 100 persons in 2008;

international:

• country code - 963;
• submarine cable connection to Egypt, Lebanon, and 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

total:

2,052 km

country comparison to the world: 72

standard gauge:

1,801 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:

251 km 1.050-m gauge (2008)

total:

97,401 km

country comparison to the world: 43

paved:

19,490 km (includes 1,103 km of expressways)

unpaved:

77,911 km (2006)

• 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)

males age 16-49:

5,251,875

females age 16-49:

4,966,367 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

4,360,934

females age 16-49:

4,344,895 (2009 est.)

male:

213,513

female:

201,055 (2009 est.)

• 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 Shabaa 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 (country of origin):

1-1.4 million (Iraq); 522,100 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA))

IDPs:

305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2007)

current situation:

• Syria is a destination and transit country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• a significant number of women and children in the large and expanding Iraqi refugee community in Syria are reportedly forced into commercial sexual exploitation by Iraqi gangs or, in some cases, their families;
• women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone are recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants, but some face conditions of involuntary servitude, including long hours, non-payment of wages, withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, threats, and physical or sexual abuse

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - Syria again failed to report any law enforcement efforts to punish trafficking offenses in 2007;
• in addition, the government did not offer protection services to victims of trafficking and may have arrested, prosecuted, or deported some victims for prostitution or immigration violations;
• Syria has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

• 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