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:

16.76 cu km/yr (9%/4%/88%)

per capita:

867.4 cu m/yr (2005)

• 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

• the capital of Damascus - located at an oasis fed by the Barada River - is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities;
• there are 41 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (2010 est.)

noun:

Syrian(s)

adjective:

Syrian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.85 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

total number:

192,915

percentage:

4 % (2006 est.)

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 midnight on the last Friday in March; ends at midnight on the first Friday in November

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

chief of state:

• President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000);
• Vice President Farouk al-SHARA (since 21 February 2006);
• Vice President Najah al-ATTAR (since 23 March 2006)

head of government:

Prime Minister Wael al-HALQI (since 9 August 2012); Deputy Prime Ministers Fahd Jasim al-FURAYJ, Lt. Gen. Walid al-MUALEM

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - new Council appointed on 14 April 2011; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president approved by popular referendum (the 2012 constitution allows for two successive 7-year terms);
• referendum last held in 3 June 2014 (next to be held in June 2021);
• 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 88.7%, Hassan al-NOURI 4.3%, Maher HAJJER 3.2%, other/invalid 3.8%

highest court(s):

• Court of Cassation (organized into civil, criminal, religious, and military divisions, each with 3 judges);
• Supreme Constitutional Court (consists of 4 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Court of Cassation judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council or SJC, a judicial management body headed by the minister of justice with 7 members including the national president;
• judge tenure NA;
• Supreme Constitutional Court judges nominated by the president and appointed by the SJC;
• judges appointed for 4-year renewable terms

subordinate courts:

• courts of first instance;
• magistrates' courts;
• religious and military courts;
• Economic Security Court

• Free Syrian Army
• Syrian Muslim Brotherhood or SMB [Muhammad Riyad al-SHAQFAH] (operates in exile in London)
• Syrian Opposition Coalition or National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces [al-Asi- al-JARBAL]

note: there are also hundreds of local groups that organize protests and stage armed attacks

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert Stephen FORD (since 7 January 2011); note - on 6 February 2012, the US closed its embassy in Damascus

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

agriculture:

17%

industry:

16%

services:

67% (2008 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

• fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology and expansion of the network to rural areas;
• the armed insurgency that began in 2011 has led to major disruptions to the network and has caused telephone and Internet outages throughout the country

domestic:

• the number of fixed-line connections has increased markedly since 2000;
• mobile-cellular service growing with telephone subscribership nearly 60 per 100 persons in 2011

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 (2011)

• state-run TV and radio broadcast networks;
• state operates 2 TV networks and a satellite channel;
• roughly two-thirds of Syrian homes have a satellite dish providing access to foreign TV broadcasts;
• 3 state-run radio channels;
• first private radio station launched in 2005;
• private radio broadcasters prohibited from transmitting news or political content (2007)

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:

69,873 km

country comparison to the world: 67

paved:

63,060 km

unpaved:

6,813 km (2010)

• 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
• conscript service obligation is 18 months;
• women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve;
• re-enlistment obligation 5 years, with retirement after 15 years or age 40 (enlisted) or 20 years or age 45 (NCOs) (2012)

males age 16-49:

5,889,837

females age 16-49:

5,660,751 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

5,055,510

females age 16-49:

4,884,151 (2010 est.)

male:

256,698

female:

244,712 (2010 est.)

• Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force 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 Shab'a Farms in the Golan Heights;
• 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan

refugees (country of origin):

146,200 (Iraq) (2013); 517,255 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2014)

note: the ongoing civil war had created more than 2.8 million Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of February 2014

IDPs:

6.5 million (ongoing civil war since 2011) (2014)

stateless persons:

• 221,000 (2012);
• note - Syria's stateless population is composed of Kurds and Palestinians;
• stateless persons are prevented from voting, owning land, holding certain jobs, receiving food subsidies or public healthcare, enrolling in public schools, or being legally married to Syrian citizens;
• in 1962, some 120,000 Syrian Kurds were stripped of their Syrian citizenship, rendering them and their descendants stateless;
• in 2011, the Syrian Government granted citizenship to thousands of Syrian Kurds as a means of appeasement;
• however, resolving the question of statelessness is not a priority given Syria's ongoing civil war

current situation:

• due to Syria's political uprising and violent unrest, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, foreign migrant workers, and refugees have fled the country and are vulnerable to human trafficking;
• the lack of security and inaccessibility of the majority of the country makes it impossible to conduct a thorough analysis of the ongoing conflict and the scope and magnitude of Syria's human trafficking situation;
• prior to the uprising, Syria was principally a destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking;
• thousands of women - the majority from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia - were recruited to work as domestic servants but were subsequently subjected to forced labor;
• Filipina domestic workers continue to be sent to Syria and are vulnerable to forced labor;
• the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields;
• Iraqi women and girls continue to be sexually exploited, and Syrian children still face conditions of forced labor

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - the government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• the government does not demonstrate evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and punish trafficking offenses, provide protective services to victims, inform the public about human trafficking, or provide much-needed anti-trafficking training to law enforcement and social welfare officials;
• the government does not refer any victims to NGO-operated shelters and has failed to institute procedures for the identification, interview, and referral of trafficking victims;
• the status of the national plan of action against trafficking is unknown (2013)

• 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