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

agricultural land:

75.8%;

• arable land 25.4%;
• permanent crops 5.8%;
• permanent pasture 44.6%

forest:

2.7%

other:

21.5% (2011 est.)

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 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (2014 est.)

noun:

Syrian(s)

adjective:

Syrian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.82 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2015 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

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 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 (Ba'th Party) 88.7%, Hassan al-NOURI (independent) 4.3%, Maher HAJJER (independent) 3.2%, other/invalid 3.8%

description:

unicameral People's Assembly or Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 7 May 2012 (next to be held in 2016)

election results:

percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA

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 (vacant);
• Special Envoy to Syria Daniel RUBINSTEIN (since March 2014);
• 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

name:

"Humat ad-Diyar" (Guardians of the Homeland)

lyrics/music:

Khalil Mardam BEY/Mohammad Salim FLAYFEL and Ahmad Salim FLAYFEL

note: adopted 1936, restored 1961; between 1958 and 1961, while Syria was a member of the United Arab Republic with Egypt, the country had a different anthem

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

standard gauge:

1,801 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:

251 km 1.050-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 72

total:

69,873 km

paved:

63,060 km

unpaved:

6,813 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 67

total:

19

by type:

bulk carrier 4, cargo 14, carrier 1

registered in other countries:

166 (Barbados 1, Belize 4, Bolivia 4, Cambodia 22, Comoros 5, Dominica 4, Georgia 24, Lebanon 2, Liberia 1, Malta 4, Moldova 5, North Korea 4, Panama 34, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 9, Sierra Leone 13, Tanzania 23, Togo 6, unknown 1) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 95

• 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):

526,744 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2014); undetermined (Iraq) (2015)

note: the ongoing civil war has created more than 4 million Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of August 2015

IDPs:

7,632,500 (ongoing civil war since 2011) (2015)

stateless persons:

• 160,000 (2014);
• 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 scope and magnitude of Syria’s human trafficking situation;
• Syria is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• Syrian refugee women and girls are forced into exploitive marriages or prostitution in neighboring countries, while refugee children are forced into street begging domestically and abroad;
• the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields

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;
• increasing violence undercut any law enforcement efforts in 2013;
• the government failed to protect and prevent children from recruitment by government forces and armed opposition groups;
• a new law passed in 2013 criminalizing the recruitment of children under 18 by armed forces was not enforced;
• authorities did not make efforts to investigate and punish trafficking offenders, including complicit government employees;
• no trafficking victims were identified or provided with protective services;
• the government did not attempt to inform the public about human trafficking or to provide anti-trafficking training to officials (2014)

• 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