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

mean elevation:

514 m

elevation extremes:

lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -208 m

highest point:

Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m

agricultural land:

75.8%;

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

forest:

2.7%

other:

21.5% (2011 est.)

• significant population density along the Mediterranean coast;
• larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs);
• more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley

note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution

• 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 (2017)

noun:

Syrian(s)

adjective:

Syrian

• significant population density along the Mediterranean coast;
• larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs);
• more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley

note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution

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:

0.99 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 (2016 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)

etymology:

• name ultimately derived from the ancient Assyrians who dominated northern Mesopotamia, but whose reach also extended westward to the Levant;
• over time, the name came to be associated more with the western area

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 last Friday in October

• 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

history:

several previous; latest issued 15 February 2012, passed by referendum and effective 27 February 2012

amendments:

• proposed by the president of the republic or by one-third of the People’s Assembly members;
• following review by a special Assembly committee, passage requires at least three-quarters majority vote by the Assembly and approval by the president (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Syria; if the father is unknown or stateless, the mother must be a citizen of Syria

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

chief of state:

President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000); Vice President Najah al-ATTAR (since 23 March 2006)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Imad Muhammad Dib KHAMIS (since 22 June 2016);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Fahd Jasim al-FURAYJ, Lt. Gen.(since 23 June 2012) and Walid al-MUALEM (since 23 June 2012)

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 elected 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 13 April 2016 (next to be held in 2020)

election results:

percent of vote by party - NPF 80%, other 20%; seats by party - NPF 200, other 50

highest court(s):

• Court of Cassation (organized into civil, criminal, religious, and military divisions, each with 3 judges);
• Supreme Constitutional Court (consists of 7 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;
• Counterterrorism Court (established June 2012)

• Free Syrian Army
• Syrian Muslim Brotherhood or SMB [Mohamed Hekmat WALID] (operates in exile in London)
• Syrian Opposition Coalition or National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces [Riad SEIF]

note: there are also hundreds of local and provincial political and armed opposition groups that organize protests, provide civilian services, and stage armed attacks

chief of mission:

• ambassador (vacant);
• US Special Envoy for Syria Michael RATNEY (since 27 July 2015);
• note - on 6 February 2012, the US closed its embassy in Damascus;
• Czechia serves as protecting power for US interests in Syria

embassy:

Abou Roumaneh, 2 Al Mansour Street, 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:

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 increased markedly prior to the civil war in 2011; mobile-cellular service stands at about 70 per 100 persons

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 (2016)

• 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)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 11

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

475,932

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

1,517,388 mt-km (2015)

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: 73

total:

69,873 km

paved:

63,060 km

unpaved:

6,813 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 68

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

Syrian Armed Forces:

Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (includes Air Defense Forces), Intelligence Services (Air Force Intelligence, Military Intelligence)

Ministry of Interior:

Political Security Directorate, General Intelligence Directorate, National Police Force (2017)

• 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 (2017)

• 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 would settle border dispute with Jordan

refugees (country of origin):

438,000 (Palestinian Refugees) (2017); 16,879 (Iraq)

note: the ongoing civil war has more than 5.3 million Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of November 2017

IDPs:

6.3 million (ongoing civil war since 2011) (2017)

stateless persons:

• 160,000 (2016);
• note - Syria's stateless population consists 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:

• as conditions continue to deteriorate due to Syria’s civil war, human trafficking has increased;
• Syrians remaining in the country and those that are refugees abroad are vulnerable to trafficking;
• Syria is a source and destination country for men, women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• Syrian children continue to be forcibly recruited by government forces, pro-regime militias, armed opposition groups, and terrorist organizations to serve as soldiers, human shields, and executioners;
• ISIL forces Syrian women and girls and Yazidi women and girls taken from Iraq to marry its fighters, where they experience domestic servitude and sexual violence;
• Syrian refugee women and girls are forced into exploitive marriages or prostitution in neighboring countries, while displaced children are forced into street begging domestically and abroad

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;
• in 2014, Syria’s violent conditions enabled human trafficking to flourish;
• the government made no effort to investigate, prosecute, or convict trafficking offenders or complicit government officials, including those who forcibly recruited child soldiers;
• authorities did not identify victims and failed to ensure victims, including child soldiers, were protected from arrest, detention, and severe abuse as a result of being trafficked (2015)

• 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