"text":"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"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west"
},
"Elevation":{
"mean elevation":{
"text":"514 m"
},
"lowest point":{
"text":"unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -208 m"
},
"highest point":{
"text":"Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m"
}
},
"Natural resources":{
"text":"petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower"
"text":"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",
"text":"<p>dust storms, sandstorms</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> Syria's two historically active volcanoes, Es Safa and an unnamed volcano near the Turkish border have not erupted in centuries</p>"
"text":"deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; depletion of water resources; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water"
"text":"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-controlled Golan Heights (2017)"
"text":"Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%, Jewish (few remaining in Damascus and Aleppo)",
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war"
"text":"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",
"text":"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"
"note":"<br><br><strong>etymology:</strong> Damascus is a very old city; its earliest name, Temeseq, first appears in an Egyptian geographical list of the 15th century B.C., but the meaning is uncertain"
"text":"14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah (Latakia), Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq (Damascus), Halab (Aleppo), Hamah, Hims (Homs), Idlib, Rif Dimashq (Damascus Countryside), Tartus"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day (Evacuation Day), 17 April (1946); note - celebrates the leaving of the last French troops and the proclamation of full independence"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"several previous; latest issued 15 February 2012, passed by referendum and effective 27 February 2012"
"text":"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"
"text":"mixed legal system of civil and Islamic (sharia) law (for family courts)"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICC"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"10 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000); Vice President Najah al-ATTAR (since 23 March 2006)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Hussein ARNOUS (since 30 August 2020); Deputy Prime Minister Ali Abdullah AYOUB (Gen.) (since 30 August 2020)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Council of Ministers appointed by the president"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"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"
"text":"unicameral People's Assembly or Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority preferential vote to serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 19 July 2020 (next to be held in 2024)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party - NPF 80%, other 20%; seats by party - NPF 200, other 50; composition - men 217, women 33, percent of women 13.2%"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest courts":{
"text":"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":{
"text":"Court of Cassation judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council (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 serve 4-year renewable terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"courts of first instance; magistrates' courts; religious and military courts; Economic Security Court; Counterterrorism Court (established June 2012)"
"text":"<strong>legal parties/alliances:<br /></strong> Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party [Bashar al-ASAD, regional secretary] <br />Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar al-ASAD] <br />Arab Socialist Union of Syria or ASU [Safwan al-QUDSI] <br />National Progressive Front or NPF [Bashar al-ASAD, Suleiman QADDAH] (alliance includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party, Socialist Unionist Democratic Party)<br /> Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallah Nasr al-DIN]<br />Syrian Communist Party (two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yusuf Rashid FAYSAL] <br />Syrian Social Nationalist Party or SSNP [Ali HAIDAR]<br />Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL]<br /><strong><br />Major Kurdish parties</strong> <br />Kurdish Democratic Union Party or PYD [Shahoz HASAN and Aysha HISSO]<br />Kurdish National Council [Sa'ud MALA]<br /> <br /><strong>other:</strong> Syrian Democratic Party [Mustafa QALAAJI]"
"text":"Ambassador (vacant); note - on 6 February 2012, the US closed its embassy in Damascus; Czechia serves as a protecting power for US interests in Syria"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[963] (11) 3391-4444"
},
"embassy":{
"text":"Abou Roumaneh, 2 Al Mansour Street, Damascus"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"P. O. Box 29, Damascus"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[963] (11) 3391-3999"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; two small, green, five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; the band colors derive from the Arab Liberation flag and represent oppression (black), overcome through bloody struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white); identical to the former flag of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961) where the two stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; the current design dates to 1980",
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> 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</p>"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> 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</p>"
"text":"<p>Syria's economy has deeply deteriorated amid the ongoing conflict that began in 2011, declining by more than 70% from 2010 to 2017. The government has struggled to fully address the effects of international sanctions, widespread infrastructure damage, diminished domestic consumption and production, reduced subsidies, and high inflation, which have caused dwindling foreign exchange reserves, rising budget and trade deficits, a decreasing value of the Syrian pound, and falling household purchasing power. In 2017, some economic indicators began to stabilize, including the exchange rate and inflation, but economic activity remains depressed and GDP almost certainly fell.</p><p></p><p>During 2017, the ongoing conflict and continued unrest and economic decline worsened the humanitarian crisis, necessitating high levels of international assistance, as more than 13 million people remain in need inside Syria, and the number of registered Syrian refugees increased from 4.8 million in 2016 to more than 5.4 million.</p><p></p><p>Prior to the turmoil, Damascus had begun liberalizing economic policies, including cutting lending interest rates, opening private banks, consolidating multiple exchange rates, raising prices on some subsidized items, and establishing the Damascus Stock Exchange, but the economy remains highly regulated. Long-run economic constraints include foreign trade barriers, declining oil production, high unemployment, rising budget deficits, increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, industrial contaction, water pollution, and widespread infrastructure damage.</p>"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> data are in 2015 US dollars<br />the war-driven deterioration of the economy resulted in a disappearance of quality national level statistics in the 2012-13 period"
"text":"machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper"
"text":"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; 2018 saw some stabilizing; telecoms have become decentralized; fairly high mobile penetration of 98%; potential for growth given that subscription numbers are low; remote areas rely on expensive satellite communications; mobile broadband infrastructure is predominantly 3G for about 85% of the population; LTE launched in 2017; Syria has two mobile telephone operators (2020)"
"text":"the number of fixed-line connections increased markedly prior to the civil war in 2011 and now stands at 17 per 100; mobile-cellular service stands at about 114 per 100 persons (2019)"
},
"international":{
"text":"country code - 963; landing points for the Aletar, BERYTAR and UGART submarine cable connections 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 (2019)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively impacting telecommunications production and supply chains globally; consumer spending on telecom devices and services has also slowed due to the pandemic's effect on economies worldwide; overall progress towards improvements in all facets of the telecom industry - mobile, fixed-line, broadband, submarine cable and satellite - has moderated"
"text":"state-run TV and radio broadcast networks; state operates 2 TV networks and 5 satellite channels; 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 (2018)"
"text":"Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Naval Forces, Syrian Air Forces, Syrian Air Defense Forces, National Defense Forces (pro-government militia and auxiliary forces) (2019)",
"Military and security service personnel strengths":{
"text":"N/A; the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) are rebuilding and trying to integrate government-allied militias and auxiliary forces while continuing to engage in a civil war; prior to the start of the civil war in 2011, the SAF had approximately 300,000 active troops, including 200-225,000 Army; by 2018, its estimated size was reportedly less than 100,000 due to casualties and desertions (2019 est.)"
},
"Military equipment inventories and acquisitions":{
"text":"the SAF's inventory is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era equipment; since 2010, Russia has supplied nearly all of Syria's imported weapons systems, although China and Iran have also provided military equipment (2019 est.)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"18-42 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months; women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve (2019)"
},
"Military - note":{
"text":"the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; as of October 2019, UNDOF consisted of about 1,140 personnel"
"text":"Abdallah Azzam Brigades; Ansar al-Islam; Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq; Hizballah; Hurras al-Din; Islamic Jihad Union; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham; Kata'ib Hizballah; Kurdistan Workers' Party; Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem; al-Nusrah Front (Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham); al-Qa'ida; Palestine Liberation Front; PFLP-General Command; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (2020)",
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in <a title=\"Appendix-T\" href=\"../appendix/appendix-t.html\">Appendix-T</a>"
"text":"<p>Golan Heights is Israeli-controlled with an 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</p>"
"text":"160,000 (2019); 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"
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> the ongoing civil war has resulted in more than 5.5 million registered Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of November 2020</p>"
"text":"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"
"text":"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)"
"text":"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"
