Global InformationSyria information
Syrian Arab Republic ٱلْجُمْهُورِيَّةُ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة ٱلْسُوْرِيَّة (Arabic) al-Jumhūriyya al-ʿArabiyya as-Sūriya | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: وَحْدَةٌ ، حُرِّيَّةٌ ، اِشْتِرَاكِيَّةٌ Waḥda, Ḥurriyya, Ishtirākiyya "Unity, Freedom, Socialism" | |
| Anthem: حُمَاةَ الدِّيَارِ Ḥumāt ad-Diyār "Guardians of the Homeland" | |
 Syria proper shown in dark green; Syria's territorial claims over the Turkish Hatay Province and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights shown in light green  | |
| Capital and largest city | Damascus 33°30′N 36°18′E / 33.500°N 36.300°E |
| Official languages | Arabic[1] |
| Ethnic groups (2023)[2] | 74–75% Arabs 9.5–10% Kurds 15–16.5% Others (including Turkomans, Assyrians, Circassians, Armenians and others)[2][3] |
| Religion (2023)[2] |
|
| Demonym(s) | Syrian |
| Government | Unitary presidential republic[4] under a totalitarian[5] hereditary dictatorship |
• President | Bashar al-Assad |
• Vice President | Najah al-Attar |
• Prime Minister | Hussein Arnous |
• Speaker of the People's Assembly | Hammouda Sabbagh |
| Legislature | People's Assembly |
| Establishment | |
• Arab Kingdom of Syria | 8 March 1920 |
• State of Syria under French mandate | 1 December 1924 |
• Syrian Republic | 14 May 1930 |
• De jure independence | 24 October 1945 |
• De facto independence | 17 April 1946 |
• Left the United Arab Republic | 28 September 1961 |
• Ba'ath Party takes power | 8 March 1963 |
• Current constitution | 27 February 2012 |
| Area | |
• Total | 185,180[6] km2 (71,500 sq mi) (87th) |
• Water (%) | 1.1 |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 22,933,531[7] (58th) |
• Density | 118.3/km2 (306.4/sq mi) (70th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2015 estimate |
• Total | $50.28 billion[8] |
• Per capita | $2,900[8] |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $11.08 billion[8] |
• Per capita | $533 |
| Gini (2014) | 55.8[9] high |
| HDI (2021) |  0.577[10]medium (150th) |
| Currency | Syrian pound (SYP) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Arabia Standard Time) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy (AD) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +963 |
| ISO 3166 code | SY |
| Internet TLD | .sy سوريا. |
Syria,[a] officially the Syrian Arab Republic,[b] is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions). A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Circassians, Armenians, Albanians, Greeks, and Chechens. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city is Damascus, followed by Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, Hama, Deirezor, and Raqqa. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Sunni Muslims are the largest religious group. Syria is now the only country that is governed by Ba'athists, who advocate Arab socialism and Arab nationalism.
The name "Syria" historically referred to a wider region, broadly synonymous with the Levant, and known in Arabic as al-Sham. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. In the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of Ottoman rule. After a period as a French mandate (1923–1946), the newly created state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gained de jure independence as a democratic parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945 when the Republic of Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended the former French mandate (although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946).
The post-independence period was tumultuous, with multiple military coups and coup attempts shaking the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic, which was terminated by the 1961 Syrian coup d'état. The republic was renamed as the Arab Republic of Syria in late 1961 after the December 1 constitutional referendum of that year. A significant event was the 1963 coup d'état carried out by the military committee of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party which established a one-party state. It ran Syria under emergency law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles within Ba'athist factions caused further coups in 1966 and 1970, which eventually resulted in the seizure of power by General Hafiz al-Assad. Assad assigned Alawite loyalists to key posts in the armed forces, bureaucracy, Mukhabarat and the ruling elite; effectively establishing an "Alawi minority rule" to consolidate power within his family.
After the death of Hafiz al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency and political system centered around a cult of personality to the al-Assad family. The Ba'ath regime is a totalitarian dictatorship that has been internationally condemned for its political repression alongside its numerous human rights abuses, including summary executions, massive censorship, forced disappearances, mass-murders, barrel-bombings, chemical attacks and other war-crimes. Following its violent suppression of the Arab Spring protests of the 2011 Syrian Revolution, the Syrian government was suspended from the Arab League in November 2011 for over 11 years, until its reinstatement in 2023. Since July 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war, with involvement of different countries. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria in August 2012 citing "deep concern at the massacres and inhuman acts" perpetrated by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad.[c] As of 2020, three political entities – the Syrian Interim Government, Syrian Salvation Government, and Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – have emerged in Syrian territory to challenge Assad's rule.
Syria is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Arab League. Being ranked third last on the 2022 Global Peace Index and 5th highest in the 2023 Fragile States Index,[12][13] Syria is one of the most violent countries in the world. The country is amongst the most dangerous places for journalism and is ranked 6th worst in 2023 World Press Freedom Index.[14][15] Syria is the most corrupt country in the MENA region and was ranked the second lowest globally on the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index.[d] The country has also become the epicentre of a state-sponsored multi-billion dollar illicit drug cartel, the largest in the world. The Syrian civil war has killed more than 570,000 people, with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of the total civilian casualties.[e] The war led to the Syrian refugee crisis, with an estimated 7.6 million internally displaced people (July 2015 UNHCR figure) and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered by UNHCR),[24] making population assessment difficult in recent years. The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living in poverty and 80% facing food insecurity.[f]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
CoSARwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c "Syria: People and society". The World Factbook. CIA. 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Largest Ethnic Groups In Syria". WorldAtlas. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^
- "Syrian Arab Republic". Federal Foreign Office. 13 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023.
System of government: Officially a socialist,... democratic state; presidential system (ruled by the al-Assad family, with the security services occupying a powerful position)
- "Syria: Government". CIA World Factbook. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021.
- "Syria Government". Archived from the original on 27 January 2023.
- "Syrian Arab Republic: Constitution, 2012". refworld. 26 February 2021. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.
- "Syrian Arab Republic". Federal Foreign Office. 13 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023.
- ^
- Khamis, B. Gold, Vaughn, Sahar, Paul, Katherine (2013). "22. Propaganda in Egypt and Syria's "Cyberwars": Contexts, Actors, Tools, and Tactics". In Auerbach, Castronovo, Jonathan, Russ (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016: Oxford University Press. p. 422. ISBN 978-0-19-976441-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Wieland, Carsten (2018). "6: De-neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus". Syria and the Neutrality Trap: The Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes. 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK: I. B. Tauris. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7556-4138-3.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - Ahmed, Saladdin (2019). Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura. State University of New York Press, Albany: Suny Press. pp. 144, 149. ISBN 9781438472911.
- Hensman, Rohini (2018). "7: The Syrian Uprising". Indefensible: Democracy, Counterrevolution, and the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1-60846-912-3.
- Khamis, B. Gold, Vaughn, Sahar, Paul, Katherine (2013). "22. Propaganda in Egypt and Syria's "Cyberwars": Contexts, Actors, Tools, and Tactics". In Auerbach, Castronovo, Jonathan, Russ (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016: Oxford University Press. p. 422. ISBN 978-0-19-976441-9.
- ^ "Syrian ministry of foreign affairs". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Syria". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "Syria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "World Bank GINI index". World Bank. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "Regional group votes to suspend Syria; rebels claim downing of jet". CNN. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "Country Dashboard". Global Peace Index. Fragile States Index. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "Global Peace Index". Vision of Humanity. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ^ "Syria". Reporters Without Borders. 2023. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Iran, Syria rank lowest for press freedom globally". Middle East Monitor. 4 May 2023. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023.
- ^ "Assad, Iran, Russia committed 91% of civilian killings in Syria". Middle East Monitor. 20 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Civilian Death Toll". SNHR. September 2022. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022.
- ^ "91 percent of civilian deaths caused by Syrian regime and Russian forces: rights group". The New Arab. 19 June 2022. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023.
- ^ "2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria". U.S Department of State. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022.
- ^ "In Syria's Civilian Death Toll, The Islamic State Group, Or ISIS, Is A Far Smaller Threat Than Bashar Assad". SOHR. 11 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022.
- ^ "Assad's War on the Syrian People Continues". SOHR. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 13 March 2021.
- ^ Roth, Kenneth (9 January 2017). "Barack Obama's Shaky Legacy on Human Rights". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021.
- ^ "The Regional War in Syria: Summary of Caabu event with Christopher Phillips". Council for Arab-British Understanding.
- ^ "UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
- ^ "Syria: Unprecedented rise in poverty rate, significant shortfall in humanitarian aid funding". Reliefweb. 18 October 2022. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Every Day Counts: Children of Syria cannot wait any longer". unicef. 2022. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022.
- ^ "Hunger, poverty and rising prices: How one family in Syria bears the burden of 11 years of conflict". reliefweb. 15 March 2022. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022.
- ^ "UN Chief says 90% of Syrians live below poverty line". 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022.
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