* βeta

Syria

X

Background :

Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French administered the area as Syria until granting it independence in 1946. The new country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In September 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah. In May 2007 Bashar al-ASAD was elected to his second term as President. 

Location :

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey 

Geographic Coordinates Center :

35 00 N, 38 00 E  (Latitude, Longtitude)

Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :

West 35.73
North 37.32
East 42.39
South 32.31

Map references :

Middle East 

Area :

total 185 180 square km
land 183 630 square km
water 1 550 square km

Land boundaries :

total 2 253 km
Iraq (iq) 605 km
Israel (il) 76 km
Jordan (jo) 375 km
Lebanon (lb) 375 km
Turkey (tr) 822 km

Coastline :

193.00 km

Climate :

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 :

primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west 

Elevation extremes :

lowest point 200 metres
highest point 2 814 metres

Natural resources :

asphalt chrome and manganese ores
gypsum hydropower
iron ore marble
petroleum phosphates
rock salt

Land use :

arable land 24.80 %
permanent crops 4.47 %
other 70.73 %

Irrigated land :

13 330 square km

Natural hazards :

dust storms torms

current issues :

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water 

international agreements :

Biodiversity Climate Change
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification
Endangered Species Environmental Modification
Hazardous Wastes Ozone Layer Protection
Ship Pollution Wetlands

Population :

21 762 978 

Indicators :

Growth rate 2.01 %
Birth rate 25.00 births/1,000 population
Total fertility rate 3.12 children born/woman
Death rate 3.72 deaths/1,000 population

Age structure :

0-14 years 36.40 %
15-64 years 59.90 %
65 years and over 3.70 %

Median age :

total 21.70 years
male 21.60 years
female 21.90 years

Sex ratio :

at birth 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.89 male(s)/female
total population 1.05 male(s)/female

Health :

Infant mortality rate 16.69 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth - total population 74.22 years
Life expectancy at birth - male 71.87 years
Life expectancy at birth - female 76.70 years
HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate 0.10 %
HIV-AIDS people living with HIV-AIDS 500
HIV-AIDS deaths 200

Religions :

Sunni Muslim 74.00 %
other Muslim 16.00 %
Christian 10.00 %

Languages :

Arabic  
Kurdish  
Armenian  
Aramaic  
Circassian widely understood  
French  
English somewhat understood  

Literacy :

total population 79.60 %
male 86.00 %
female 73.60 %

Country name :

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

Country Codes :

ISO 3166 SY
ISO Numeric 760
ISO3 SYR
FIPS SY
ccTLD sy
English Syria

Administrative divisions :

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

Capital :

name Damascus
geographic coordinates 33 30 N, 36 18 E
time difference 2.00
daylight saving time 1

International organization participation :

ABEDA AFESD
AMF CAEU
FAO G-24
G-77 IAEA
IBRD ICAO
ICC ICCt (signatory)
ICRM IDA
IDB IFAD
IFC IFRCS
IHO ILO
IMF IMO
IOC IPU
ISO ITSO
ITU Interpol
LAS MIGA
NAM OAPEC
OIC UN
UNCTAD UNESCO
UNIDO UNRWA
UNWTO UPU
WCO WFTU
WHO WIPO
WMO

Independence :

1946-04-17 

National holiday :

Independence Day

1946-04-17

Executive branch :

President Bashar al-ASAD Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI

GDP - Gross Domestic product :

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity 102 500 000 000 $
Official Exchange Rate 54 350 000 000
RGR - Real Growth rate 2.20 %
PPP - per capita 4 700 $

GDP Composition by sector :

agriculture 19.00 %
industry 34.00 %
services 47.00 %

Labor force - by occupation :

agriculture 17.00 %
industry 16.00 %
services 67.00 %

Other Indicators :

Labor force 5 772 000 people
Unemployment rate 9.20 %
Population below poverty line 11.90 %
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 3.80 %
Investment (gross fixed) 21.70 % of GDP
Current account balance - 1 521 000 000 $
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 5 083 000 000 $
Debt external 7 621 000 000 $
Military expenditures 5.90 % of GDP
Public debt 32.30 % of GDP

Budget :

revenues 9 020 000 000 $
expenditures 13 140 000 000 $

Agriculture - products :

barley beef
chickpeas cotton
eggs lentils
milk mutton
olives poultry
sugar beets wheat

Industries :

beverages car assembly
cement food processing
oil seeds crushing petroleum
phosphate rock mining textiles
tobacco

Energy :

Electricity Production 36 500 000 000 kWh
Electricity Consumption 27 350 000 000 kWh
Electricity Imports 1 400 000 000 kWh
Oil Production 367 500 bbl/day
Oil Consumption 256 000 bbl/day
Oil Exports 155 000 bbl/day
Oil Imports 58 710 bbl/day
Oil Proved reserves 2 500 000 000 bbl
Natural gas Production 6 040 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Consumption 6 180 000 000 cubic metres
Natural gas Imports 140 000 000 cubic metres
Electricity Exports 240 700 000 000 cubic metres

Value :

10 130 000 000 $

Commodities :

clothing cotton
crude oil fruit and vegetables
meat and live animals minerals
petroleum products textiles
wheat

Value :

13 100 000 000 $

Partners :

Saudi Arabia (sa) 11.70 %
China (cn) 8.70 %
Russia (ru) 7.50 %
Italy (it) 5.90 %
Egypt (eg) 5.80 %
UAE 5.70 %
Turkey (tr) 4.30 %
Iran (ir) 4.20 %

Commodities :

chemicals and chemical products electric power machinery
food and livestock machinery and transportation equipment
metal and metal products paper
plastics yarn

Currency-name :

Syrian pound 

Communications :

Telephons Main lines in use 3 633 000
Telephons Mobile, Cellular 7 056 000
FM Radio broadcast stations 2
Television broadcast stations 44
Internet Country code (ccTLD) sy
Internet Hosts 7 879
Internet Users 3 565 000

Transportation :

Airports with paved runways 29
Heliports 7
Pipelines - gas 3 101 km
Pipelines - oil 1 997 km
Roadways - total 97 401 km
Roadways - expressways 1 103 km
Roadways - paved 19 490 km
Roadways - unpaved 77 911 km
Railways 2 052 km
Waterways 900 km

Photos

=  
Powered by Google App Engine  | Photos provided by Panoramio Logo are under the copyright of their owners   | 
♦ geognos.com ©®™2010 ♦ Visualizations by Google Visualization API  | Dynamic maps by Google Maps API v3  | Dynamic translations by Google AJAX Language API