query: What is the capital of Syria?

title: History of Syria

text: of Antioch (1098-1268) and County of Tripoli (1109-1289). The area was also threatened by Shi'a extremists known as Assassins ("Hassassin") and in 1260 the Mongols briefly swept through Syria. The withdrawal of the main Mongol army prompted the Mamluks of Egypt to invade and conquer Syria. In addition to the sultanate's capital in Cairo, the Mamluk leader, Baibars, made Damascus a provincial capital, with the cities linked by a mail service that traveled by both horses and carrier pigeons. The Mamluks eliminated the last of the Crusader footholds in Syria and repulsed several Mongol invasions. In 1400, Timur Lenk, or

title: Economy of Syria

text: force, including government, in 2008. As of May 2009, it was reported that Damascus office prices are skyrocketing. Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, there has been a capital flight to nearby countries. Syria has been subject to sanctions by US, Canada, EU, Arab League and Turkey because of the civil war. The currency of Syria is the Syrian pound (SYP). The pound's exchange rate has deteriorated significantly, falling from 47 SYP for US$1 in March 2011 to 515 SYP for US$1 in July 2017. The Central Bank of Syria began operations in 1959. It controls

title: Districts of Syria

text: and councils of elders. The 65 districts are listed below by governorate (with capital districts in bold text). The city of Damascus functions as a governorate, a district and a subdistrict. Parts of Quneitra Governorate have been under Israeli occupation since 1967 (see Golan Heights). Districts of Syria The 14 governorates of Syria, or "muhafazat" (sing. "muhafazah"), are divided into 65 districts, or "manatiq" (sing. "mintaqah"), including the city of Damascus. The districts are further divided into 281 subdistricts, or "nawahi" (sing. "nahiya"). Each district bears the same name as its district capital. Districts and subdistricts are administered by officials

title: Geography of Syria

text: or "manatiq" (sing. "mintaqah"), which are further divided into sub-districts, or "nawahi" (sing. "nahiya"). The capital Damascus is the second largest city in Syria, and the metropolitan area is a governorate on its own. Aleppo (population 2,301,570) in northern Syria is the largest city. Latakia along with Tartus are Syria's main ports on the Mediterranean Sea. The area includes about 185,180 square kilometers of deserts, plains, and mountains. It is divided into a coastal zone—with a narrow, double mountain belt enclosing a depression in the west—and a much larger eastern plateau. The climate is predominantly dry; about three-fifths of the

title: Postage stamps and postal history of Syria

text: to France by the League of Nations over the whole of Syria from 1923. Following the awarding of the mandate and the defeat of Syrian forces in May 1920, Syria came under French military occupation. Syria got divided between a coastal area with a capital at Beirut, which subsequently became Lebanon, and the interior under the control of the Arabs with a capital at Damascus. Stamps of France were used between 1920 and 1922 overprinted "T.E.O." (Territoires Ennemis Occupés) or "O.M.F." (Occupation Militaire Francaise). As a League of Nations mandate, Syria used the stamps of France, overprinted "Syrie Grand Liban"

title: History of Syria

text: EU regard as terrorist groups. In 2003 the US threatened sanctions if Damascus failed to make what Washington called the "right decisions". Syria denied US allegations that it was developing chemical weapons and helping fugitive Iraqis. An Israeli air strike against a Palestinian militant camp near Damascus in October 2003 was described by Syria as "military aggression". President Assad visited Turkey in January 2004, the first Syrian leader to do so. The trip marked the end of decades of frosty relations, although ties were to sour again after 2011. In May 2004, the USA imposed economic sanctions on Syria over

title: Greeks in Syria

text: Greeks in Syria The Greek presence in Syria began in the 7th century BC and became more prominent during the Hellenistic period and when the Seleucid Empire was centered there. Today, there is a Greek community of about 4,500 in Syria, most of whom have Syrian nationality and who live mainly in Aleppo (the country's main trading and financial centre), Baniyas, Tartous , and Damascus, the capital. Greek presence is attested from early on, and in fact, the name of Syria itself is from the Greek word for the Assyrians. "Further Information: Late Bronze Age collapse" The Ancient Levant had

title: History of Syria

text: being occupied by the Sassanids between 609 and 628, then recovered by the emperor Heraclius. Whatsoever, Byzantine rule in the region was lost to the Muslims after the battle of Yarmouk and the fall of Antioch. In 634-640, Syria was conquered by the Muslim Arabs in the form of the Rashidun army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, resulting in the region becoming part of the Islamic empire. In the mid-7th century, the Umayyad dynasty, then rulers of the empire, placed the capital of the empire in Damascus. Syria was divided into four districts: Damascus, Homs, Palestine and Jordan. The Islamic

title: Districts of Syria

text: Districts of Syria The 14 governorates of Syria, or "muhafazat" (sing. "muhafazah"), are divided into 65 districts, or "manatiq" (sing. "mintaqah"), including the city of Damascus. The districts are further divided into 281 subdistricts, or "nawahi" (sing. "nahiya"). Each district bears the same name as its district capital. Districts and subdistricts are administered by officials appointed by the governor, subject to the approval of the minister of the interior. These officials work with elected district councils to attend to assorted local needs, and serve as intermediaries between central government authority and traditional local leaders, such as village chiefs, clan leaders,

title: Syria Vilayet

text: of this. In 1888, a vilayet of Beirut was formed from the vilayet of Syria. In May 1892, another proposal was made for a regional government centered in Ma'an, which was approved in August. In mid-1895, the centre of this mutasarrifiyya was moved to Karak (Mutasarrifate of Karak), marking the southernmost extent of Ottoman rule in the vilayet of Syria. As of 1927, the Vilayet Syria was divided into four sanjaks: Damascus, Hama, Hauran and Karak. The Vilayet's capital was Damascus. Syria Vilayet The Vilayet of Syria (), also known as Vilayet of Damascus, was a first-level administrative division (vilayet)

title: Qara, Syria

text: Qara, Syria Qara or Kara () is a Syrian city in the An-Nabek District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. It is located between the Qalamoun Mountains and the Eastern Lebanon mountains range, north of the capital Damascus on the road to the city of Homs. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Qara had a population of 12,508 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are mostly Sunni Muslims and Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians. It was the southern-most town in the Jund Hims military district of Greater Syria during the Umayyad Caliphate. Abu'l-Fida described it in his Geography

title: Elections in Syria

text: Elections in Syria Elections in Syria gives information on election and election results in Syria. A civil war has been going on in Syria since 2011 following a period of demonstrations and unrest in 2011, which was part of the international wave of protest known as the Arab Spring. The government, headed by Bashar al-Assad, son of previous leader Hafez al-Assad, is based in Damascus, the traditional capital. Elections were held on 3 June 2014. The winner was Bashar al-Assad of the Ba'ath party. There were observers from more than 30 countries. Summary of the 7 May 2012 People's Council

title: French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon

text: of river Euphrates of eastern Syria. These regions represented much of the agricultural and mineral wealth of Syria. The autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta was added to the state of Aleppo in 1923. The capital was the northern city of Aleppo, which had large Christian and Jewish communities in addition to the Sunni Muslims. The state also incorporated minorities of Shiites and Alawites. Ethnic Kurds and Assyrians inhabited the eastern regions alongside the Arabs. The State of Damascus was a French mandate from 1920 to 1925. The capital was Damascus. The primarily Sunni population of the states of Aleppo and Damascus

title: Qara, Syria

text: of the Levant at that time. While Qara's population had originally been Christian, by the 17th century it was a mixed Muslim-Christian village. Qara, Syria Qara or Kara () is a Syrian city in the An-Nabek District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. It is located between the Qalamoun Mountains and the Eastern Lebanon mountains range, north of the capital Damascus on the road to the city of Homs. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Qara had a population of 12,508 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are mostly Sunni Muslims and Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christians. It

title: Al-Tall, Syria

text: Al-Tall, Syria Al-Tall (, also spelled al-Tell) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate and capital of the al-Tall District. Situated in the middle of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, having an elevation of roughly 1,000 meters above sea level. Nearby localities include Maaraba to the southwest, Damascus to the south, Dahiyat al-Assad and Douma to the southeast, Maarat Saidnaya to the northeast, Manin to the north, Ashrafiyat al-Wadi and Basimah to the northwest and al-Hamah and Qudsaya to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Tall had a population of 44,597

title: Apamea, Syria

text: Apamea in Syria (of the Syrians). It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents of the Archiepiscopal (intermediary) rank : The Holy Great Martyr Procopius (Procopius of Scythopolis) is related to Apamea: "on the way to Egypt, near the Syrian city of Apameia, Neanius had a vision of the Lord Jesus, just as once formerly had happened with Saul on the road to Damascus" (source: the life of the saint, at https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/July/08-02.htm) Apamea, Syria Apamea (, "Apameia"; , "Afamia"), on the right bank of the Orontes River, was an ancient Greek and Roman city. It was the capital

title: Syria

text: that the expedition was important as Muhammad followed by 1000 men reached the confines of Syria, where distant tribes had now learnt his name, while the political horizon of Muhammad was extended. By AD 640, Syria was conquered by the Arab Rashidun army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid. In the mid-7th century, the Umayyad dynasty, then rulers of the empire, placed the capital of the empire in Damascus. The country's power declined during later Umayyad rule; this was mainly due to totalitarianism, corruption and the resulting revolutions. The Umayyad dynasty was then overthrown in 750 by the Abbasid dynasty, which

title: History of the Jews in Syria

text: History of the Jews in Syria Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited Syria from early times and the Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492 AD). There were large communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Qamishli for centuries. In the early 20th century, a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to Israel, the U.S., and Latin America. The largest Syrian-Jewish community is located in Israel and is estimated at 80,000. Following the Syrian Civil War and rise of ISIL, the majority of the remaining Jews of Syria have fled

title: Religion in Syria

text: also some members of the larger communities, particularly within the Kurdish and Turkmen/Turkoman minorities, who no longer speak their mother tongue and have become Arabized. The Kurds in Syria are the second largest ethnic group in the country (around 10% in 2013) and are mainly Sunni Muslims. The majority live in the northeast, bordering on Iraq and Turkey. There are also smaller Kurdish communities in central Syria, followed by Kobani and Afrin. In the capital of Damascus they are Arabized and do not speak Kurdish very well. The only area in which the Kurds constitute a majority is the Hasakah

title: History of the Kurds

text: in what was called 'Kurdistan of Syria' and in Damuscus, the capital of Syria. A tall building, called 'Qalha', is still standing, in the mid south-west quarter of Damascus. The Ayubian dynasty continued there for many years, all from Kurdish descent. Although the Kurds came under the successive dominion of various conquerors, including the Armenians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, Sassanid Persians, and Achaemenid Persians they may have remained relatively unmixed by the influx of invaders, because of their protected and inhospitable mountainous homeland. Genetic testing amongst randomly chosen Kurdish populations has begun to shed light into the disparate origins

title: Cleopatra Selene of Syria

text: ruled in Syria", indicating her continued influence despite her never controlling the capital Antioch. Her children probably remained in Cilicia or somewhere else in Asia Minor for protection, which would explain Antiochus XIII's nickname, ""Asiaticus"". According to Josephus, "those that held Damascus" invited Aretas III, King of the Nabataeans, to rule them because they feared Ptolemy (son of Mennaeus), king of the Iturea. Damascus' history between the death of Antiochus XII and 241 SE (72/71 BC), when the Armenian king Tigranes II took the city, is obscure. Based on her jugate coins which depict her alongside Antiochus XIII, Hoover suggested

title: Al-Tall, Syria

text: in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. In the early 1960s al-Tall was reported to be a large village of 3,500 inhabitants. It had a large mosque surrounded by several column fragments, hewn stones and burial grottoes. Al-Tall, Syria Al-Tall (, also spelled al-Tell) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate and capital of the al-Tall District. Situated in the middle of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, having an elevation of roughly 1,000 meters above sea level. Nearby localities include Maaraba to the southwest, Damascus to the south, Dahiyat al-Assad and Douma to

text: included the State of Aleppo, the State of Damascus and the State of the Alawis. However, two and a half years later on 5 December 1924 Arrêté 2979 and Arrêté 2980 establishing the Alawite State as an independent state with Latakia as its capital, and separately unified the States of Aleppo and Damascus as from 1 January 1925 into a single State, renamed "d'État de Syrie" ("State of Syria"). In 1936, both Jebel Druze and the Alawite State were incorporated into the State of Syria. On 1 September 1920, the day after the creation of Greater Lebanon and the Alawite

title: Capital punishment in Syria

text: Capital punishment in Syria Capital punishment is legal in Syria. Current laws allow the death penalty for treason; espionage; murder; arson resulting in death; attempting a death-eligible crime; recidivism for a felony punishable by forced labor for life; political acts and military offences such as bearing arms against Syria in the ranks of the enemy, desertion of the armed forces to the enemy, insubordination, rebellion and acts of incitement under martial law or in wartime; violent robbery; terrorism; subjecting a person to torture or barbaric treatment during the commission of gang-robbery; rape; membership in the Muslim Brotherhood; joining the Islamic

title: Capital punishment in Syria

text: State of Iraq and the Levant; drug trafficking; political dissidence and falsification of material evidence resulting in a third party being convicted for a drug offense and sentenced to death. Executions are carried out by hanging in public. Capital punishment in Syria Capital punishment is legal in Syria. Current laws allow the death penalty for treason; espionage; murder; arson resulting in death; attempting a death-eligible crime; recidivism for a felony punishable by forced labor for life; political acts and military offences such as bearing arms against Syria in the ranks of the enemy, desertion of the armed forces to the

title: History of Syria

text: and rode to Palmyra to reconquer it and subsequently sacked it around 273 AD, which effectively put an end to Palmyrene civilization. With the decline of the empire in the west, Syria became part of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire in 395. The province was subsequently divided into three, smaller provinces. Syria Prima, with the capital remaining at Antioch, and Syria Secunda, with its capital moving to Apamea on the Orontes, and the new province of Theodorias, with Laodice as its capital. Syria remained one of the most important regions of the Byzantine Empire, and was of strategic importance,

title: History of Syria

text: History of Syria The history of Syria covers events which occurred on the territory of the present Syrian Arab Republic and events which occurred in Syria (region). The present Syrian Arab Republic spans territory which was first unified in the 10th century BCE under the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the capital of which was the city of Ashur, from which the name "Syria" most likely derives. This territory was then conquered by various rulers, and settled in by different peoples. Syria is considered to have emerged as an independent country for the first time on 24 October 1945, upon the signing of

title: Roman Syria

text: 341), the province of "Euphratensis" was created out of the territory of "Syria Coele" along the western bank of the Euphrates and the former realm of Commagene, with Hierapolis as its capital. After c. 415 "Syria Coele" was further subdivided into "Syria I" (or "Syria Prima"), with the capital remaining at Antioch, and "Syria II" ("Syria Secunda") or "Syria Salutaris", with capital at Apamea on the Orontes. In 528, Justinian I carved out the small coastal province "Theodorias" out of territory from both provinces. The region remained one of the most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire. It was occupied

title: Syria Prima

text: Syria Prima Syria I or Syria Prima ("First Syria", in , "Prote Syria") was a Byzantine province, formed c. 415 out of Coele-Syria. The province survived until the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s. After c. 415 "Syria Coele" was further subdivided into "Syria I" (or "Syria Prima"), with the capital remaining at Antioch, and "Syria II" ("Syria Secunda") or "Syria Salutaris", with capital at Apamea on the Orontes. In 528, Justinian I carved out the small coastal province "Theodorias" out of territory from both provinces. The region remained one of the most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire.

title: Syria Prima

text: It was occupied by the Sassanids between 609 and 628, then recovered by the emperor Heraclius, but lost again to the advancing Muslims after the battle of Yarmouk and the fall of Antioch. Syria Prima Syria I or Syria Prima ("First Syria", in , "Prote Syria") was a Byzantine province, formed c. 415 out of Coele-Syria. The province survived until the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s. After c. 415 "Syria Coele" was further subdivided into "Syria I" (or "Syria Prima"), with the capital remaining at Antioch, and "Syria II" ("Syria Secunda") or "Syria Salutaris", with capital at Apamea

title: Syria (region)

text: Syria proper (Coele-Syria) and Phoenice. Sometime between 330 and 350 (likely c. 341), the province of "Euphratensis" was created out of the territory of Syria Coele and the former realm of Commagene, with Hierapolis as its capital. After c. 415 Syria Coele was further subdivided into Syria I, with the capital remaining at Antioch, and Syria II or Salutaris, with capital at Apamea on the Orontes River. In 528, Justinian I carved out the small coastal province Theodorias out of territory from both provinces. The region was annexed to the Rashidun Caliphate after the Muslim victory over the Byzantine Empire

title: Media of Syria

text: Media of Syria The media of Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available in English and French. While television is the most popular medium in Syria, the Internet has become a widely utilized vehicle to disseminate content. Transcending all available media, the government seeks to control what Syrians see by restricting coverage from outside sources. Publications and broadcasts are monitored by members of the government. Syria is ranked as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. There were

title: What Is the What

text: What Is the What What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia, referred to as "murahaleen" (which is Arabic for the deported), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai. During the assault, he loses sight

title: What Is the What

text: That Happens Will Happen Today". Tom Tykwer plans to adapt the novel into a film. In 2009, the novel received the Prix Médicis étranger in France. What Is the What What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. As a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when

title: Roman Syria

text: with its governor Vespasian) amidst resistance from the capital Antioch in particular, he ordained its partition into a northern and a southern half, and gave to the governor of the former, which was called Coele-Syria, two legions, to the governor of the latter, the province of Syro-Phoenicia, one legion. The emperor Septimius Severus divided up Roman Syria in the fashion it would remain until the rule of the Tetrarchs. Under his reign it was divided into three parts, Coele Syria in the north with Antioch as its provincial capital, Syria Phoenice with Tyre as the provincial capital and in the

title: Coele-Syria

text: and Lake Kinneret, now called Tiberias, and then the Jordan River which discharges into the salt sea, now called the Dead Sea. Libanius (died 392 CE) was born at Antioch, the capital of Coele Syria as it is called. This city was founded by Seleucus surnamed Nicator. Coele-Syria Coele-Syria, Coele Syria, Coelesyria (, "Koílē Syría"), also rendered as Coelosyria and Celesyria, otherwise Hollow Syria (, ), was a region of Syria in classical antiquity. It probably derived from the Aramaic for "all" of the region of Syria but more often was applied to the Beqaa Valley between the Lebanon and

title: Governorates of Syria

text: as village chiefs, clan leaders, and councils of elders. Capital Governorates of Syria Syria is a unitary state, but for administrative purposes, it is divided into fourteen governorates, also called provinces in English (Arabic "muḥāfaẓāt", singular "muḥāfaẓah"). The governorates are divided into sixty districts ("manāṭiq", singular "minṭaqah"), which are further divided into subdistricts ("nawāḥī", singular "nāḥiyah"). The "nawāḥī" contain villages, which are the smallest administrative units. Each governorate is headed by a governor, appointed by the president, subject to cabinet approval. The governor is responsible for administration, health, social services, education, tourism, public works, transportation, domestic trade, agriculture, industry, civil

title: Laodicea in Syria

text: under the Patriarch of Antioch. The most important bishops were: Laodicea in Syria Laodicea was a port city and an important colonia of the Roman empire in ancient Syria, located near the modern city of Latakia. It was also called Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad mare. For a short period of time under Septimius Severus, it became the capital of Roman Syria, and subsequently, it became the capital of the Eastern Roman province of Theodorias from 528 AD until 637 AD. The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located in the coastal area where it is the modern port of

title: Laodicea in Syria

text: Laodicea in Syria Laodicea was a port city and an important colonia of the Roman empire in ancient Syria, located near the modern city of Latakia. It was also called Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad mare. For a short period of time under Septimius Severus, it became the capital of Roman Syria, and subsequently, it became the capital of the Eastern Roman province of Theodorias from 528 AD until 637 AD. The Phoenician city of Ramitha was located in the coastal area where it is the modern port of Latakia, known to the Greeks as Leukê Aktê or "white

title: History of Syria

text: Issus which took place south of the ancient town Issus, close to the present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun. Syria was then incorporated into the Seleucid Empire by general Seleucus who started, with the Seleucid Kings after him, using the title of "King of Syria". The capital of this Empire (founded in 312 BCE) was situated at Antioch, then a part of historical Syria, but just inside the Turkish border today as well. A series of six wars, Syrian Wars, were fought between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the

title: History of Syria

text: who moved the capital of empire to Baghdad. Arabic — made official under Umayyad rule — became the dominant language, replacing Greek and Aramaic in the Abbasid era. For periods, Syria was ruled from Egypt, under the Tulunids (887-905), and then, after a period of anarchy, the Ikhshidids (941-969). Northern Syria came under the Hamdanids of Aleppo. The court of Ali Saif al-Daula, 'Sword of the State,' (944-967) was a center of culture, thanks to its nurturing of Arabic literature. He resisted Byzantine efforts to reconquer Syria by skillful defensive tactics and counter-raids into Anatolia. After his death, the Byzantines

title: History of Syria

text: offered him the crown of Syria. The Roman general Pompey the Great captured Antioch in 64 BCE, turning Syria into a Roman province and ended Armenian rule, establishing the city of Antioch as its capital. Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria, with an estimated population of 500,000 at its zenith, and being a commercial and cultural hub at the region for many centuries later. The largely Aramaic speaking population of Syria during the heyday of the empire was probably not exceeded again until the 19th century. Syria's large and prosperous population made

title: Media of Syria

text: license from the Ministry of Information. In 2011 the state of emergency was lifted. This seems to have had no effect what-so-ever on the way the government conducted itself regarding the media, with Syria's ranking actually worsening the following year with journalistic organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders both ranking Syria as one of the top four most repressive countries in the world. There are over 5 million Internet users in Syria. Reporters Without Borders lists Syria as an “internet enemy” due to high levels of censorship. The Internet is controlled by the Syrian

title: Economy of Syria

text: exchange for a one time payment of $150 million. Agriculture is a high priority in Syria's economic development plans, as the government seeks to achieve food self-sufficiency, increase export earnings, and halt rural out-migration. Thanks to sustained capital investment, infrastructure development, subsidies of inputs, and price supports, Syria has gone from a net importer of many agricultural products to an exporter of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. One of the prime reasons for this turnaround has been the government's investment in huge irrigation systems in northern and northeastern Syria. The agriculture sector, as of 2009, employs about 17% of

title: Economy of Syria

text: GW generated by hydroelectric power. A network totaling 45 GW linking the electric power grids of Syria, Egypt, and Jordan was completed in March 2001. Syria's electric supply capacity is an important national priority, and the government hopes to add 3,000 megawatts of power generating capacity by 2010 at a probable cost of US$2 billion, but progress has been slowed by a lack of investment capital. Power plants in Syria are undergoing intensive maintenance, and four new generating plants have been built. The power distribution network has serious problems, with transmission losses estimated as high as 25 percent of total

title: Gabula (Syria)

text: is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, all of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank : Gabula (Syria) Gabula was an Ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Syria, and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. Its modern location is presumed at the marsh of al-Jabbul (Sabkhat al-Jabbul, Djebbul, Djabbul) in present Syria. Gabula was important enough in the Roman province of Syria Prima to be a Metropolitan Archdiocese in the sway of the Patriarchate of Antioch (the provincial capital Antioch on the Orontes), but was to fade, presumably at the advent of Islam. It has had two historically documented

title: What Is the What

text: writes: "Over the course of many years, Dave and I have collaborated to tell my story... I told [him] what I knew and what I could remember, and from that material he created this work of art." The book is typical of Eggers' style: blending non-fictional and fictional elements into a non-fiction novel or memoir. By classifying the book a novel, Eggers says, he freed himself to re-create conversations, streamline complex relationships, add relevant detail and manipulate time and space in helpful ways—all while maintaining the essential truthfulness of the storytelling. However, not all critics were impressed. Lee Siegel sees

title: Gabula (Syria)

text: Gabula (Syria) Gabula was an Ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Syria, and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. Its modern location is presumed at the marsh of al-Jabbul (Sabkhat al-Jabbul, Djebbul, Djabbul) in present Syria. Gabula was important enough in the Roman province of Syria Prima to be a Metropolitan Archdiocese in the sway of the Patriarchate of Antioch (the provincial capital Antioch on the Orontes), but was to fade, presumably at the advent of Islam. It has had two historically documented incumbents : The diocese was nominally restored in 1929 as a Latin Catholic titular archbishopric. It

title: Syria

text: rode to Syria, captured Antioch, its capital, and turned Syria into a Roman province in 64 BC, thus ending the Armenian control over the region which had lasted two decades. Syria prospered under Roman rule, being strategically located on the silk road which gave it massive wealth and importance, making it the battleground for the rivaling Romans and Persians. Palmyra, a rich and sometimes powerful native Aramaic-speaking kingdom arose in northern Syria in the 2nd century; the Palmyrene established a trade network that made the city one of the richest in the Roman empire. Eventually, in the late 3rd century

title: Coele-Syria

text: describes as including from west to east; Commagene, Sophene, and Adiabene. In Pliny's time, Syria was administratively divided into a number of provinces with various degrees of autonomy under the Roman Empire, such as the Ityraei or Ituraei, who were a people of Coelo-Syria famous for shooting with a bow, [The wood of the trees called] "yews are bent into Ituraean bows". The Decapolis was so called from its ten cities enumerated by Pliny. And it should be noted, that what "Pliny" calls "Decapolis", "Ptolomy" makes his "Cœle-Syria"; and the "Cœle-Syria" of "Pliny", is that part of "Syria" about "Aleppo".

title: Roman Syria

text: south Syria Palestina with Caesarea Maritima as the provincial capital. From the later 2nd century, the Roman Senate included several notable Syrians, including Claudius Pompeianus and Avidius Cassius. Syria was of crucial strategic importance during the Crisis of the Third Century. In 244 AD, Rome was ruled by a native Syrian from Philippopolis (modern day Shahba) in the province of Arabia Petraea. The emperor was Marcus Iulius Philippus, more commonly known as Philip the Arab. Philip became the 33rd emperor of Rome upon its millennial celebration. Roman Syria was invaded in 252/253 (the date is disputed) after a Roman field

title: Syria

text: moved the capital of empire to Baghdad. Arabic – made official under Umayyad rule – became the dominant language, replacing Greek and Aramaic of the Byzantine era. In 887, the Egypt-based Tulunids annexed Syria from the Abbasids, and were later replaced by once the Egypt-based Ikhshidids and still later by the Hamdanids originating in Aleppo founded by Sayf al-Dawla. Sections of Syria were held by French, English, Italian and German overlords between 1098 and 1189 AD during the Crusades and were known collectively as the Crusader states among which the primary one in Syria was the Principality of Antioch. The

title: Syria

text: Greek Macedonian Empire, ruled by Alexander the Great circa 330 BC, and consequently became Coele-Syria province of the Greek Seleucid Empire (323 BC – 64 BC), with the Seleucid kings styling themselves 'King of Syria' and the city of Antioch being its capital starting from 240. Thus, it was the Greeks who introduced the name "Syria" to the region. Originally an Indo-European corruption of "Assyria" in northern Mesopotamia, the Greeks used this term to describe not only Assyria itself but also the lands to the west which had for centuries been under Assyrian dominion. Thus in the Greco-Roman world both

title: Syria Palaestina

text: Philistia (Palestine), combining it with that of the neighboring province of Syria, in an attempt to suppress Jewish connection to the land, although the actual Philistines from which the name derives had disappeared from history during the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC). The city of Aelia Capitolina was built by the emperor Hadrian on the ruins of Jerusalem. The capital of the enlarged province remained in Antiochia. In 193, the province of Syria-Coele was split from Syria Palaestina. In the 3rd century, Syrians even reached for imperial power, with the Severan dynasty. Syria was of crucial strategic importance during the Crisis

title: Cannabis in Syria

text: Cannabis in Syria Cannabis in Syria is illegal. Under the policies of the government of Bashar al-Assad, many cannabis offences, from simple use to trafficking, reportedly often carried a sentence of life imprisonment. Under President Shukri al-Quwatli (1943–1949), the cultivating of cannabis was banned in Syria, though authorities noted they had little ability to prevent the Druze of the Jabal al-Druze region from producing hashish. In 1993, Syria enacted Law No. 2 which authorizes punishment, up to and including capital punishment, for the manufacture, transporting, and sale of narcotics. As the country has become destabilised as a result of civil

title: Education in Syria

text: of disadvantaged backgrounds are the ones that benefit the most from early childhood programs by developing basic skills necessary for employment thereby moving them out of abject poverty. Currently, most of the Early Childhood Care and Education services in Syria are delivered through private kindergartens and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in urban areas. Despite increasing quantity of human capital through increasing access to education at all levels, the improvement of quality of the education and training system and consequently the quality of human capital is another challenge that Government of Syria needs to address. Weak growth in labor productivity over

title: The World Is What It Is

text: The World Is What It Is The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul is a biography of the Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul by Patrick French. It was published in 2008 (by Picador in the UK and Knopf in the USA). The title is a quotation from Naipaul's book "A Bend in the River". "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it." French deals with Naipaul's family background and his life from his birth in 1932 until his second marriage

title: Apamea, Syria

text: Apamea, Syria Apamea (, "Apameia"; , "Afamia"), on the right bank of the Orontes River, was an ancient Greek and Roman city. It was the capital of Apamene under the Macedonians, became the capital and Metropolitan Archbishopric of late Roman province Syria Secunda, again in the crusader time and since the 20th century a quadruple Catholic titular see. Amongst the impressive ancient remains, the site includes the Great Colonnade which ran for nearly making it among the longest in the Roman world and the Roman Theatre, one of the largest surviving theatres of the Roman Empire with an estimated seating

title: Sextus Julius Caesar (governor of Syria)

text: of Syria. It is unclear precisely what titles he held; Broughton suggests that he was one of Caesar's military tribunes in 49, then quaestor in 48; in Syria he may have been Caesar's legate, or perhaps proquaestor "pro praetore"; in either case he was governor of Syria. At this time, Quintus Caecilius Bassus, one of Pompeius' lieutenants, who had fled to Tyre after the Battle of Pharsalus, endeavoured to gain the support of some of Sextus' soldiers. When the governor discovered his activity, Bassus gave the excuse that he was collecting troops to assist Mithridates of Pergamon. Bassus then spread

title: Antigonia (Syria)

text: p. 349; Malalas, p. 256.) Diodorus erroneously says that the inhabitants were removed to Seleucia Pieria. Antigonia continued, however, to exist, and is mentioned in the war with the Parthians after the defeat of Crassus. (Dion Cass. xl. 29.) Antigonia (Syria) Antigonia () also transliterated as Antigonea and Antigoneia was a Hellenistic city in Seleucid Empire, Syria (in modern Turkey), on the Orontes, founded by Antigonus I Monophthalmus in 307 BC, and intended to be the capital of his empire; the site is approximately 7 km northeast of Antakya, Hatay Province, Turkey. After the Battle of Ipsus, 301 BC, in

title: Music of Syria

text: Music of Syria The music of Syria may refer to musical traditions and practices in modern-day Syria (as opposed to Greater Syria), merging the habits of people who settled in Syria throughout its history. Syria was long one of the Arab world's centers for musical innovation in the field of classical Arab music; for example, the city of Aleppo is known for its "muwashshah" music, which was specially conceived to accompany Andalusian "muwashshah" poetry. Folk music of Syria is for the most part based on the oud, which is a stringed instrument considered to be the ancestor of the European

title: Music of Syria

text: well as oriental dance for women. Music of Syria The music of Syria may refer to musical traditions and practices in modern-day Syria (as opposed to Greater Syria), merging the habits of people who settled in Syria throughout its history. Syria was long one of the Arab world's centers for musical innovation in the field of classical Arab music; for example, the city of Aleppo is known for its "muwashshah" music, which was specially conceived to accompany Andalusian "muwashshah" poetry. Folk music of Syria is for the most part based on the oud, which is a stringed instrument considered to

title: The World Is What It Is

text: in 1996. The biography has been extensively reviewed: the reviewers include Paul Theroux, who wrote an earlier book about Naipaul. The biography was selected by the editors of the "New York Times Book Review" as one of the "Times"' "10 Best Books of 2008". It won the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography, and the British literary award the Hawthornden Prize. The World Is What It Is The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul is a biography of the Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul by Patrick French. It was published in

title: Arpad, Syria

text: Institute of Archaeology. Arpad, Syria Arpad (probably modern Tell Rifaat, Syria) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. It became the capital of the Aramaean state of Bit Agusi established by Gusi of Yakhan in the 9th century BC. Bit Agusi stretched from the A'zaz area in the north to Hamath in the south. Arpad later became a major vassal city of the Kingdom of Urartu. In 743 BC, during the Urartu-Assyria War, the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III laid siege to Arpad following the defeat of the Urartuan army of Sarduri II at Samsat.

title: Arpad, Syria

text: Arpad, Syria Arpad (probably modern Tell Rifaat, Syria) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. It became the capital of the Aramaean state of Bit Agusi established by Gusi of Yakhan in the 9th century BC. Bit Agusi stretched from the A'zaz area in the north to Hamath in the south. Arpad later became a major vassal city of the Kingdom of Urartu. In 743 BC, during the Urartu-Assyria War, the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III laid siege to Arpad following the defeat of the Urartuan army of Sarduri II at Samsat. But the city

title: Syria Palaestina

text: also Qahtanite Ghassanids, who migrated to the area of Golantis in 4th century from what is today Yemen. Assyrians were still populating western Mesopotamia and indeed Mesopotamia as a whole, while nomad Arameans, Nabateans and Bedouins, were thriving in the south Syrian Desert. In Southern Levant, until about 200 CE, and despite the genocide of Jewish–Roman wars, Jews had formed a majority of the population. By the beginning of the Byzantine period (disestablishment of Syria-Palaestina), the Jews had become a minority and were living alongside Samaritans, pagan Greco-Syriacs and a large Syriac Christian community. Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina was a

title: Bosana (Syria)

text: bishopric of Bosana (Latin = Curiate Italian) / Bosanen(sis) (Latin adjective). It is vacant since decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : Bosana (Syria) Bosana was an Ancient city and bishopric in Roman Arabia, now a Latin Catholic titular see. Bosana, on the site of modern Busan in present Syria, was important enough in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea to become a suffragan of the Metropolitan of capital Bostra in the sway of the Patriarchate of Antioch. None of its bishops was recorded at any council. However archaeological and epigraphic evidence

title: Freedom of religion in Syria

text: the population. Also, Jehovah's Witnesses are discriminated against in the area of employment as their religion is banned as a "politically motivated Zionist organization". The April 2007 parliamentary elections for the Syrian Peoples Assembly saw an increase in the number of Islamic clerics elected to the Parliament from one in 2003 to three. The government promotes Islamic banking. In early 2007 two Islamic banks were allowed to conduct initial public offerings: The Cham Islamic Bank and the Syria International Islamic Bank. Syria is intolerant of, and suppresses, extremist and conservative forms of Islam. Accordingly, it selects what they believe to

title: Sura, Syria

text: (1700 × 450 meters) was renewed under Justinian. Sura became a Christian bishopric, a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Hierapolis Euphratensis, the capital of the Roman province of Syria Euphratensis, as witnessed by a 6th-century "Notitia Episcopatuum". At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, metropolitan bishop Stephanus signed the acts also on behalf of Bishop Uranius of Sura. Bishop Marius of Sura was deposed in 518 for joining the Jacobites. No longer a residential bishopric, Sura is now listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Sura, Syria Sura (Suriya), was an ancient city on the Euphrates River

title: Coele-Syria

text: emperor, as it had formerly done with its governor Vespasian —amidst resistance from the capital Antioch in particular, he ordained its partition into a northern and a southern half, and gave to the governor of the former, which was called Coele-Syria, two legions, to the governor of the latter, the province of Syro-Phoenicia, one [legion]. There is also the colony of Laodicea, in Coele Syria, to which also the divine Severus granted the Italian Law on account of its services in the Civil War. You may delineate the Promised Land of Moses from the Book of Numbers (ch. 34): as

title: Antigonia (Syria)

text: Antigonia (Syria) Antigonia () also transliterated as Antigonea and Antigoneia was a Hellenistic city in Seleucid Empire, Syria (in modern Turkey), on the Orontes, founded by Antigonus I Monophthalmus in 307 BC, and intended to be the capital of his empire; the site is approximately 7 km northeast of Antakya, Hatay Province, Turkey. After the Battle of Ipsus, 301 BC, in which Antigonus perished, the inhabitants of Antigonia were removed by his successful rival Seleucus I Nicator to the city of Antioch, which Seleucus founded a little lower down the river. (Strabo xvi. p. 750; Diod. xx. 47; Liban. Antioch.

title: What Is the What

text: "we really hadn’t decided whether I was just helping Valentino write his own book, or if I was writing a book about him." Valentino points out that, "I thought I might want to write my own book, but I learned that I was not ready to do this. I was still taking classes in basic writing at Georgia Perimeter College." Dave Eggers discusses the difficulties in writing a book of this nature: "For a long while there, we continued doing interviews, and I gathered the material. But all along, I really didn’t know exactly what form it would finally take—whether

title: Constitution of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria

text: Constitution of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria The Constitution of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, officially titled Charter of the Social Contract, is the provisional constitution of the self-proclaimed autonomous region of Syria known as the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS). It was adopted on 29 January 2014, when the Democratic Union Party (PYD), claiming to represent the DFNS population, declared the three DFNS regions it controls autonomous from the Syrian government. Article 12 states the DFNS remains an "integral part of Syria", tentatively implementing an expected future federal Syrian governance in Northern Syria. The constitution has

title: Scouts of Syria

text: Scouts of Syria Scouts of Syria () is the national Scout and Guide organization of Syria. Scouting in Syria was founded in 1912; Guiding started in the 1950s. The coeducational association serves 9,358 members and is a member of both the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Scouting started in Syria in 1912, when the country was part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1924, a federation of Christian and Muslim associations from Lebanon and Syria became member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). In the 1930s and

title: Terrorism in Syria

text: Terrorism in Syria Terrorism is defined as political violence in an asymmetrical conflict .The same Terrorism in Syria has a long history dating from the Islamist Uprising in the early 80s and to the ongoing Syrian Civil War which witnessed the rise of radical Islamist groups such as ISIL, al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda affiliated groups. Currently around 10% of the country is controlled by radical rebel groups and around 6% is held by ISIL. From 1976 to 1982, Sunni Islamists fought the secular Ba'ath Party-controlled government of Syria in what has been called "long campaign of terror". Islamists attacked both

title: Syria

text: of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the San Remo conference proposed that the League of Nations put Syria under a French mandate. General Gouraud had according to his secretary de Caix two options: "Either build a Syrian nation that does not exist... by smoothing the rifts which still divide it" or "cultivate and maintain all the phenomena, which require our abitration that these divisions give". De Caix added "I must say only the second option interests me". This is what Gouraud did. In 1925, Sultan al-Atrash led a revolt that broke out in the Druze Mountain

title: Scouts of Syria

text: but the local variant is "Wa-a-iddoo" (). The noun for a single Scout is "Kashaf" (). Syrian Scouts have a national training center at Zabadani, where the first Arab Jamboree was held in 1954. Scouts of Syria Scouts of Syria () is the national Scout and Guide organization of Syria. Scouting in Syria was founded in 1912; Guiding started in the 1950s. The coeducational association serves 9,358 members and is a member of both the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Scouting started in Syria in 1912, when the country

title: Here Is What Is

text: Here Is What Is Here Is What Is is the fifth studio album by Canadian songwriter and record producer Daniel Lanois. It was first released in December 2007 as a high-quality download, and later released on CD on March 18, 2008. The album is the result of the same project that led to the 2007 documentary "Here Is What Is" that premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival in September. The movie documents the aesthetics and creative process behind Lanois' approach to music making and recording. The album has been presented as a direct soundtrack to this film, and

title: Jordan–Syria relations

text: effort; King Hussein, however, did warn Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of what Egypt and Syria were planning. In 1976 Jordan was the only Arab country to support the Syrian invasion and subsequent role in Lebanon. However, another break between Syria and Jordan occurred in 1977, following Jordan's tacit support for Egyptian President Sadat's peace initiative. During this period Syria charged Jordan with harboring members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who had escaped from Syria. This charge led to new tension in December 1980, with military forces of both sides deployed along the border. As a counterweight to Syria, Jordan improved

title: Modern history of Syria

text: of international law and sovereignty rules." The Spanish UN Ambassador Inocencio Arias called it an attack of "extreme gravity" and "a clear violation of international law." The United States Congress passed the Syria Accountability Act in December 2003, with the goal of ending what the U.S. sees as Syrian involvement in Lebanon, Iraq, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction through international sanctions. Ethnic tensions increased in Syria, following an incident in a football stadium in Al Qamishli, 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured in days of clashes starting from 12 March. Kurdish sources indicated that Syrian

title: Religion in Syria

text: Most Jews now living in the Arab World belong to communities dating back to Biblical times or originating as colonies of refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. In Syria, Jews of both origins, numbering altogether fewer than 3,000 in 1987, are found. After a mass emigration in 1992, today fewer than 200 Jews live in Syria, mostly in the capital. Syrian Jews are Arabic-speaking and barely distinguishable from the Arabs around them. In Syria, as elsewhere, the degree to which Jews submit to the disciplines of their religion varies. The government treats the Jews as a religious community and not as

title: Egypt–Syria relations

text: land from the Israeli-occupied Golan, Egyptian-Syrian relations have become strained due to Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat's peace treaty with Israel in the Camp David Accords. Hafez al-Assad severed all relations with Egypt after the signing of the peace deal, and diplomatic relations were not re-established until 2005, when Egypt once again enjoyed warm relations with Syria under the rule of Bashar al-Assad. However, after the Arab Spring and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, relations became extremely strained. The Muslim Brotherhood is a banned organisation and its membership is a capital offence in Syria. Egypt severed all relations with the

title: Thalassius of Syria

text: and he welcomed them as he would welcome Christ, building them cells with his own hands. Saint Thalassius, Hermit of Syria is said to have died peacefully and is commemorated 22 February by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. Thalassius of Syria Saint Thalassius of Syria undertook the call of God to life as a hermit in the fifth century. Thalassius is recorded to have entered into solitude at a young age near a village named Targala in Byzantine Syria. He is said to have dwelt there living the ascetic life with no shelter for nearly forty years. Thalassius'

title: Southern Syria

text: Hashemite prince Faisal attempted to establish such a Greater Syrian or pan-Mashriq state—a united kingdom that would comprise all of what eventually became Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, but he was stymied by conflicting promises made by the British to different parties (see Sykes–Picot Agreement), leading to the French creation of the mandate of Syria and Lebanon in 1920. According to the Minutes of the Ninth Session of the League of Nations' Permanent Mandates Commission, held in 1926, "Southern Syria" was suggested by some as the name of Mandatory Palestine in the Arabic language. The reports say the following:

title: Name of Syria

text: Name of Syria The name Syria is latinized from the (Greek ). Herodotus used it loosely to refer to Cappadocia. In Greek usage, "Suría" and "Assuría" were used almost interchangeably, but in the Roman Empire, Syria and Assyria came to be used as distinct geographical terms. "Syria" in the Roman Empire period referred to the region of Syria (the western Levant, "those parts of the Empire situated between Asia Minor and Egypt"), while Asōristān was part of the Sasanian Empire and only very briefly came under Roman control (AD 116–118, marking the historical peak of Roman expansion). Etymologically, the name

title: Media of Syria

text: and expelled from the country for their reporting. Reporters Without Borders ranked Syria 173rd out of 178 countries in the world on the Press Freedom Index in October 2010. On the Press Freedom Barometer for 2013, the organization reports that 5 journalists have been killed, 21 journalists, 1 media assistant, and 18 netizens have been imprisoned. Joseph Daher Syria, the uprising and the media scene, "OpenDemocracy" 26 October 2017 Media of Syria The media of Syria consists primarily of television, radio, Internet, film and print. The national language of Syria is Arabic but some publications and broadcasts are also available

title: Economy of Syria

text: Syria. According to estimates Syria has around 1,700 million tons of phosphate reserves. Production dropped sharply in the early 1990s when world demand and prices fell, but output has since increased to more than 2.4 million tons. Syria produced about 1.9% of the world's phosphate rock output and was the world's ninth ranked producer of phosphate rock in 2009. Other major minerals produced in Syria include cement, gypsum, industrial sand (silica), marble, natural crude asphalt, nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, salt, steel, and volcanic tuff, which generally are not produced for export. Syria is a relatively small oil producer, accounting for

title: If London Were Syria

text: If London Were Syria If London Were Syria, titled on YouTube "Most Shocking Second a Day Video", is a short film commercial (the YouTube video is 93 seconds) created by Don't Panic London for Save The Children UK, marking the third anniversary of the Syrian Civil War. It features a young British girl experiencing the effects of a hypothetical civil war on the streets of London. Everything depicted in the video was based on the factual accounts of children in Syria. The video's purpose is to depict what life is like for kids as war erupts in their country, in

title: Wildlife of Syria

text: Wildlife of Syria The wildlife of Syria is the flora and fauna of Syria, a country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Besides its coastline, the country has a coastal plain, mountain ranges in the west, a semi-arid steppe area in the centre occupying most of the country, and a desert area in the east. Each of these zones has its own characteristic animals and plants. Syria is located in the Middle East at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Lebanon and Israel to the west, Jordan to the

title: Geography of Syria

text: lake in Syria. The highest point in Syria is Mount Hermon (2,814 m; 9,232 ft) on the Lebanese border. Between the humid Mediterranean coast and the arid desert regions lies a semiarid steep zone extending across three-quarters of the country, which receives hot, dry winds blowing across the desert. Syria is extensively depleted, with 28 percent of the land arable, 4 percent dedicated to permanent crops, 46 percent utilized as meadows and pastures, and only 3 percent forest and woodland. Syria is divided into fourteen governorates, or "muhafazat" (singular: "muhafazah"). The governorates are divided into a total of sixty districts,

title: Syria Files

text: First Couple present within the 'Syria Files.' What is revealed is only a façade, or perhaps fittingly, a brand calculated to cloak another system: the military-security machine, which remains as of yet tightly in control and far from prying eyes." Syria Files examined by "Al Akhbar" show that after businessman Rami Makhlouf publicly claimed to respond to protestors' demands by "repenting" from business, selling shares and investing his money and time in charity and development projects, he continued to invest in several banks during 2011 and 2012. In late January 2012, he bought about 15 times as much shares (by

title: Syria Palaestina

text: the Third Mithridatic War, following the defeat of Armenian King Tigranes the Great. Following the partition of the Herodian kingdom into tetrarchies in 6 CE, it was gradually absorbed into Roman provinces, with Roman Syria annexing Iturea and Trachonitis. The Roman province of Judea incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, and extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel. It was named after Herod Archelaus's Tetrarchy of Judea, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory. The capital of Roman Syria was established in Antioch from the very beginning of

title: Bosana (Syria)

text: Bosana (Syria) Bosana was an Ancient city and bishopric in Roman Arabia, now a Latin Catholic titular see. Bosana, on the site of modern Busan in present Syria, was important enough in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea to become a suffragan of the Metropolitan of capital Bostra in the sway of the Patriarchate of Antioch. None of its bishops was recorded at any council. However archaeological and epigraphic evidence accounts for a single of its bishops : Menas (floruit 573). It probably faded at the seventh century advent of Islam. The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Titular

title: Coele-Syria

text: during the Roman Period c.350 CE, Eunapius wrote that the capital of Coele-Syria was the Seleucid city of Antioch, north of the Eleutherus. According to Polybius, a former officer of the Ptolemaic Empire named Ptolemy Thrasea, having fought in the 217 BCE Battle of Raphia, defected to the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great. Antiochus gave him the title "Strategos and Archiereus of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia". Some scholars speculate that this title may have been used previously by the Ptolemies, but no direct evidence exists to support this. The region was disputed between the Seleucid dynasty and the Ptolemaic dynasty

title: (What Is) Love?

text: (What Is) Love? "(What Is) Love?" is a song recorded by American entertainer Jennifer Lopez. Originally entitled "What Is Love?", the song appeared on the soundtrack to "The Back-up Plan" (2010), a film in which Lopez stars. The song was later included on Lopez's seventh studio album "Love?" (2011), as the album's title track. "(What Is) Love?" is a midtempo electropop song written by Diana "Wynter" Gordon, with the song's producer Emile "D'Mile" Dernst II. The song is about "not knowing what love is," according to Gordon. A remix of "(What Is) Love?", entitled "What Is Love? Part II", was

title: History of Syria

text: throne, killing Philip and emerging as the new emperor. During the Roman-Sasanian war of the 3d century, the Romans, struggling in the early stages of the Crisis of the Third Century depended on Odaenathus, the King of the Syrian city-state of Palmyra to secure the Roman East from the Persian invaders and to regain lost Roman territories, so Odaenathus rode north leading the Palmyrene army, and regained Armenia, Northern Syria, parts of Asia Minor from the Persians, and even reached the Persian capital of Ctesiphon, thus weakening the Persians and securing the Roman East, before he was murdered by his

title: Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons

text: think it is their problem." According to Ricks, "the American system is founded on the belief that the people do indeed know what is best for them. So I conclude that Power's argument is itself yet another reason not to intervene in Syria -- if we have to erode our system to do it, it certainly is not worth it." There was immediate speculation by "The New York Times" that Obama would fail to get approval from Congress for intervention in Syria as soon as he announced that he would seek such approval. It called it "one of the riskiest

title: Wildlife of Syria

text: the great bustard. Rare visiting species include the corn crake, Dalmatian pelican, white-headed duck and eastern imperial eagle. Wildlife of Syria The wildlife of Syria is the flora and fauna of Syria, a country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Besides its coastline, the country has a coastal plain, mountain ranges in the west, a semi-arid steppe area in the centre occupying most of the country, and a desert area in the east. Each of these zones has its own characteristic animals and plants. Syria is located in the Middle East at the eastern end of the Mediterranean

title: Federalization of Syria

text: Federalization of Syria The partition or federalization of Syria is a scenario to end the Syrian Civil War. In the broadest sense, it means turning the centralized Syrian Arab Republic into a federal republic with autonomous subdivisions. Many powers and actors involved in the Syrian Civil War have entertained the idea of "federal division", not least among them Russia, United Nations representatives, and the United States. President Bashar al-Assad has not ruled out the possibility of a federal democratic state of Syria. In particular, Turkey is strongly hostile towards the idea of a federalization of Syria because it fears possible

title: Here Is What Is

text: some of the tracks ("Beauty" and "Chest of Drawers") are conversations with Brian Eno. All songs written by Daniel Lanois unless otherwise noted. "Where Will I Be" is a new version of a song which had been previously released on Emmylou Harris' album "Wrecking Ball" in 1995. "Lovechild" and "Sacred And Secular" tracks incorporates, respectively, the pedal steel guitar melody used in "Carla", on Belladonna album, and the pedal steel guitar melody used in "Transmitter", on Shine album. Here Is What Is Here Is What Is is the fifth studio album by Canadian songwriter and record producer Daniel Lanois. It