The People - Ethnic Syrians are of Semitic stock. There is also a small Syrian Jewish community. Arabs, including some 300,000 Palestinian refugees, make up 90 percent of the population. The Kurds, many of whom speak Kurdish, make up 9 percent of the population and live mostly in the north-east corner of Syria, though sizable Kurdish communities live in most major Syrian cities as well. Armenian and Turkic are spoken among the small Armenian and Turkoman populations.
Male friends embrace upon meeting, and women exchange kisses on both cheeks.
Meetings and Negotiations - Syrian traders are experienced, sophisticated international businesspeople, who traditionally have been able to cut advantageous deals. Government bureaucrats, who are somewhat less experienced internationally, may actually be tougher to negotiate with. Negotiations for a sale, whether with a government agency or a private individual, will undoubtedly seem never ending as Syrians will haggle until the last possible second. Therefore, offering one's best price at the beginning may be ill advised. After financial tender envelopes are opened, bidders are invited to participate in a meeting attended by the purchasing agency and all tenderers at which each bidder is invited to revise his price downward.