Syria

Syria,officially theSyrian Arab Republic,is a country inWest Asialocated in theEastern Mediterraneanand theLevant. It borders theMediterranean Seato the west,Turkeytothe north,Iraqtothe east and southeast,Jordantothe south, andIsraelandLebanontothe southwest. It is arepublicundera transitional governmentand comprises14 governorates.Damascusis the capital and largest city. With a population of 25 million across an area of 185,180 square kilometres (71,500 sq mi), it is the57th-mostpopulous and87th-largestcountry.
The name "Syria" historically referred to awider region, broadly synonymous with the Levant and known in Arabic asash-Sham. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including theEblancivilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Damascus andAleppoare cities of great cultural significance. Damascus was the seat of theUmayyad Caliphateand a provincial capital for theMamluk SultanateinEgypt. The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th centuryafter centuries of Ottoman rule, as aFrench Mandate. The state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerlyOttoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gainedde jureindependence as aparliamentary republicin 1945 when theFirst Syrian Republicbecame a founding member of theUnited Nations, an act which legally ended the French Mandate. French troops withdrew in April 1946, granting the nationde factoindependence.
The post-independence period was tumultuous, withmultiple coup attemptsin the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered abrief unionwithEgypt, which was terminated in a1961 coup d'état. The1963 coup d'étatcarried out by themilitary committeeof theBa'ath Partyestablished aone-party state, whichran Syriaunder martial law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles withinBa'athistfactions caused further coups in1966and1970, the latter of which sawHafez al-Assadcome to power. Under Assad, Syria became ahereditary dictatorship, with power consolidated aroundhis family.Assad diedin 2000, and he was succeeded by his son,Bashar.
Since theArab Springin 2011, Syria has been embroiled in amulti-sided civil warwith theinvolvement of several countries, leading to arefugee crisisin which more than 6 million refugees were displaced from the country. In response to rapid territorial gains made by theIslamic Stateduring the civil war in 2014 and 2015,several countries intervenedon behalf of various factions opposing it, leading to its territorial defeat in 2017 in bothcentralandeasternSyria. Thereafter, three political entities – theSyrian Interim Government,Syrian Salvation Government, and theDemocratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria– emerged in Syrian territory to challenge Assad's rule. In late 2024,a series of offensivesfrom a coalition of opposition forces led to the capture of Damascus and thefall of Assad's regime.
A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home todiverse ethnic and religious groups.Arabsare the largest ethnic group, andSunni Muslimsare the largest religious group.
Several sources indicate that the nameSyriais derived from the 8th century BCLuwianterm "Sura/i", and the derivativeancient Greekname:Σύριοι,Sýrioi, orΣύροι,Sýroi, both of which originally derived from Aššūr (Assyria) in northernMesopotamia(present-day Iraq and north-eastern Syria).However, from theSeleucid Empire(323–150 BC), this term was also applied to theLevant,and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between theAssyriansof Mesopotamia andArameansof the Levant.Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favors the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognateἈσσυρία,Assyria, ultimately derived from theAkkadianAššur.The Greek name appears to correspond toPhoenicianʾšr"Assur",ʾšrym"Assyrians", recorded in the 8th century BCÇineköy inscription.
The area designated by the word has changed over time. Classically, Syria lies at the eastern end of theMediterranean, betweenArabiato the south andAsia Minorto the north, stretching inland to include parts of Iraq, and having an uncertain border to the northeast thatPliny the Elderdescribes as including, from west to east,Commagene,Sophene, andAdiabene.
By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into a number of provinces under theRoman Empire(but politically independent from each other):Judaea, later renamedPalaestinain AD 135 (the region corresponding to modern-dayIsrael, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan) in the extreme southwest;Phoenice(established in 194) corresponding to modern Lebanon, Damascus and Homs regions;Coele-Syria(or "Hollow Syria") and south of theEleutheris river.
TheNatufian culturewas the first to become sedentary around the 11th millennium BCand became one of the centers ofNeolithicculture (known asPre-Pottery Neolithic A), where agriculture and cattle breeding first began to appear. The site ofTell Qaramelhas several round stone towers dated to 10650 BC, making them the oldest structures of this kind in the world.The Neolithic period (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) is represented by rectangular houses ofMureybetculture. At the time, people used containers made of stone, gyps, and burnt lime (Vaisselle blanche). The discovery ofobsidiantools fromAnatoliaare evidence of early trade. The ancient cities ofHamoukarandEmarplayed an important role during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only that ofMesopotamia.
The earliest recorded indigenous civilization in the region was the Kingdom ofEblanear present-dayIdlib, northern Syria. Ebla appears to have been founded around 3500 BCand gradually built its fortune through trade with the Mesopotamian states ofSumer,Assyria, andAkkad, as well as with theHurrianandHattianpeoples to the northwest, inAsia Minor.Gifts fromPharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Ebla's contact withEgypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is a trading agreement between VizierIbriumof Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom calledAbarsalc.2300 BC. This is known as theTreaty between Ebla and Abarsal.Scholars believe thelanguage of Eblato be among the oldest known writtenSemitic languagesafterAkkadian. Recent classifications of the Eblaite language have shown that it was anEast Semitic language, closely related to theAkkadian language.Ebla was weakened by a long war withMari, and the whole of Syria became part of the MesopotamianAkkadian EmpireafterSargon of Akkadand his grandsonNaram-Sin's conquests ended Eblan domination over Syria in the first half of the 23rd century BC.
By the 21st century BC, Hurrians settled in the northern east parts of Syria while the rest of the region was dominated by theAmorites. Syria was called the Land of the Amurru (Amorites) by their Assyro-Babylonian neighbors. The Northwest SemiticAmorite languageis the earliest attested of theCanaanite languages.Marireemerged during this period until conquered byHammurabiof Babylon.Ugaritalso arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modernLatakia.Ugariticwas a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages and developed theUgaritic alphabet,considered to be the world's earliest known alphabet. The Ugaritic kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-EuropeanSea Peoplesin the 12th century BC in what was known as the LateBronze Age Collapse.
Aleppoand Damascus are among theoldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.Yamhad(modern Aleppo) dominated northern Syria for two centuries,although eastern Syria was occupied in the 19th and 18th centuries BC by theOld Assyrian Empireruled by the Amorite dynasty ofShamshi-Adad I, and by theBabylonian Empirewhich was founded by Amorites. Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi.Yamhad imposed its authority overAlalakh,Qatna,the Hurrians states, and theEuphratesvalley down to the borders with Babylon.The army of Yamhad campaigned as far away asDēron the border ofElam(modern Iran).Yamhad was conquered and destroyed, along with Ebla, by theHittitesfromAsia Minorcirca 1600 BC.From this time, Syria became a battle ground for various foreign empires, these being theHittite Empire,MitanniEmpire,Egyptian Empire,Middle Assyrian Empire, and to a lesser degreeBabylonia. The Egyptians initially occupied much of the south, while the Hittites and the Mitanni occupied much of the north. However, Assyria eventually gained the upper hand, destroying the Mitanni Empire and annexing huge swathes of territory previously held by the Hittites and Babylon.
Around the 14th century BC, variousSemitic peopleappeared in the area, such as the semi-nomadicSuteanswho came into an unsuccessful conflict with Babylonia to the east, and theWest SemiticspeakingArameanswho subsumed the earlier Amorites. They too were subjugated by Assyria and the Hittites for centuries. The Egyptians fought the Hittites for control over western Syria; the fighting reached its zenith in 1274 BC with theBattle of Kadesh.The west remained part of the Hittite empire until its destructionc.1200 BC,while eastern Syria largely became part of the Middle Assyrian Empire,who also annexed much of the west during the reign ofTiglath-Pileser I1114–1076 BC. With the destruction of the Hittites and the decline of Assyria in the late 11th century BC, the Aramean tribes gained control of much of the interior, founding states such asBit Bahiani,Aram-Damascus,Hamath,Aram-Rehob,Aram-Naharaim, andLuhuti. From this point, the region became known asArameaorAram. There was also a synthesis between the Semitic Arameans and the remnants of the Indo-European Hittites, with the founding of a number ofSyro-Hittitestates centered in north central Aram (Syria) and south central Asia Minor (modern Turkey), includingPalistin,CarchemishandSam'al.
ACanaanitegroup known as thePhoenicianscame to dominate the coasts of Syria, (and also Lebanon and northernPalestine) from the 13th century BC, foundingcity statessuch asAmrit,Simyra,Arwad,Paltos,Ramitha, andShuksi. From these coastal regions, they eventually spread their influence throughout theMediterranean, including building colonies inMalta, Sicily, theIberian peninsula, and the coasts of North Africa and most significantly, founding the major city-state ofCarthagein the 9th century BC, which was much later to become the center of a major empire, rivaling theRoman Republic.
Syria and the western half ofNear Eastthen fell to the vastNeo Assyrian Empire(911 BC – 605 BC). The Assyrians introducedImperial Aramaicas thelingua francaof their empire. This language was to remain dominant in Syria and the entireNear Eastuntil after theIslamicconquest in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, and was to be a vehicle for the spread of Christianity. The Assyrians named their colonies of Syria and LebanonEber-Nari. Assyrian domination ended after the Assyrians greatly weakened themselves in a series of brutal internal civil wars, followed by attacks from: theMedes,Babylonians,Chaldeans,Persians,ScythiansandCimmerians. During the fall of Assyria, theScythiansravaged and plundered much of Syria. The last stand of the Assyrian army was atCarchemishin northern Syria in 605 BC. The Assyrian Empire was followed by theNeo-Babylonian Empire(605 BC – 539 BC). During this period, Syria became a battle ground between Babylonia and another former Assyrian colony, that of Egypt. The Babylonians, like their Assyrian relations, were victorious over Egypt.
Lands that constitute modern-day Syria were part of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and had been annexed by theAchaemenid Empirein 539 BC. Led byCyrus the Great, the Achaemenid Persians retainedImperial Aramaicas one of the diplomatic languages of their empire, as well as the Assyrian name for the newsatrapyof Aram/SyriaEber-Nari. Syria was conquered by theMacedonian Empirewhich was ruled byAlexander the Greatc.330 BCand consequently becameCoele-Syriaprovince of theSeleucid 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 BC. Thus, it was the Greeks who introduced the name "Syria" to the region. Originally an Indo-European corruption of "Assyria" in northern Mesopotamia (Iraq), 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 theGreco-Romanworld both theArameansof Syria and theAssyriansof Mesopotamia (modern dayIraq) to the east were referred to as "Syrians" or "Syriacs", despite these being distinct peoples in their own right, a confusion which would continue into the modern world. Eventually parts of southernSeleucidSyria were taken by theJewishHasmonean dynastyupon the slow disintegration of theHellenisticEmpire.
Syria briefly came underArmeniancontrol from 83 BC, with the conquests of the Armenian kingTigranes the Great, who was welcomed as a savior from the Seleucids and Romans by the Syrian people. However,Pompey the Great, a general of theRoman Empire, rode to Syria and captured Antioch and turned Syria into aRoman provincein 64 BC, thus ending Armenian control over the region which had lasted two decades. Syria prospered under Roman rule, being strategically located on theSilk 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. In the late 3rd century the Palmyrene kingOdaenathusdefeated the Persian emperorShapur Iand controlled the entirety of the Roman East while his successor and widowZenobiaestablished thePalmyrene Empire, which briefly conquered Egypt, Syria, Palestine, much of Asia Minor, Judah and Lebanon, before being finally brought under Roman control in 273.
The northern MesopotamianAssyriankingdom ofAdiabenecontrolled areas of north east Syria between 10 and 117, before it was conquered by Rome.The Aramaic language has been found as far afield asHadrian's WallinRoman Britain,with an inscription written by a Palmyrene emigrant at the site of FortArbeia.Control of Syria eventually passed from the Romans to theByzantineswith the split in the Roman Empire.The largely Aramaic-speaking population of Syria during the heyday of the Byzantine Empire was probably not exceeded again until the 19th century. Prior to theArab Islamic Conquestin the 7th century, the bulk of the population were Arameans, but Syria was also home toGreekand Roman ruling classes, Assyrians still dwelt in the north east, Phoenicians along the coasts, and Jewish and Armenian communities were also extant in major cities, with Nabateans and pre-IslamicArabssuch as theLakhmidsandGhassanidsdwelling in the deserts of southern Syria.Syriac Christianityhad taken hold as the major religion, although others still followedJudaism,Mithraism,Manicheanism,Greco-Roman Religion,Canaanite ReligionandMesopotamian Religion. Syria's large and prosperous population made Syria one of the most important of the Roman and Byzantine provinces, particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Syrians held considerable power during theSeveran dynasty. The matriarch of the family and empress of Rome as wife of emperorSeptimius SeveruswasJulia Domna, a Syrian from the city ofEmesa(modern dayHoms),whose familyheld hereditary rights to the priesthood of the godEl-Gabal. Her great nephews, also Arabs from Syria, would also become Roman emperors, the first beingElagabalusand the second his cousinAlexander Severus. Another Roman emperor who was a Syrian wasPhilip the Arab(Marcus Julius Philippus), who was born inRoman Arabia. He was emperor from 244 to 249and ruled briefly during theCrisis of the Third Century. During his reign, he focused on his home town of Philippopolis (modern dayShahba) and began many construction projects to improve the city, most of which were halted after his death.
Syria is significant in thehistory of Christianity; Saul of Tarsus, better known as theApostle Paul, wasconverted on the road to Damascusand emerged as a significant figure in the Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria.
Muhammad's first interaction with the people of Syria was during theinvasion of Dumatul Jandalin July 626where he ordered his followers to invade Duma, because Muhammad received intelligence that some tribes there were involved in highway robbery and were preparing to attackMedina.William Montgomery Wattclaims that this was the most significant expedition Muhammad ordered at the time, even though it received little notice in the primary sources.Dumat Al-Jandalwas 800 kilometres (500 mi) from Medina, and Watt says that there was no immediate threat to Muhammad, other than the possibility that his communications to Syria and supplies to Medina would be interrupted. Watt says "It is tempting to suppose that Muhammad was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death", and that the rapid march of his troops must have "impressed all those who heard of it".William Muiralso believes that the expedition was important as Muhammad followed by 1,000 men reached the confines of Syria, where distant tribes had learnt his name, while the political horizon of Muhammad was extended.
By 640, Syriawas conqueredby theRashidun armyled byKhalid ibn al-Walid. In the mid-7th century, theUmayyad dynastyplaced the capital of the empire in Damascus. The country's power declined during later Umayyad rule; this was mainly through totalitarianism, corruption and the resulting revolutions. The Umayyad dynasty was overthrown in 750 by theAbbasid dynasty, which moved the capital of empire toBaghdad.Arabic– made official under Umayyad rule– became the dominant language, replacingGreekandAramaicof the Byzantine era. In 887, the Egypt-basedTulunidsannexed Syria from the Abbasids and were later replaced by the Egypt-basedIkhshididsand then by theHamdanidsoriginating in Aleppo founded bySayf al-Dawla.
Sections of Syria were held by French, English, Italian and German overlords between 1098 and 1189 during theCrusadesand were known collectively as theCrusader states, among which the primary one in Syria was thePrincipality of Antioch. The coastal mountainous region was occupied in part by theNizari Ismailis, the so-calledAssassins, who had intermittent confrontations and truces with the Crusader States. Later in history when "the Nizaris faced renewed Frankish hostilities, they received timely assistance from the Ayyubids."After a century of Seljuk rule, Syria was largely conquered (1175–1185) by theKurdishliberatorSalah ad-Din, founder of theAyyubiddynasty of Egypt.Aleppo fellto theMongolsofHuleguin January 1260; Damascus fell in March, but then Hulegu was forced to break off his attack to return to China to deal with a succession dispute.
A few months later, theMamluksarrived with an army from Egypt and defeated the Mongols in theBattle of Ain JalutinGalilee. The Mamluk leader,Baibars, made Damascus a provincial capital. When he died, power was taken byQalawun. In the meantime, an emir namedSunqur al-Ashqarhad tried to declare himself ruler of Damascus, but he was defeated by Qalawun on 21 June 1280 and fled to northern Syria. Al-Ashqar, who had married a Mongol woman, appealed for help from the Mongols. The Mongols of theIlkhanatetook Aleppo in October 1280, but Qalawun persuaded Al-Ashqar to join him, and they fought against the Mongols on 29 October 1281 in theSecond Battle of Homs, which was won by the Mamluks.In 1400, the MuslimTurco-MongolconquerorTamurlaneinvaded Syria, in which hesacked Aleppoandcaptured Damascusafter defeating the Mamluk army. The city's inhabitants were massacred, except for the artisans who were deported toSamarkand.Tamurlane conducted massacres of the Assyrian Christian population, greatly reducing their numbers.By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to theFar Eastended the need for anoverland trade routethrough Syria.
In 1516, theOttoman Empireinvaded theMamluk Sultanate of Egypt, conquering Syria and incorporating it into its empire. The Ottoman system was not burdensome to Syrians because the Turks respected Arabic as the language of theQuranand accepted the mantle of defenders of the faith. Damascus was made the major entrepot forMecca, and as such it acquired a holy character to Muslims, because of the beneficial results of the countless pilgrims who passed through on thehajj.
Ottoman administration followed a system that led to peaceful coexistence. Each ethno-religious minority—ArabShia Muslim, ArabSunni Muslim,Syriac Orthodox,Greek Orthodox,Maronite Christians,Assyrian Christians,Armenians,KurdsandJews—constituted amillet.The religious heads of each community administered all personal status laws and performed certain civil functions as well.In 1831,Ibrahim Pasha of Egyptrenounced his loyalty to the empire and overranOttoman Syria, capturing Damascus. His short-term rule over the domain attempted to change the demographics and social structure of the region: he brought thousands of Egyptian villagers to populate the plains ofsouthern Syria, rebuiltJaffaand settled it with veteran Egyptian soldiers aiming to turn it into a regional capital, and he crushed peasant and Druze rebellions and deported non-loyal tribesmen. By 1840, however, he had to surrender the area back to the Ottomans. From 1864,Tanzimatreforms were applied on Ottoman Syria, carving out the provinces (vilayets) ofAleppo,Zor,BeirutandDamascus Vilayet;Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanonwas created, and soon after theMutasarrifate of Jerusalemwas given a separate status.
DuringWorld War I, the Ottoman Empire entered the conflict as aCentral Power. It ultimately suffered defeat and loss of control of the entireNear Eastto theBritish EmpireandFrench Empire. During the conflict, genocide against indigenous Christian peoples was carried out by the Ottomans and their allies in the form of theArmenian genocideandAssyrian genocide, of whichDeir ez-Zorin Ottoman Syria was the final destination of these death marches.In the midst of World War I, twoAllieddiplomats (FrenchmanFrançois Georges-PicotandBritonMark Sykes) secretly agreed on the post-war division of the Ottoman Empire into respective zones of influence in theSykes-Picot Agreementof 1916. Initially, the two territories were separated by a border that ran in an almost straight line from Jordan to Iran. However, the discovery of oil in the region ofMosuljust before the end of the war led to yetanother negotiation with France in 1918to cede this region to the British zone of influence, which was to become Iraq. The fate of the intermediate province of Zor was left unclear; itsoccupation by Arab nationalists resulted in its attachment to Syria. This border was recognized internationally when Syria became aLeague of Nationsmandate in 1920and has not changed to date.
In 1920, a short-lived independentKingdom of Syriawas established underFaisal Iof theHashemitefamily. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following theBattle of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after theSan Remo conferenceproposed that theLeague of Nationsput 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 arbitration 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-Atrashleda revoltthat broke out in theDruze Mountainand spread to engulf the whole of Syria and parts of Lebanon. Al-Atrash won several battles against the French, notably theBattle of al-Kafron 21 July 1925, theBattle of al-Mazraaon 2–3 August 1925, and the battles of Salkhad,al-Musayfirahand Suwayda. France sent thousands of troops from Morocco and Senegal, leading the French to regain many cities, although resistance lasted until the spring of 1927. The French sentenced al-Atrash to death, but he had escaped with the rebels to Transjordan and was eventually pardoned. He returned to Syria in 1937 after the signing of the Syrian-French Treaty.
Syria and France negotiated atreaty of independencein September 1936, andHashim al-Atassiwas the first president to be elected under the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, the treaty never came into force because the French Legislature refused to ratify it. With the fall of France in 1940 duringWorld War II, Syria came under the control ofVichy Franceuntil the British and Free French occupied the country in theSyria-Lebanon campaignin July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalists and the Britishforced the Frenchto evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.
Upheaval dominated Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s. In May 1948, Syrian forces invadedPalestine, together with other Arab states, and immediatelyattacked Jewish settlements.PresidentShukri al-Quwwatliinstructed his troops in the front, "to destroy the Zionists".The invasion purpose was to prevent the establishment of the state of Israel.Toward this end, the Syrian government engaged in an active process of recruiting formerNazis, including several former members of theSchutzstaffel, to build up their armed forces and military intelligence capabilities.Defeat in this war was one of several trigger factors for theMarch 1949 Syrian coup d'étatby ColonelHusni al-Za'im, described as the first military overthrow of theArab Worldsince the start of the Second World War. This was soon followed by another overthrow, by ColonelSami al-Hinnawi, who was quickly deposed by ColonelAdib Shishakli, all within the same year.
Shishakli eventually abolished multipartyism altogether but was overthrown in a1954 coup, and the parliamentary system was restored.However, by this time, power was increasingly concentrated in the military and security establishment.The weakness of Parliamentary institutions and the mismanagement of the economy led to unrest and the influence ofNasserismand other ideologies. There was fertile ground for variousArab nationalist,Syrian nationalist, and socialist movements, which represented disaffected elements of society. Notably included were religious minorities, who demanded radical reform.
In November 1956, as a direct result of theSuez Crisis,Syria signed a pact with theSoviet Union. This gave a foothold for communist influence within the government in exchange for military equipment.Turkeythen became worried about this increase in the strength of Syrian military technology, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retakeİskenderun. Only heated debates in the United Nations lessened the threat of war.
On 1 February 1958, Syrian PresidentShukri al-Quwatliand Egypt's Nasser announced the merging of Egypt and Syria, creating theUnited Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties, as well as the communists therein, ceased overt activities.Meanwhile, a group of Syrian Ba'athist officers, alarmed by the party's poor position and the increasing fragility of the union, decided to form a secret Military Committee; its initial members were Lieutenant-ColonelMuhammad Umran, MajorSalah Jadidand Captain Hafez al-Assad. Syria seceded from the union with Egypt on 28 September 1961, after acoupand terminated the political union.
Agrarian reform measures were introduced which consisted of three interrelated programs: legislation regulating the relationship between agriculture laborers and landowners; legislation governing the ownership and use of private and state domain land and directing the economic organization of peasants; and measures reorganizing agricultural production under state control.Despite high levels of inequality in land ownership these reforms allowed for more progress in redistribution of land from 1958 to 1961 than any other reforms in Syria's history, since independence.
The first law passed (Law 134; passed 4 September 1958) was in response to concern about peasant mobilization and expanding peasants' rights.This was designed to strengthen the position of sharecroppers and agricultural laborers in relation to land owners.This law led to the creation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which announced the implementation of new laws that would allow the regulation of working condition especially for women and adolescents, set hours of work, and introduce the principle of minimum wage for paid laborers and an equitable division of harvest for sharecroppers.Furthermore, it obligated landlords to honor both written and oral contracts, established collective bargaining, contained provisions for workers' compensation, health, housing, and employment services.Law 134 was not designed strictly to protect workers. It also acknowledged the rights of landlords to form their own syndicates.
The instability which followed the1961 coupculminated in the8 March 1963 Ba'athist coup. The takeover was engineered by members of theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party, led byMichel AflaqandSalah al-Din al-Bitar. The new Syrian cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members.From the1963 seizure of powerby itsMilitary Committeeto thefall of the regimein 2024, the Ba'ath party ruled Syria as atotalitarian state. Ba'athists took control over country's politics, education, culture, religion and surveilled all aspects of civil society through its powerfulMukhabarat(secret police).Syrian Arab Armed forcesand secret police were integrated with the Ba'ath party apparatus; after the purging of traditional civilian and military elites by the regime.
The 1963 Ba'athist coup marked a "radical break" inmodern Syrian history, after which Ba'ath party monopolised power in the country to establish aone-party stateand shaped a socio-political order by enforcing itsstate ideology.On 23 February 1966, the neo-Ba'athist Military Committee carried out anintra-party rebellionagainst the Ba'athist Old Guard (AflaqandBitar), imprisoned PresidentAmin al-Hafizand designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March.AlthoughNureddin al-Atassibecame the formal head of state,Salah Jadidwas Syria's effective ruler from 1966 until November 1970,when he was deposed byHafez al-Assad, who at the time was Minister of Defense.
The coup led to the schism within the original pan-Arab Ba'ath Party: oneIraqi-led ba'ath movement(ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003) and oneSyrian-led ba'ath movementwas established. In the first half of 1967, a low-key state of war existed between Syria and Israel. Conflict over Israeli cultivation of land in theDemilitarized Zoneled to7 April pre-war aerial clashesbetween Israel and Syria.When theSix-Day Warbroke out between Egypt and Israel, Syria joined the war and attacked Israel as well. In the final days of the war, Israel turned its attention to Syria, capturing two-thirds of theGolan Heightsin under 48 hours.The defeat caused a split between Jadid and Assad over what steps to take next.Disagreement developed between Jadid, who controlled the party apparatus, and Assad, who controlled the military. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid thePalestine Liberation Organizationled byYasser Arafatduring the "Black September(also known as the Jordan Civil War of 1970)" hostilities with Jordan reflected this disagreement.
The power struggle culminated in the November1970 Syrian Corrective movement, a bloodless military coup that installed Hafez al-Assad as the strongman of the government.Assad transformed a Ba'athist party state into a totalitarian dictatorship marked by his pervasive grip on the party,armed forces,secret police, media, education sector, religious and cultural spheres and all aspects of civil society. He assignedAlawiteloyalists to key posts in the military forces, bureaucracy,intelligenceand the ruling elite. A cult of personality revolving around Hafez and his family became a core tenet ofBa'athist ideology,which espoused thatAssad dynastywas destined to rule perennially.On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt initiated theYom Kippur Waragainst Israel. TheIsrael Defense Forcesreversed the initial Syrian gains and pushed deeper into Syrian territory.The village ofQuneitrawas largely destroyed by the Israeli army. In the late 1970s, anIslamist uprisingby theMuslim Brotherhoodwas aimed against the government. Islamists attacked civilians and off-duty military personnel, leading security forces to also kill civilians in retaliatory strikes. The uprising had reached its climax in the 1982Hama massacre,when more than 40,000 people were killed bySyrian militarytroops and Ba'athist paramilitaries.It has been described as the "single deadliest act" of violence perpetrated by any state upon its own population inmodern Arab history
In a major shift in relations with both otherArab statesand the Western world, Syria participated in the United States-ledGulf WaragainstSaddam Hussein. The country participated in the multilateralMadrid Conference of 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in negotiations with Israel along with Palestine and Jordan. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further direct Syrian-Israeli talks since Assad's meeting with U.S. PresidentBill ClintoninGenevain 2000.
Hafez al-Assad died on 10 June 2000. His son,Bashar al-Assad, was elected president inan electionin which he ran unopposed.His election saw the birth of theDamascus Springand hopes of reform, but by autumn 2001 the authorities had suppressed the movement, imprisoning some of its leading intellectuals.Instead, reforms have been limited to some market reforms.On 5 October 2003 Israelbombed a site near Damascus, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members ofIslamic Jihad.In March 2004,Syrian Kurdsand Arabsclashedinal-Qamishli. Signs of rioting were seen in Qamishli andHasakeh.In 2005, Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon.AssassinationofRafic Haririin 2005 led to international condemnation and triggered a popularIntifadainLebanon, known as "the Cedar Revolution", which forced theAssad regimeto end its 29-year-oldmilitary occupation in Lebanon.On 6 September 2007, foreign jet fighters, suspected as Israeli, reportedly carried outOperation Orchardagainst a suspected nuclear reactor under construction byNorth Koreantechnicians.
TheSyrian civil waris an ongoing internal violent conflict in Syria. It is a part of the widerArab Spring, a wave of upheaval throughout the Arab World. Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26January 2011 and developed into a nationwide uprising. Protesters demanded the resignation of Assad, the overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades of Ba'ath Party rule. Since spring 2011, the Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged,though the unrest continued. According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army.The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble.Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against the Syrian Army. The insurgents unified under the banner of theFree Syrian Armyand fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership.
Ranked 8th last on the 2024Global Peace Indexand 4th worst in the 2024Fragile States Index,Ba'athist Syria was one of the most dangerous places for journalists. Freedom of the press was extremely limited, and theAssad regimewas ranked 2nd worst in the 2024World Press Freedom Index.Ba'athist Syria was also the most corrupt regime in theMiddle Eastand was ranked the 2nd lowest globally on the 2023Corruption Perceptions Index.The country also became the epicentre of a multi-billion dollarillicit drug cartel, sponsored by the Assad regime, which was the largest in the world.
By 2024, the Syrian civil war had resulted in more than 600,000 deaths,with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of thetotal civilian casualties.Between March 2011 and March 2021, more than 306,000 civilians were killed in the civil war.The war led to amassive refugee crisis, with an estimated 7.6 millioninternally displaced people(July 2015UNHCRfigure) and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered byUNHCR).The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living in poverty and 80% facing food insecurity.
TheArab League, the United States, the European Union states, theGulf Cooperation Council states, and other countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters.China and Russia have avoided condemning the government or applying sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention. However, military intervention has been ruled out by most countries.The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis,but sent anobserver missionin December 2011, as part of itsproposal for peaceful resolutionof the crisis.
In December 2024, violence flared up once again. Rebel factions, led by the Islamist group HayatTahrir al-Sham(HTS),took control of Aleppoin a lightning offensive, prompting a retaliatory airstrike campaign by Syrian regime forces, supported byRussian aviation assets. The strikes, which targeted population centers and several hospitals inrebel-heldcity ofIdlib, resulted in at least 25 deaths according to the White Helmets rescue group. NATO issued a joint statement calling for the protection of civilians and critical infrastructure to prevent further displacement and ensure humanitarian access. They stressed the urgent need for a Syrian-led political solution, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which advocates for dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition forces.
Therebel offensive, which had begun on 27 November, continued itsadvance into Hama provincefollowing their capture of Aleppo.On 4 December, fierce clashes erupted in Hama province as the Syrian army engaged rebel forces in a bid to halt their advance on the key city ofHama. Government forces claimed to have launched a counteroffensive with air support, pushing back rebel factions, including HTS, around six miles from the city. However, despite reinforcements, the rebels captured the city on 5 December.The fighting led to widespread displacement, with nearly 50,000 people fleeing the area and over 600 casualties reported, including 104 civilians.
Rebel forces reached the outskirts ofHomson 5 December, beginning athree-day battlefor the city. Simultaneously, an HTS-coordinatedmass uprisingled by acoalition of Druze tribes and opposition forcescaptured the southern cities ofSuwaydaandDaraaby 6 December,and rapidly advanced northwards to encircle Damascus over the following day.Homs was captured by rebel forces by the early morning of 8 December, leaving no major regime strongholds between the rebel advance and Damascus itself.
Cut off from theAlawiteheartland ofTartusandLatakiagovernorates, faced with a rebel pincer from both north and south bearing down on Damascus, and with no hope of foreign intervention from the regime's Russian and Iranian benefactors, Assadist authority over remaining regime-held territories rapidly disintegrated.TheSyrian Arab Armed Forcesmelted away as its soldiers abandoned their weapons and uniforms,manydesertingacross the border toIraqandLebanon. Opposition forcescapturedthe capital Damascus on 8 December, toppling Bashar al-Assad's government and ending the Assad family's 53-year-long rule over the country.Assad fled toMoscowwith his family, where he was granted asylum.
Following thefall of the Assad regime, Assad's ninth prime ministerMohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, with support from the opposition andAhmed al-Sharaa, remained at his post in a caretaker capacity until atransitional governmentled byMohammed al-Bashirwas formed the following day.Al-Jalali called for fresh elections so that the Syrian people may choose their new leaders.
Prior to the fall of the Assad regime, Mohammed al-Bashir headed theSyrian Salvation Government(SSG) formed in the province ofIdlibbyHay'at Tahrir al-Sham(HTS), the Islamist militant organization which led the overthrow of Assad in December 2024. In general, the formation of the Transitional Government was scaling of the SSG "to the whole of Syria", as the composition of the new government was almost the same as of the one of the SSG. According to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, critics and opponents of the HTS were subject to repression in forms of enforced disappearances and tortures.
Shortly after the fall of the Assad regime,Israel commenced a ground invasionof thePurple Linebuffer zone near the Golan Heights, as well as commencing a series of airstrikes against Syrian military depots and naval bases.TheIsraeli Defense Forcesclaims that it is destroying Ba'athist military infrastructure, including chemical weapons plants, so that the rebels cannot use them.
Despite the collapse of the Assad regime, Turkish-backedSyrian National Armyfighters in northern Syria continued theiroffensiveagainst U.S.-backedSDFforces until a ceasefire was reached on 11 December.
The prime minister of the transitional government, Mohammed al-Bashir, has promised to allow Christians and other minorities to continue practicing their religion without interference. However, this has been met with doubts as many rebel forces had previous connections toal-Qaedaand theIslamic State.The use of a variation of theTawhidflagby the new government alongsidethe opposition flagalso raised worries, as it implies that the new state may beless secular.Aisha al-Dibswas appointed as the Minister of Women's Affairs on 22 December 2024.
On 12 December 2024, a spokesman of the transitional government speaking toAgence France-Pressesaid that during the government's three-month term, theconstitutionandparliamentwould be suspended and that a 'judicial and human rights committee' would be established to review the constitution, prior to making amendments.
On 12 February 2025, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani announced that a new government would be formed by March 1, which "will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account."
Syria's climate varies from the humid Mediterranean coast, through a semi-arid steppe zone, to arid desert in the east. The country consists mostly of arid plateau, although the northwest part bordering the Mediterranean is fairly green.Al-Jazirain the northeast andHawranin the south are important agricultural areas. TheEuphrates, Syria's most important river, crosses the country in the east. Syria is one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "cradle of civilization".Its land straddles the northwest of theArabian plate.
Petroleum in commercial quantities was first discovered in the northeast in 1956. The most important oil fields are those ofal-Suwaydiyah,Karatchok,Rmelannearal-Hasakah, as well asal-Omarandal-Taymfields nearDayr az–Zawr. The fields are a natural extension of the Iraqi fields ofMosulandKirkuk. Petroleum became Syria's leading natural resource and chief export after 1974. Natural gas was discovered at the field of Jbessa in 1940.
Syria contains four terrestrial ecoregions:Syrian xeric grasslands and shrublands,Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests,Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests, andMesopotamian shrub desert.The country had a 2019Forest Landscape Integrity Indexmean score of 3.64/10, ranking it 144th globally out of 172 countries.
Syria is currently undergoing a political transition following thefall of the Assad regimeon 8 December 2024. Atransitional government, led byMohammed al-Bashirhas been formed to govern the country, initially until 1 March 2025. The Syrianconstitutionandparliamentwere suspended on 12 December 2024 for the duration of the transitional period. On 29 January 2025, during theSyrian Revolution Victory ConferenceinPresidential Palace, the Syrian General Command appointedAhmed al-Sharaaas president for the transitional period after he had served as thede factoleader following the fall of the Assad regime.An interim legislative council is expected to be formed to serve as Syria's legislature until a new constitution is adopted.
The Syrian Arab Republic was apresidential statethat nominally permitted the candidacy of individuals who were not part of the Ba'ath-controlledNational Progressive Front.Despite this, Syria remained a one-party state with an extensivesecret policeapparatus that curtailed any independent political activity.The constitution introduced unilaterally by the Assad regime, without the participation of theSyrian opposition, had bolstered its authoritarian character by bestowing extraordinary powers on the presidency, and a Ba'athist political committee continued to be responsible for authorization of political parties.
The ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party governed Syria as a totalitarianpolice statethrough its control of theSyrian militaryand security apparatus.The 50th edition ofFreedom in the World, published byFreedom Housein 2023, designated Syria as "Worst of the Worst" among the "Not Free" countries and gave it the lowest score (1/100) alongsideSouth Sudan.
According to the2012 Syrian constitution, thePresident of Syriawas the head of the Syrian state, while thePrime Minister of Syriawas nominally the head of government,although real power in the system lay with the presidency.The legislature, thePeople's Assembly, was the body responsible for passing laws, approving governmentappropriationsand debating policy.In the event of avote of no confidenceby a simple majority, the prime minister was required to tender the resignation of their government to the president.Since the rule of Hafez al-Assad, the Ba'athist political system was centered around a comprehensivecult of personalityfocused on theal-Assad family;with Alawite loyalists of the Ba'ath party dominating key positions in the military apparatus, secret police, and political establishment.
The executive branch consisted of the president, twovice presidents, the prime minister, and theCouncil of Ministers(cabinet). The constitution required the president to be a Muslim but did not make Islam the state religion.On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the President of Syria be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs, and Aleppo organized by theMuslim Brotherhoodand the traditionalulama. They labelled Assad the "enemy ofAllah" and called for ajihadagainst his rule.The government survived a series ofarmed revoltsled mostly byIslamistsof theMuslim Brotherhood, between 1976 and 1982, through a series of repressions and massacres. The constitution gave the president the right to appoint ministers, to declare war andstate of emergency, to issue laws (which, except in the case of emergency, require ratification by the People's Council), to declare amnesty, to amend the constitution, and to appoint civil servants and military personnel.According to the 2012 constitution, the president was elected by Syrian citizens in a direct election. Syria's legislative branch was the unicameral People's Council. The People's Council primarily served as an institution to validate Syria's one-party system and re-affirm the legislative proceedings of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath party.
There was no independent judiciary in Syria, since all judges and prosecutors were required to be Ba'athist appointees.Syria's judicial branches include theSupreme Constitutional Court, theHigh Judicial Council, the Court of Cassation, and theState SecurityCourts.Islamicjurisprudence was a main source of legislation and Syria's judicial system had elements ofOttoman,French, andIslamiclaws. Syria had three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highesttribunal. Religious courts handled questions of personal and family law.The Supreme State Security Court was abolished by Bashar al-Assad in 2011.As a result of the ongoing civil war, various alternative governments were formed, including theSyrian Interim Government, theDemocratic Union Partyand localized regions governed by sharia. Representatives of the Syrian Interim government were invited to take up Syria's seat at the Arab League in 2013 andwas recognised as the "sole representative of the Syrian people" by several nations including the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
Syria's electionsare conducted through asham process; characterised by wide-scalerigging, repetitive voting and absence ofvoter registrationand verification systems.Parliamentary elections were held on 13 April 2016 in the government-controlled areas of Syria, for all 250 seats of Syria's unicameral legislature, the Majlis al-Sha'ab, or the People's Council of Syria.Even before results had been announced, several nations, including Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, have declared their refusal to accept the results, largely citing it "not representing the will of the Syrian people."However, representatives of the Russian Federation have voiced their support of this election's results. Various independent observers and international organizations have denounced the Assad regime's electoral conduct as a scam; with the United Nations condemning it as illegitimate elections with "no mandate".Electoral Integrity Project's 2022 Global report designated Syrian elections as a "facade" with the worst electoral integrity in the world alongsideComorosandCentral African Republic.Three alternative governments formed during theSyrian civil war, theSyrian Interim Government(formed in 2013),Rojava(formed in 2016) and theSyrian Salvation Government(formed in 2017), control northern areas of the country and operated independently of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Syria is divided into 14governorates, which are subdivided into 61districts, which are further divided into sub-districts.
TheAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria(AANES), while de facto autonomous, is not recognized by the country as such. The AANES, also known as Rojava,consists of self-governingsub-regionsin the areas ofAfrin,Jazira,Euphrates,Raqqa,Tabqa,ManbijandDeir Ez-Zor.The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoingRojava conflictand the wider Syrian civil war, in which its official military force, theSyrian Democratic Forces(SDF), has taken part.
While entertainingsome foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any statethough it has been recognized by the regionalCatalan Parliament.The AANES has widespread support for its universal democratic, sustainable, autonomous pluralist, equal, and feminist policies in dialogues with other parties and organizations.Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnicTurkmen,Armenians,Circassians,andYazidis.
The supporters of the region's administration state that it is an officially secular politywith direct democratic ambitions based on an anarchistic, feminist, and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality,environmental sustainability, social ecology and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity, and that these values are mirrored inits constitution, society, and politics, stating it to be a model for afederalized Syriaas a whole, rather than outright independence.The region's administration has also been accused by some partisan and non-partisan sources of authoritarianism and support of the Syrian government.However, despite this the AANES has been the most democratic system in Syria, with direct open elections, universal equality, respecting human rights within the region, as well as defense of minority and religious rights within Syria.
In 2019, the SDF announced that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian Army which allowed the latter to enter the SDF-held cities ofManbijandKobaniin order to dissuade a Turkish attack on those cities as part of the cross-border offensive by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.The Syrian Army also deployed in the north of Syria together with the SDF along the Syrian-Turkish border and entered into several SDF-held cities such as Ayn Issa and Tell Tamer.Following the creation of theSecond Northern Syria Buffer Zonethe SDF stated that it was ready to work cooperatively with the Syrian Army if a political settlement between the Syrian government and the SDF was achieved.
Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbors, and securing the return of theGolan Heights, have been the primary goals of Syria's foreign policy. At many points in its history, Syria has seen virulent tension with its geographically cultural neighbors, such as Turkey, Israel, Iraq, and Lebanon. Syria enjoyed an improvement in relations with several of the states in its region in the 21st century, prior to the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war.
Since the ongoing civil war of 2011 and associated killings and human rights abuses, Syria has been increasingly isolated from the countries in the region and the wider international community. Diplomatic relations have been severed with several countries including: Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, United States, Belgium, Spain, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
From the Arab league, Syria continues to maintain diplomatic relations with Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen. 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.Syria also quit theUnion for the Mediterranean.After 11 years, the Arab League readmitted Syria.TheOrganisation of Islamic Cooperationsuspended Syria in August 2012 citing "deep concern at themassacresand inhuman acts" perpetrated by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad.
In 1939, while Syria was still a French mandate the French allowed a plebiscite regarding theSanjak of Alexandrettajoining to Turkey as part of a treaty of friendship in World War II. In order to facilitate this, a faulty election was done in which ethnic Turks who were originally from the Sanjak but lived inAdanaand other areas near the border in Turkey came to vote in the elections, shifting the election in favor of secession. Through this, theHatay Provinceof Turkey was formed. The move by the French was very controversial in Syria, and only five years later Syria became independent.Despite the Turkish annexation of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, the Syrian government has refused to recognize Turkish sovereignty over the region since Independence, except for a short period in 1949.
The western two-thirds of Syria's Golan Heights region are since 1967occupied by Israeland were in 1981effectively annexedbyIsrael,whereas the eastern third is controlled by Syria, with theUNDOFmaintaining a buffer zone in between, to implement the ceasefire of thePurple Line. Israel's 1981 Golan annexation law is not recognized in international law. The UN Security Council condemned it in Resolution 497 (1981) as "null and void and without international legal effect." Since then, General Assembly resolutions on "The Occupied Syrian Golan" reaffirm the illegality of Israeli occupation and annexation.The Syrian government continues to demand the return of this territory.
In early 1976, Syria entered Lebanon, beginning their 29-year military presence. Syria entered on the invitation of Suleiman Franjieh, the Maronite Christian president at the time to help aid the Lebanese Christian militias against the Palestinian militias.Over the following 15 years ofLebanese civil war, Syria fought for control over Lebanon. The Syrian military remained in Lebanon until 2005 in response to domestic and international pressure after the assassination of Lebanese Prime MinisterRafik Hariri.
Another disputed territory is theShebaa farms, located in the intersection of theLebanese-Syrian borderand the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The farms, which are 11km long and about 3 kilometers wide were occupied by Israel in 1981, along with rest of the Golan Heights.Yet following Syrian army advances the Israeli occupation ended and Syria became the de facto ruling power over the farms. Yet after Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000,Hezbollahclaimed that the withdrawal was not complete because Shebaa was on Lebanese – not Syrian – territory.After studying 81 maps, the United Nations concluded that there is no evidence of the abandoned farmlands being Lebanese.Nevertheless, Lebanon has continued to claim ownership of the territory.
The President of Syria is commander in chief of theSyrian Armed Forces, comprising some 400,000 troops upon mobilization.The military is a conscripted force; males serve 30 months in the military upon reaching the age of 18.The obligatory military service period is being decreased over time, in 2005 from two and a half years to two years, in 2008 to 21 months and in 2011 to year and a half.
The breakup of the Soviet Union—long the principal source of training, material, and credit for the Syrian forces—may have slowed Syria's ability to acquire modern military equipment. It has an arsenal of surface-to-surface missiles. In the early 1990s,Scud-C missiles with a 500-kilometre (310-mile) range were procured from North Korea, and Scud-D, with a range of up to 700 kilometres (430 miles), is allegedly being developed by Syria with the help of North Korea and Iran, according to Zisser.
Syria received significant financial aid fromArab states of the Persian Gulfas a result of its participation in thePersian Gulf War, with a sizable portion of these funds earmarked for military spending. Iran and Russia are biggest suppliers of military aid to the Assad-led Syrian Government.
Prior to the fall of the Assad regime, the situation forhuman rights in Syriahas long been a significant concern among independent organizations such asHuman Rights Watch, who in 2010 referred to the country's record as "among the worst in the world."The 2011Freedom Housereportranked Syria "Not Free" in its annualFreedom in the Worldsurvey.The Ba'ath regime is a totalitarian dictatorship that has been internationally condemned for its domestic and political repression, includingsummary executions,massive censorship,forced disappearances,etc. as well as numerous crimes against Syrian civilians perpetrated during the civil war, such as massacres,barrel-bombings, chemical attacks, etc.
The authorities are accused of arresting democracy and human rights activists, censoring websites, detaining bloggers, and imposing travel bans. Arbitrary detention, torture, and disappearances are widespread.Although Syria's constitution guarantees gender equality, critics say that personal statutes laws and the penal code discriminate against women and girls. Moreover, it also grants leniency for so-called honour killing.As of 9 November 2011 during the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations reported that of the over 3,500 deaths, over 250 deaths were children as young as two years old, and that boys as young as 11 years old have been gang-raped by security services officers.People opposing President Assad's ruleclaim that more than 200, mostly civilians, were massacred and about 300 injured in Hama in shelling by the government forces on 12 July 2012.
In August 2013, the government was suspected of using chemical weapons against its civilians. U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerrysaid it was "undeniable" that chemical weapons had been used in the country and that al-Assad's forces had committed a "moral obscenity" against his own people. "Make no mistake," Kerry said. "President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapon against the world's most vulnerable people. Nothing today is more serious, and nothing is receiving more serious scrutiny".The Emergency Law, effectively suspending most constitutional protections, was in effect from 1963 until 21 April 2011. It was justified by the government in the light of the continuing war with Israel over the Golan Heights.
In August 2014,UN Human RightschiefNavi Pillaycriticized the international community over its "paralysis" in dealing with the civil war gripping the country, which by 2014 had resulted in 191,369 deaths with war crimes, according to Pillay, being committed with total impunity on all sides in the conflict. Minority Alawites and Christians were targeted by Islamists and other groups.Three years later in April 2017, the U.S. Navy carried out amissile attackagainst a Syrian air basewhich had allegedly been used to conduct achemical weapons attackon Syrian civilians, according to the U.S. government.In November 2021, the U.S. Central Command called a 2019 airstrike that killed civilians in Syria "legitimate". The acknowledgement came after a New York Times investigation said the military had concealed the death of dozens of non-combatants.
Syria's share in global exports has eroded gradually since 2001.The real per capita GDP growth was just 2.5% per year in the 2000–2008 period.Poverty rates increased from 11% in 2004 to 12.3% in 2007.In 2007, main exports included crude oil, refined products, raw cotton, clothing, fruits, and grains. The bulk of imports are raw materials essential for industry, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Earnings from oil exports as well as remittances from Syrian workers are the government's most important sources of foreign exchange.
As of 2012, the value of overall exports was slashed by two-thirds, from the figure of US$12billion in 2010 to only US$4billion in 2012.Since 2012, oil and tourism industries in particular have been devastated, with US$5billion lost.Reconstruction will cost as much as US$10billion.Sanctions have sapped the government's finances. U.S. and European Union bans on oil imports, which went into effect in 2012, are estimated to cost Syria about $400million per month.Around 40% of all employees in the tourism sector lost their jobs since the beginning of the war.In May 2015,ISIScaptured Syria's phosphate mines, one of the Syrian government's last chief sources of income.The following month, ISIS blew up a gas pipeline to Damascus that was used to generate heating and electricity in Damascus and Homs; "the name of its game for now is denial of key resources to the regime" an analyst stated.In addition, ISIS was closing in on Shaer gas field and three other facilities in the area—Hayan, Jihar and Ebla—with the loss of these western gas fields having the potential to cause Iran to further subsidize the Syrian government.Aleppo soapis a popular product of Syria.
Prior to the civil war the government hoped to attract new investment in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. The government began to institute economic reforms aimed at liberalizing most markets, but those reforms were slow and ad hoc, and were completely reversed since the outbreak of conflict.
TheUNDPannounced in 2005 that 30% of the population lived in poverty, and 11.4% live below the subsistence level.At the outset of the civil war, Syria was classified by theWorld Bankas a "lower middle income country,"though in 2010 Syria remained dependent on the oil andagriculture sectors.The oil sector provided about 40% of export earnings.
During the civil war, theSyrian economyrelied upon dwindling customs and income taxes which are heavily bolstered by lines of credit from Iran,Russia and China.Iran is believed to have spent between $6billion and US$20billion per year on Syria during the first four years of the civil war.TheSyrian poundlost 80% of its value, with the economy becoming partstate-ownedand partwar economy.Provenoffshoreexpeditions have indicated that large sums of oil exist on the Mediterranean Sea floor between Syria and Cyprus.The agriculture sector contributes to about 20% of GDP and 20% of employment. Oil reserves are expected to decrease in the coming years, and Syria has become a net oil importer.
The economy was highly regulated by the government, which increased subsidies and tightened trade controls to assuage protesters and protectforeign currency reserves.Long-run economic constraints include foreign trade barriers, declining oil production, high unemployment, rising budget deficits, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution.
In 2024, the World Bank estimated that the Syrian GDP had contracted by 84% from 2010 to 2023. As of 2023, its GDP was $6.2 billion. Syria's new government has vowed to stamp out the production of captagon, which makes up a major portion of the informal economy. The new government will also face challenges in securing and resuming the production of oil, as rebuilding the industry will require significant investments with no guarantee of a return.
Syria has four international airports (Damascus,Aleppo,LattakiaandQamishli), which serve as hubs forSyrian Airand are also served by a variety of foreign carriers.The majority of Syrian cargo is carried bySyrian Railways.As of 2024 there are no international rail services, buthigh-speed rail in Turkeyis being extended close to the border.The road network in Syria is 69,873 kilometres (43,417 miles) long, including 1,103 kilometres (685 miles) of expressways. The country also has 900 kilometres (560 miles) of navigable but not economically significant waterways.
Telecommunications in Syriaare overseen by theMinistry of Communications and Technology.In addition,Syrian Telecomplays an integral role in the distribution of government internet access.TheSyrian Electronic Armyserves as a pro-government military faction in cyberspace and has been long considered an enemy of thehacktivistgroupAnonymous.Because ofinternet censorshiplaws, 13,000 internet activists were arrested in 2011 and 2012.
Syria is a semiarid country with scarce water resources. The largest water consuming sector in Syria is agriculture. Domestic water use stands at only about 9% of total water use.A big challenge for Syria before the civil war was its high population growth (in 2006 the growth rate was 2.7%), leading to rapidly increasing demand for urban and industrial water.
Prior to the fall of the Ba'athist regime on 8 December 2024, Syria was home to a burgeoningillegal drugsindustry run by associates and relatives of Bashar al-Assad.It mainly producedcaptagon, an addictiveamphetaminepopular in the Arab world. As of 2021, the export of illegal drugs eclipsed the country's legal exports, leading theNew York Timesto call Syria "the world's newestnarcostate".The drug exports allow the government to generate hard currency and bypassinternational sanctions.Captagon was Syria's primary export, valued at a minimum of US$3.4 billion annually, surpassing the country's largest legal export, olive oil, which is valued at around US$122 million per year.
Most people live in the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density before the civil war was about 99 per square kilometre (258 per square mile).According to theWorld Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Syria hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 1,852,300. The vast majority of this population was from Iraq (1,300,000), but sizeable populations fromPalestine(543,400) andSomalia(5,200) also lived in the country.
In what the UN has described as "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era",by 2014 about 9.5million Syrians, half the population, had been displaced since March 2011;4million were outside the country as refugees.By 2020, the UN estimated that over 5.5 million Syrians were living as refugees in the region, and 6.1 million others were internally displaced.
Syrians are an overall indigenousLevantinepeople, closely related to their immediate neighbors, such asLebanese,Palestinians,JordaniansandJews.Syria has a population of approximately 18,500,000 (2019 estimate).Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000Palestiniannot including the 6million refugees outside the country make up roughly 74% of the population.The indigenousAssyriansandWestern Aramaic-speakers number around 400,000 people,with the Western Aramaic-speakers living mainly in the villages ofMa'loula,Jubb'adinandBakh'a, while the Assyrians mainly reside in the north and northeast (Homs, Aleppo, Qamishli, Hasakah). Many (particularly the Assyrian group) still retain severalNeo-Aramaicdialects as spoken and written languages.
The second-largest ethnic group in Syria are theKurds. They constitute about 9%to 10%of the population, or approximately 2 million people (including 40,000Yazidis). Most Kurds reside in the northeastern corner of Syria and most speak theKurmanjivariant of theKurdish language.The third largest ethnic group are theTurkish-speakingSyrian Turkmen/Turkoman. There are no reliable estimates of their total population, with estimates ranging from several hundred thousand to 3.5million.The fourth largest ethnic group are theAssyrians(3–4%),followed by theCircassians(1.5%)and theArmenians(1%),most of which are the descendants of refugees who arrived in Syria during theArmenian genocide. Syria holds the7th largest Armenian population in the world. They are mainly gathered in Aleppo,Qamishli, Damascus andKesab.
There are also smaller ethnic minority groups, such as theAlbanians,Bosnians,Georgians,Greeks,Persians,PashtunsandRussians.However, most of these ethnic minorities have becomeArabizedto some degree, particularly those who practice theMuslimfaith.The largest concentration of theSyrian diasporaoutside theArab worldis inBrazil, which has millions of people of Arab and other Near Eastern ancestries.Brazil is the first country in the Americas to offer humanitarian visas to Syrian refugees.The majority ofArab Argentinesare from either Lebanese or Syrian background.
Arabicis theofficial languageof the country.Several modernArabic dialectsare used in everyday life, most notablyLevantinein the west andMesopotamianin the northeast. According toThe Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, in addition to Arabic, the following languages are spoken in the country, in order of the number of speakers:Kurdish,Turkish,Neo-Aramaic(four dialects),Circassian,Chechen,Armenian,and finallyGreek.However, none of these minority languages have official status.
Aramaicwas thelingua francaof the region before the advent ofArabic, and is still spoken amongAssyrians, andClassical Syriacis still used as the liturgical language ofvarious Syriac Christian denominations. Most remarkably,Western Neo-Aramaicis still spoken in the village ofMa'loulaas well as two neighboring villages, 56 km (35 mi) northeast of Damascus. English and French are widely spoken as second languages, but English is more often used.
Islamis the largest and predominant religion in Syria, comprising 87% of the population.Sunni Muslimsmake up around 74% of the populationand Sunni Arabs account for 59–60%. Most Kurds (8.5%)and most Turkmens (3%)are Sunni, while 3% of Syrians areShia Muslims(particularlyIsmailis, andTwelversbut there are also Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens), 10% areAlawites, 10% areChristians(the majority are Antiochian Greek Orthodox, the rest are Syriac Orthodox, Greek Catholic and other Catholic Rites, Armenian Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East, Protestants and other denominations), and 3%Druzes.Druze number around 500,000 and concentrate mainly in the southern area ofJabal al-Druze.According to theAssociation of Religion Data Archives(ARDA), 94.17% of Syrians are Muslims–79.19% are Sunnis and 14.10% are Shias (including Alawites)–and 3.84% of Syrians are Christians as of 2020.
Because theAssad familyis Alawite, Alawites have historically dominated key government and military positions.
Christians numbering 1.2million, a sizable number of whom are found among Syria's population of Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, are divided into several sects. TheGreek Orthodoxmake up 45.7% of the Christian population; theSyriac Orthodoxmake up 22.4%; theArmenian Orthodoxmake up 10.9%; the Catholics (includingGreek Catholic,Syriac Catholic,Armenian Catholic,Maronite,Chaldean CatholicandLatin) make up 16.2%;Assyrian Church of the Eastand several smaller Christian denominations account for the remainder. Many Christianmonasteriesalso exist. Many Christian Syrians belong to a high socio-economic class.As per one estimate, the count of Christians affiliated with established denominations in Syria has dropped from approximately 2.5 million before the civil war, to about 500,000 in 2023.
Syria was once home to a substantial population ofJews, with large communities in Damascus, Aleppo, andQamishii.Due to a combination of persecution in Syria and opportunities elsewhere, the Jews began to emigrate in the second half of the 19th century to Great Britain, the United States, and Israel.The process was completed with the establishment of Israel in 1948.The remaining Jewish population dwindled as a result of the civil war. Today 100 Jews live in Syria.The United States is home to a large Syrian Jewish community, which is still considered as Syrian citizens by the Syrian government.
Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 12. Schooling consists of six years of primary education followed by a three-year general orvocationaltraining period and a three-year academic or vocational program. The second three-year period of academic training is required for universityadmission. Total enrollment atpost-secondaryschools is over 150,000. Theliteracyrate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 90.7% for males and 82.2% for females.
There are six state universities in Syriaand 15 private universities.The top two state universities areDamascus University(210,000 students as of 2014)andUniversity of Aleppo.The top private universities in Syria are:Syrian Private University,Arab International University,University of KalamoonandInternational University for Science and Technology. There are also many higher institutes in Syria, like the Higher Institute of Business Administration, which offer undergraduate and graduate programs in business.
In 2010, spending on healthcare accounted for 3.4% of the GDP. In 2008, there were 14.9 physicians and 18.5 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants.The life expectancy at birth was 75.7 years in 2010, or 74.2 years for males and 77.3 years for females.
Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history.Importance is placed on family, religion, education, self-discipline and respect. Syrians' taste for the traditional arts is expressed in dances such as the al-Samah, theDabkehin all their variations, and the sword dance. Marriage ceremonies and the births of children are occasions for the lively demonstration of folk customs.
Theliterature of Syriahas contributed toArabic literatureand has a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. Syrian writers, many of whom migrated to Egypt, played a crucial role in thenahdaor Arab literary and cultural revival of the 19th century. Prominent contemporary Syrian writers include, among others,Adonis,Muhammad Maghout,Haidar Haidar,Ghada al-Samman,Nizar QabbaniandZakariyya Tamer.
Ba'ath Party rule has brought about renewed censorship.In this context, the genre of the historical novel, spearheaded by Nabil Sulayman,Fawwaz Haddad, Khyri al-Dhahabi and Nihad Siris, is sometimes used as a means of expressing dissent, critiquing the present through a depiction of the past. Syrianfolk narrative, as a subgenre of historical fiction, is imbued withmagical realism, and is also used as a means of veiled criticism of the present.Salim Barakat, a Syrian émigré living in Sweden, is one of the leading figures of the genre. Contemporary Syrian literature also encompasses science fiction and futuristicutopiae(Nuhad Sharif, Talib Umran), which may also serve as media of dissent.
TheSyrian musicscene, in particular that of Damascus, has long been among the Arab world's most important, especially in the field ofclassical Arab music. Syria has produced several pan-Arab stars, includingAsmahan,Farid al-Atrashand singerLena Chamamyan. The city of Aleppo is known for itsmuwashshah, a form ofAndaloussung poetry popularized bySabri Moudallal, as well as for popular stars likeSabah Fakhri.
Television was introduced to Syriaand Egypt in 1960, when both were part of theUnited Arab Republic. It broadcast in black and white until 1976.Syrian soap operashave considerable market penetration throughout the eastern Arab world.
Nearly all ofSyria's mediaoutlets are state-owned.The authorities operate several intelligence agencies,among themShu'bat al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya, employing many operatives.During the civil war many of Syria's artists, poets, writers and activists have been incarcerated, and some have been killed, including famed cartoonistAkram Raslan.
Syrian cuisineis rich and varied in its ingredients, linked to the regions where a specific dish has originated. Syrian food mostly consists of southern Mediterranean, Greek, and Southwest Asian dishes. Some Syrian dishes also evolved from Turkish and French cooking: dishes likeshish kebab, stuffed zucchini/courgette, andyabraʾ(stuffed grape leaves, the wordyabraʾderiving from the Turkish wordyaprak, meaning leaf).
The main dishes arekibbeh,hummus,tabbouleh,fattoush,labneh,shawarma,mujaddara,shanklish,pastırma,sujukand baklava.Baklavais made offilopastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked inhoney. Syrians often serve selections of appetizers, known asmeze, before the main course.Za'atar,minced beef, and cheesemanakishare popularhors d'œuvres. The Arabic flatbreadkhubzis always eaten together with meze.
Drinks vary, depending on the time of day and the occasion.Arabic coffeeis the most well-known hot drink, usually prepared in the morning at breakfast or in the evening. It is usually served for guests or after food.Arak, an alcoholic drink, is a well-known beverage, served mostly on special occasions. Other Syrian beverages includeayran,jallab,white coffee, and a locally manufactured beer called Al Shark.
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