Syria

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 Syrian troops that were stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role were withdrawn in 2005.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

In the wake of major uprisings elsewhere in the region, antigovernment protests broke out in the southern province of Dar'a in 2011. Protesters called for the legalization of political parties, the removal of corrupt local officials, and the repeal of the restrictive Emergency Law allowing arrests without charge. Demonstrations and violent unrest spread across Syria, and the government responded with concessions, but also with military force and detentions that led to extended clashes and eventually civil war. International pressure on the Syrian Government intensified after 2011, as the Arab League, the EU, Turkey, and the US expanded economic sanctions against the ASAD regime and those entities that supported it. In 2012, more than 130 countries recognized the Syrian National Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. In 2015, Russia launched a military intervention on behalf of the ASAD regime, and domestic and foreign-government-aligned forces recaptured swaths of territory from opposition forces. With foreign support, the regime continued to periodically regain opposition-held territory until 2020, when Turkish firepower halted a regime advance and forced a stalemate between regime and opposition forces. The government lacks territorial control over much of the northeastern part of the country, which the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold, and a smaller area dominated by Turkey.

Since 2016, Turkey has conducted three large-scale military operations to capture territory along Syria's northern border. Some opposition forces organized under the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and Turkish forces have maintained control of northwestern Syria along the Turkish border with the Afrin area of Aleppo Province since 2018. The violent extremist organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly the Nusrah Front) emerged in 2017 as the predominant opposition force in Idlib Province, and still dominates an area also hosting Turkish forces. Negotiations have failed to produce a resolution to the conflict, and the UN estimated in 2022 that at least 306,000 people have died during the civil war. Approximately 6.7 million Syrians were internally displaced as of 2022, and 14.6 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance across the country. An additional 5.6 million Syrians were registered refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa. The conflict in Syria remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the full-scale invasion of Ukraine).

On 8 December 2024, Syrian Islamist rebels captured the capital city of Damascus and overthrew President Bashar al-ASAD. The former president and his family fled to Moscow, where they were granted political asylum. The al-ASAD regime had ruled Syria for over 50 years.

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

35 00 N, 38 00 E

Middle East

slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania

193 km

mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus

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

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

9,820 sq km (2022)

Euphrates (shared with Turkey [s], Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 3,596 km; Tigris (shared with Turkey, Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 1,950 km

note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley

dust storms, sandstorms

volcanism: Syria's two historically active volcanoes, Es Safa and an unnamed volcano near the Turkish border, have not erupted in centuries

the capital of Damascus is located at an oasis fed by the Barada River and is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities; there are Israeli settlements and civilian land-use sites in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights (2017)

Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)

Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%

1.63% (2025 est.)

21.26 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

3.97 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley

2.585 million DAMASCUS (capital), 2.203 million Aleppo, 1.443 million Hims (Homs), 996,000 Hamah (2023)

20 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

2.64 children born/woman (2025 est.)

1.28 (2025 est.)

7.8% of national budget (2022 est.)

1.52 physicians/1,000 population (2021)

1.4 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)

27.8% (2016)

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

mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus

25.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

16.802 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

transitional presidential republic

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

mixed system of civil and Islamic (sharia) law (for family courts)

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICC

18 years of age; universal

legal parties/alliances:
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
Arab Socialist (Ba'ath) Party – Syrian Regional
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syrian Regional Branch, Socialist Unionist Democratic Party
Arab Socialist Union of Syria or ASU
Democratic Arab Socialist Union
National Progressive Front or NPF
Socialist Unionist Democratic Party
Socialist Unionist Party
Syrian Communist Party (two branches)
Syrian Social Nationalist Party or SSNP
Unionist Socialist Party

major political organizations:
Kurdish Democratic Union Party or PYD
Kurdish National Council or KNC
Syriac Union Party
Syrian Democratic Council or SDC
Syrian Democratic Party
Syrian Opposition Coalition

de facto governance entities:
Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria or DAANES
Syrian Interim Government or SIG
Syrian Salvation Government or SSG

none

note: operations at the embassy were suspended on 18 March 2014

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

17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)

Independence Day (Evacuation Day), 17 April (1946)

description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black; three five-pointed red stars in a horizontal line, centered on the white band

meaning: the design is the same as a previous Syrian national flag (in use 1932-58 and 1961-63), but it is still unclear if the elements will retain the same meanings; the bands formerly represented Syria’s past rulers: white (Umayyad Caliphate), black (Abbasid Caliphate), and green (Rashidun Caliphate); the first star represented Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor, the three administrative subdivisions in Syria in the 1930s; the second star stood for Jabal Druze (the Mountain of the Druze), and the third star for the Alawite Mountains

history: in 2011, opponents to the Asad regime adopted the flag; in 2025, it became the new national flag, replacing the two-star design

northern bald ibis

red, white, black, green

low-income Middle Eastern economy; prior infrastructure and economy devastated by 11-year civil war; ongoing US sanctions; sporadic trans-migration during conflict; currently being supported by World Bank trust fund; ongoing hyperinflation

$19.993 billion (2023 est.)

wheat, barley, milk, sheep milk, tomatoes, olives, potatoes, maize, oranges, grapes (2023)

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

-13.4% (2022 est.)

6.617 million (2024 est.)

Turkey 29%, Saudi Arabia 16%, Lebanon 10%, India 10%, UAE 5% (2023)

olive oil, phosphates, spice seeds, cotton, tomatoes (2023)

Turkey 49%, UAE 11%, China 8%, Egypt 7%, Lebanon 3% (2023)

tobacco, plastics, wheat flours, plastic products, seed oils (2023)

state-run TV has 2 networks and 5 satellite channels; roughly two-thirds of homes have a satellite dish with access to foreign TV; 3 state-run radio channels; first private radio station launched in 2005; private radio broadcasters prohibited from transmitting news or political content (2018)

.sy

YK

42 (2025)

13 (2025)

the interim government authorities in Syria have established a Ministry of Defense and are attempting to unify the dozens of armed factions operating in Syria under a single, state-linked army; it has also established a Ministry of Interior to manage police and other security forces (2025)

not available

the military forces of Syria are equipped with Russian and Soviet-era armaments (2025)

under Bashar al-ASAD, Syrian men aged 18-38 were required to serve 18-21 months in the military; conscription continued until ASAD's fall when the interim government announced that mandatory conscription to Syria’s armed forces would be abolished and only be reinstated in extreme cases, such as national emergencies relating to war (2025)

as of September 2025, the government did not exercise control over all of Syria; areas of the northeast were under the control of ethnic Kurdish-led forces and areas south of the capital Damascus were controlled by members of the Druze religious minority; Turkish forces remained in parts of the north, while Israeli forces had moved into formerly demilitarized areas between Syria and Israel and into some Syrian territory near the frontier

the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; UNDOF has about 1,300 personnel (2025)

Syrian Space Agency (created in 2014); status is unclear since the fall of the ASAD Government (2025)

status unclear; has been handicapped by the impact of the civil war, including the loss of students and scientists who fled the country; had previously focused on satellite development and related space technologies, as well as scientific research; has relations with the space agency and space industries of Russia (2024)

1987 - first and only Syrian astronaut into space as part of a Soviet-crewed mission to the Mir Space Station under the Intercosmos program

2016 - signed a scientific cooperation agreement in the field of space technology and remote sensing with Russia

2018 - announced that developing a satellite would be a primary goal of the space program

Abdallah Azzam Brigades; Ansar al-Islam; Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq; Hizballah; Hurras al-Din; Islamic Jihad Union; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); Kata'ib Hizballah; Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); al-Qa'ida; Palestine Liberation Front (PLF); Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); PFLP-General Command (PLFP-GC)