Several sources indicate that the nameSyria is derived from the 8th century BCLuwian term "Sura/i", and the derivativeancient Greek name:Σύριοι,Sýrioi, orΣύροι,Sýroi, both of which originally derived from Aššūr (Assyria) in northernMesopotamia (present-day Iraq and north-eastern Syria).[19][20] However, from theSeleucid Empire (323–150 BC), this term was also applied to theLevant,[21] and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between theAssyrians of Mesopotamia andArameans of the Levant.[22][23] Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favors the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognateἈσσυρία,Assyria, ultimately derived from theAkkadianAššur.[24] The Greek name appears to correspond toPhoenicianʾšr "Assur",ʾšrym "Assyrians", recorded in the 8th-century BCÇineköy inscription.[25]
The area designated by the word has changed over time. Classically, Syria lies at the eastern end of theMediterranean, betweenArabia to the south andAsia Minor to the north, stretching inland to include parts of Iraq, and having an uncertain border to the northeast thatPliny the Elder describes as including, from west to east,Commagene,Sophene, andAdiabene.[26]
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 renamedPalaestina in 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.[27]
TheNatufian culture was the first to become sedentary around the 11th millennium BC[28] and became one of the centers ofNeolithic culture (known asPre-Pottery Neolithic A), where agriculture and cattle breeding first began to appear. The site ofTell Qaramel has several round stone towers dated to 10650 BC, making them the oldest structures of this kind in the world.[29][30] The Neolithic period (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) is represented by rectangular houses ofMureybet culture. At the time, people used containers made of stone, gyps, and burnt lime (Vaisselle blanche). The discovery ofobsidian tools fromAnatolia are evidence of early trade. The ancient cities ofHamoukar andEmar played 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.
Ishqi-Mari, king of the Second Kingdom ofMari, circa 2300 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 language is the earliest attested of theCanaanite languages.Mari reemerged during this period until conquered byHammurabi of Babylon.Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modernLatakia.Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages and developed theUgaritic alphabet,[43] considered to be the world's earliest known alphabet. The Ugaritic kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-EuropeanSea Peoples in the 12th century BC in what was known as the LateBronze Age Collapse.
Aleppo and Damascus are among theoldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.[44]Yamhad (modern Aleppo) dominated northern Syria for two centuries,[45] although eastern Syria was occupied in the 19th and 18th centuries BC by theOld Assyrian Empire ruled by the Amorite dynasty ofShamshi-Adad I, and by theBabylonian Empire which 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.[45] Yamhad imposed its authority overAlalakh,[46]Qatna,[47] the Hurrians states, and theEuphrates valley down to the borders with Babylon.[48] The army of Yamhad campaigned as far away asDēr on the border ofElam (modern Iran).[49] Yamhad was conquered and destroyed, along with Ebla, by theHittites fromAsia Minor circa 1600 BC.[50] From this time, Syria became a battle ground for various foreign empires, these being theHittite Empire,Mitanni Empire,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.
Syrians bringing presents to PharaohTuthmosis III, as depicted in the tomb ofRekhmire, circa 1450 BCE (actual painting and interpretational drawing). They are labeled "Chiefs ofRetjenu".[51][52]
Around the 14th century BC, variousSemitic people appeared in the area, such as the semi-nomadicSuteans who came into an unsuccessful conflict with Babylonia to the east, and theWest Semitic speakingArameans who 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.[53][54] The west remained part of the Hittite empire until its destructionc. 1200 BC,[55] while eastern Syria largely became part of the Middle Assyrian Empire,[56] who also annexed much of the west during the reign ofTiglath-Pileser I 1114–1076 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 asAramea orAram. There was also a synthesis between the Semitic Arameans and the remnants of the Indo-European Hittites, with the founding of a number ofSyro-Hittite states centered in north central Aram (Syria) and south central Asia Minor (modern Turkey), includingPalistin,Carchemish andSam'al.
ACanaanite group known as thePhoenicians came to dominate the coasts of Syria, (and also Lebanon and northernPalestine) from the 13th century BC, foundingcity states such 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 ofCarthage in 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 East then fell to the vastNeo Assyrian Empire (911 BC – 605 BC). The Assyrians introducedImperial Aramaic as thelingua franca of their empire. This language was to remain dominant in Syria and the entireNear East until after theIslamic conquest 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,Scythians andCimmerians. During the fall of Assyria, theScythians ravaged and plundered much of Syria. The last stand of the Assyrian army was atCarchemish in 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 Empire in 539 BC. Led byCyrus the Great, the Achaemenid Persians retainedImperial Aramaic as one of the diplomatic languages of their empire, as well as the Assyrian name for the newsatrapy of Aram/SyriaEber-Nari. Syria was conquered by theMacedonian Empire which was ruled byAlexander the Greatc. 330 BC and consequently becameCoele-Syria province 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.[57] Thus in theGreco-Roman world both theArameans of Syria and theAssyrians of 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 southernSeleucid Syria were taken by theJewishHasmonean dynasty upon the slow disintegration of theHellenistic Empire.
Syria briefly came underArmenian control 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 province in 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 kingOdaenathus defeated the Persian emperorShapur I and controlled the entirety of the Roman East while his successor and widowZenobia established 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 MesopotamianAssyrian kingdom ofAdiabene controlled areas of north east Syria between 10 and 117, before it was conquered by Rome.[58] The Aramaic language has been found as far afield asHadrian's Wall inRoman Britain,[59] with an inscription written by a Palmyrene emigrant at the site of FortArbeia.[60] Control of Syria eventually passed from the Romans to theByzantines with the split in the Roman Empire.[37] 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 Conquest in the 7th century, the bulk of the population were Arameans, but Syria was also home toGreek and 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-IslamicArabs such as theLakhmids andGhassanids dwelling in the deserts of southern Syria.Syriac Christianity had taken hold as the major religion, although others still followedJudaism,Mithraism,Manicheanism,Greco-Roman Religion,Canaanite Religion andMesopotamian 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.[61]
The ancient city ofApamea, an important commercial center and one of Syria's most prosperous cities in classical antiquity
Syrians held considerable power during theSeveran dynasty. The matriarch of the family and empress of Rome as wife of emperorSeptimius Severus wasJulia Domna, a Syrian from the city ofEmesa (modern dayHoms),whose family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the godEl-Gabal. Her great nephews, also Arabs from Syria, would also become Roman emperors, the first beingElagabalus and 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 249[61] and 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.
Muhammad's first interaction with the people of Syria was during theinvasion of Dumatul Jandal in July 626[62] where 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.[63]William Montgomery Watt claims that this was the most significant expedition Muhammad ordered at the time, even though it received little notice in the primary sources.Dumat Al-Jandal was 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".[64]William Muir also 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.[62]
By 640, Syriawas conquered by theRashidun army led byKhalid ibn al-Walid. In the mid-7th century, theUmayyad dynasty placed 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[66] – became the dominant language, replacingGreek andAramaic of the Byzantine era. In 887, the Egypt-basedTulunids annexed Syria from the Abbasids and were later replaced by the Egypt-basedIkhshidids and then by theHamdanids originating in Aleppo founded bySayf al-Dawla.[67]
Sections of Syria were held by French, English, Italian and German overlords between 1098 and 1189 during theCrusades and 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."[68] After a century of Seljuk rule, Syria was largely conquered (1175–1185) by theKurdish liberatorSalah ad-Din, founder of theAyyubid dynasty of Egypt.Aleppo fell to theMongols ofHulegu in 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, theMamluks arrived with an army from Egypt and defeated the Mongols in theBattle of Ain Jalut inGalilee. The Mamluk leader,Baibars, made Damascus a provincial capital. When he died, power was taken byQalawun. In the meantime, an emir namedSunqur al-Ashqar had 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 theIlkhanate took 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.[69] In 1400, the MuslimTurco-Mongol conquerorTamurlane invaded Syria, in which hesacked Aleppo[70] andcaptured Damascus after defeating the Mamluk army. The city's inhabitants were massacred, except for the artisans who were deported toSamarkand.[71] Tamurlane conducted massacres of the Assyrian Christian population, greatly reducing their numbers.[72] By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to theFar East ended the need for anoverland trade route through Syria.
In 1516, theOttoman Empire invaded 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 theQuran and 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.[73]
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,Kurds andJews—constituted amillet.[74] The religious heads of each community administered all personal status laws and performed certain civil functions as well.[73] In 1831,Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt renounced 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, rebuiltJaffa and 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,Tanzimat reforms were applied on Ottoman Syria, carving out the provinces (vilayets) ofAleppo,Zor,Beirut andDamascus Vilayet;Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon was created, and soon after theMutasarrifate of Jerusalem was 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 East to theBritish Empire andFrench Empire. During the conflict, genocide against indigenous Christian peoples was carried out by the Ottomans and their allies in the form of theArmenian genocide andAssyrian genocide, of whichDeir ez-Zor in Ottoman Syria was the final destination of these death marches.[75] In the midst of World War I, twoAllied diplomats (FrenchmanFrançois Georges-Picot andBritonMark Sykes) secretly agreed on the post-war division of the Ottoman Empire into respective zones of influence in theSykes-Picot Agreement of 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 ofMosul just before the end of the war led to yetanother negotiation with France in 1918 to 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 Nations mandate in 1920[76] and has not changed to date.
In 1920, a short-lived independentKingdom of Syria was established underFaisal I of theHashemite family. 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 conference proposed that theLeague of Nations put Syria under a French mandate. General Gouraud had according to his secretary de Caix two options: "Either build a Syrian nation that does not exist... by smoothing the rifts which still divide it" or "cultivate and maintain all the phenomena, which require our arbitration that these divisions give". De Caix added "I must say only the second option interests me". This is what Gouraud did.[77][78]
In 1925,Sultan al-Atrash leda revolt that broke out in theDruze Mountain and spread to engulf the whole of Syria and parts of Lebanon. Al-Atrash won several battles against the French, notably theBattle of al-Kafr on 21 July 1925, theBattle of al-Mazraa on 2–3 August 1925, and the battles of Salkhad,al-Musayfirah and 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 independence in September 1936, andHashim al-Atassi was 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 France until the British and Free French occupied the country in theSyria-Lebanon campaign in July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalists and the Britishforced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.[79]
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.[80] PresidentShukri al-Quwwatli instructed his troops in the front, "to destroy the Zionists".[81][82] The invasion purpose was to prevent the establishment of the state of Israel.[83] 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.[84] Defeat in this war was one of several trigger factors for theMarch 1949 Syrian coup d'état by ColonelHusni al-Za'im, described as the first military overthrow of theArab World[83] since 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.[83]
Aleppo in 1961
Shishakli eventually abolished multipartyism altogether but was overthrown in a1954 coup, and the parliamentary system was restored.[83] However, by this time, power was increasingly concentrated in the military and security establishment.[83] The weakness of Parliamentary institutions and the mismanagement of the economy led to unrest and the influence ofNasserism and 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.[83]
In November 1956, as a direct result of theSuez Crisis,[85] Syria signed a pact with theSoviet Union. This gave a foothold for communist influence within the government in exchange for military equipment.[83]Turkey then 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.[86]
On 1 February 1958, Syrian PresidentShukri al-Quwatli and 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.[79] 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 Jadid and Captain Hafez al-Assad. Syria seceded from the union with Egypt on 28 September 1961, after acoup and terminated the political union.
Land reform
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.[87] 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.[88] This was designed to strengthen the position of sharecroppers and agricultural laborers in relation to land owners.[88] 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.[89] Furthermore, it obligated landlords to honor both written and oral contracts, established collective bargaining, contained provisions for workers' compensation, health, housing, and employment services.[88] Law 134 was not designed strictly to protect workers. It also acknowledged the rights of landlords to form their own syndicates.[88]
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 state and shaped a socio-political order by enforcing itsstate ideology.[93] On 23 February 1966, the neo-Ba'athist Military Committee carried out anintra-party rebellion against the Ba'athist Old Guard (Aflaq andBitar), imprisoned PresidentAmin al-Hafiz and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March.[83] AlthoughNureddin al-Atassi became the formal head of state,Salah Jadid was Syria's effective ruler from 1966 until November 1970,[94] when he was deposed byHafez al-Assad, who at the time was Minister of Defense.[95]
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 movement was 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 Zone led to7 April pre-war aerial clashes between Israel and Syria.[96] When theSix-Day War broke 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 Heights in under 48 hours.[97] The defeat caused a split between Jadid and Assad over what steps to take next.[98] 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 Organization led byYasser Arafat during the "Black September (also known as the Jordan Civil War of 1970)" hostilities with Jordan reflected this disagreement.[99]
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.[95] Assad transformed a Ba'athist party state into a 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 assignedAlawite loyalists to key posts in the military forces, bureaucracy,intelligence and the ruling elite. A cult of personality revolving around Hafez and his family became a core tenet ofBa'athist ideology,[100] which espoused thatAssad dynasty was destined to rule perennially.[101] On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt initiated theYom Kippur War against Israel. TheIsrael Defense Forces reversed the initial Syrian gains and pushed deeper into Syrian territory.[102] The village ofQuneitra was largely destroyed by the Israeli army. In the late 1970s, anIslamist uprising by theMuslim Brotherhood was 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,[103] when more than 2,000 to 25,000[104]-40,000 people (islamist and civilians) were killed bySyrian military troops and Ba'athist paramilitaries.[105][106] It has been described as the "single deadliest act" of violence perpetrated by any state upon its own population inmodern Arab history[105][106]
In a major shift in relations with both otherArab states and the Western world, Syria participated in the United States-ledGulf War againstSaddam 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 Clinton inGeneva in 2000.[107]
Hafez al-Assad died on 10 June 2000. His son,Bashar al-Assad, was elected president inan election in which he ran unopposed.[79] His election saw the birth of theDamascus Spring and hopes of reform, but by autumn 2001 the authorities had suppressed the movement, imprisoning some of its leading intellectuals.[108] Instead, reforms have been limited to some market reforms.[100][109] On 5 October 2003 Israelbombed a site near Damascus, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members ofIslamic Jihad.[110] In March 2004,Syrian Kurds and Arabsclashed inal-Qamishli. Signs of rioting were seen in Qamishli andHasakeh.[111] In 2005, Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon.[112]Assassination ofRafic Hariri in 2005 led to international condemnation and triggered a popularIntifada inLebanon, known as "the Cedar Revolution", which forced theAssad regime to end its 29-year-oldmilitary occupation in Lebanon.[113] On 6 September 2007, foreign jet fighters, suspected as Israeli, reportedly carried outOperation Orchard against a suspected nuclear reactor under construction byNorth Korean technicians.[114]
Nepotism of ruling elites andauthoritarian regime causedSyrian Revolution as part of the widerArab Spring. Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26 January 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,[115][116] though the unrest continued. According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army.[117] The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble.[118] Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began aninsurgency campaign against the Syrian Army. The insurgents unified under the banner of theFree Syrian Army and fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership.[119]
Pro-Assad demonstration in the capital Damascus afterUS-led missile strikes in April 2018
By 2024, the Syrian civil war had resulted in more than 600,000 deaths,[130] with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of thetotal civilian casualties.[g] Between March 2011 and March 2021, more than 306,000 civilians were killed in the civil war.[140][141] The war led to amassive refugee crisis, with an estimated 7.6 millioninternally displaced people (July 2015UNHCR figure) and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered byUNHCR).[142] The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living in poverty and 80% facing food insecurity.[h][i]
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.[119] 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.[148][149][150] The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis,[151] but sent anobserver mission in December 2011, as part of itsproposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis.[150]
Rise and fall of Islamic State, intervention of foreign countries and creation of several rebel factions
IS's capitalRaqqa suffered extensive damage during thebattle of Raqqa in June–October 2017
Taking an advantage of ongoing civil war, theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) won many battles against the rebel factions and the Syrian government in 2014. ISIS was able to seize control of large parts of Eastern Syria, prompting a United States-led coalition to launch anaerial bombing campaign against ISIS, while providingground support and supplies to theSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated coalition led by thePeople's Defense Units (YPG).
In August 2016, Turkey launched amulti-pronged invasion of northern Syria, in response to the creation of the Kurdish-ledAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, while also fighting ISIS and government forces in the process. During this time, Turkey helped establish theSyrian National Army (SNA) out of remnants of the Free Syrian Army.Iran and later Russia alsointervened the civil war in behalf of Assad government to defeat ISIS and attack both SDF and SNA. The ISIS eventually lost its territory after thefall of IS in Mosul and increasingly resorted to more terror bombings and insurgency operations that continues in present.
In December 2024, violence flared up once again. Rebel factions, led by the Islamist group HayatTahrir al-Sham (HTS),took control of Aleppo in 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-held city 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 province following their capture of Aleppo.[152][153][154] 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.[155] The fighting led to widespread displacement, with nearly 50,000 people fleeing the area and over 600 casualties reported, including 104 civilians.[156]
Rebel forces reached the outskirts ofHoms on 5 December, beginning athree-day battle for the city. Simultaneously, an HTS-coordinated[157][158]mass uprising led by acoalition of Druze tribes and opposition forces captured the southern cities ofSuwayda andDaraa by 6 December,[159] and rapidly advanced northwards to encircle Damascus over the following day.[160][161] 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.[162]
Cut off from theAlawite heartland ofTartus andLatakia governorates, 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.[163][164] TheSyrian Arab Armed Forces melted away as its soldiers abandoned their weapons and uniforms,[165] manydeserting across the border toIraq andLebanon. Opposition forcescaptured the capital Damascus on 8 December, toppling Bashar al-Assad's government and ending the Assad family's 53-year-long rule over the country.[166] Assad fled toMoscow with his family, where he was granted asylum.[167][168]
Prior to the fall of the Assad regime, Mohammed al-Bashir headed theSyrian Salvation Government (SSG) formed in the province ofIdlib byHay'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.[173]
Shortly after the fall of the Assad regime,Israel commenced a ground invasion of thePurple Line buffer zone near the Golan Heights, as well as commencing a series of airstrikes against Syrian military depots and naval bases.[178][179] TheIsraeli Defense Forces claims that it is destroying Ba'athist military infrastructure, including chemical weapons plants, so that the rebels cannot use them.[178]
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-Qaeda and theIslamic State.[183][184][185] The use of a variation of theTawhid flag by the new government alongsidethe opposition flag also raised worries, as it implies that the new state may beless secular.[174][175]Aisha al-Dibs was appointed as the Minister of Women's Affairs on 22 December 2024.[186]
On 12 December 2024, a spokesman of the transitional government speaking toAgence France-Presse said that during the government's three-month term, theconstitution andparliament would be suspended and that a 'judicial and human rights committee' would be established to review the constitution, prior to making amendments.[187]
On 12 February 2025, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani announced that a new government would be formed by 1 March, which "will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account."[189] On 8 March 2025, the UK-basedSOHR reported that Syrian security forces and pro-government fighters had committed amassacre of more than 700 Alawite civilians duringclashes in western Syria.[190]
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi agree to integrate the SDF into the Syrian transitional government.
On 10 March 2025, SDF agreed to merge with Syria Armed Forces after Abdi met with Syrian transitional president Ahmed al-Sharaa.[191]
Syria is the twelfth most water-stressed country in the world.The Euphrates isthe longest and one ofthe oldestrivers in Western Asia
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-Jazira in the northeast andHawran in 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".[192] Its land straddles the northwest of theArabian plate.[193]
Petroleum in commercial quantities was first discovered in the northeast in 1956. The most important oil fields are those ofal-Suwaydiyah,Karatchok,Rmelan nearal-Hasakah, as well asal-Omar andal-Taym fields nearDayr az–Zawr. The fields are a natural extension of the Iraqi fields ofMosul andKirkuk. Petroleum became Syria's leading natural resource and chief export after 1974. Natural gas was discovered at the field of Jbessa in 1940.[79]
Syria is currently undergoing a political transition following thefall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024. Atransitional government, led byMohammed al-Bashir has been formed to govern the country, initially until 1 March 2025. The Syrianconstitution andparliament were suspended on 12 December 2024 for the duration of the transitional period. On 29 January 2025, during theSyrian Revolution Victory Conference inPresidential Palace, the Syrian General Command appointedAhmed al-Sharaa as president for the transitional period after he had served as thede facto leader following the fall of the Assad regime.[196] An interim legislative council is expected to be formed to serve as Syria's legislature until a new constitution is adopted.[197]
The Syrian Arab Republic was apresidential state[198] that nominally permitted the candidacy of individuals who were not part of the Ba'ath-controlledNational Progressive Front.[199][200] Despite this, Syria remained a one-party state with an extensivesecret police apparatus that curtailed any independent political activity.[201][202] 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.[203]
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.[214][215] 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 Brotherhood and the traditionalulama. They labelled Assad the "enemy ofAllah" and called for ajihad against his rule.[216] The government survived a series ofarmed revolts led mostly byIslamists of 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.[214] 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.[217]
There was no independent judiciary in Syria, since all judges and prosecutors were required to be Ba'athist appointees.[201] Syria's judicial branches include theSupreme Constitutional Court, theHigh Judicial Council, the Court of Cassation, and theState Security Courts.Islamic jurisprudence was a main source of legislation and Syria's judicial system had elements ofOttoman,French, andIslamic laws. 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.[214] The Supreme State Security Court was abolished by Bashar al-Assad in 2011.[218] As a result of the ongoing civil war, various alternative governments were formed, including theSyrian Interim Government, theDemocratic Union Party and 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 and[219] was recognised as the "sole representative of the Syrian people" by several nations including the United States, United Kingdom, and France.[220][221][222]
Syria's elections are conducted through asham process; characterised by wide-scalerigging, repetitive voting and absence ofvoter registration and verification systems.[223][224][225] 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.[226] 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."[227] 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".[228][229][230][225]Electoral Integrity Project's 2022 Global report designated Syrian elections as a "facade" with the worst electoral integrity in the world alongsideComoros andCentral African Republic.[231][232] 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.
Administrative divisions
Syria is divided into 14governorates, which are subdivided into 61districts, which are further divided into sub-districts.
While entertainingsome foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any state[240] though it has been recognized by the regionalCatalan Parliament.[241][242] The AANES has widespread support for its universal democratic, sustainable, autonomous pluralist, equal, and feminist policies in dialogues with other parties and organizations.[243][244][245][246] Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnicTurkmen,Armenians,Circassians,[247] andYazidis.[248][249][250]
The supporters of the region's administration state that it is an officially secular polity[251][252] with direct democratic ambitions based on an anarchistic, feminist, and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality,[253][254] 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 Syria as a whole, rather than outright independence.[255][256][257][258] The region's administration has also been accused by some partisan and non-partisan sources of authoritarianism and support of the Syrian government.[259] 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.[260][261][262][243][263][264][265][excessive citations]
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 ofManbij andKobani in order to dissuade a Turkish attack on those cities as part of the cross-border offensive by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.[266] 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.[267][268] Following the creation of theSecond Northern Syria Buffer Zone the 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.[269]
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.[270]
Map of world and Syria (red) with military involvement:
Countries that supported the government of Bashar al-Assad
Countries that supported the Syrian opposition
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.[271] Syria also quit theUnion for the Mediterranean.[272] After 11 years, the Arab League readmitted Syria.[273] TheOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria in August 2012 citing "deep concern at themassacres and inhuman acts" perpetrated by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad.[147]
In 1939, while Syria was still a French mandate the French allowed a plebiscite regarding theSanjak of Alexandretta joining 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 inAdana and other areas near the border in Turkey came to vote in the elections, shifting the election in favor of secession. Through this, theHatay Province of Turkey was formed. The move by the French was very controversial in Syria, and only five years later Syria became independent.[274] 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.[275]
The western two-thirds of Syria's Golan Heights region are since 1967occupied by Israel and were in 1981effectively annexed byIsrael,[276][277] whereas the eastern third is controlled by Syria, with theUNDOF maintaining 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.[278] The Syrian government continues to demand the return of this territory.[279]
Duringits invasion of Syria in December 2024, Israel took control of the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory, a move that violated the1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.[280] On 23 February 2025, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu demanded the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces ofQuneitra,Daraa andSuweyda, and the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Syrian territory south of Damascus.[281] Israeli Defense MinisterIsrael Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in southern Syria "for an indefinite period of time to protect our communities and thwart any threat."[282] Syria's new regime under transitional PresidentAhmed al-Sharaa condemned Israel's occupation of Syrian lands and demanded Israel's withdrawal.[283]
In early 1976, Syria entered Lebanon, beginning their 29-yearmilitary 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.[285][286] 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.[287]
Another disputed territory is theShebaa farms, located in the intersection of theLebanese-Syrian border and 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.[288] 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,Hezbollah claimed that the withdrawal was not complete because Shebaa was on Lebanese – not Syrian – territory.[289] After studying 81 maps, the United Nations concluded that there is no evidence of the abandoned farmlands being Lebanese.[290] 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.[291] 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.[292]
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.[293]
Syria received significant financial aid fromArab states of the Persian Gulf as 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.
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.[299][300][303] 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.[303] 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.[304][305]People opposing President Assad's rule claim that more than 200, mostly civilians, were massacred and about 300 injured in Hama in shelling by the government forces on 12 July 2012.[306]
In August 2013, the government was suspected of using chemical weapons against its civilians. U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry said 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".[307] 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.[214][218]
In August 2014,UN Human Rights chiefNavi Pillay criticized 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.[308][309][310][302] Three years later in April 2017, the U.S. Navy carried out amissile attack against a Syrian air base[311] which had allegedly been used to conduct achemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians, according to the U.S. government.[312] 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.[313]
Historical development of real GDP per capita in Syria, since 1820Bank Al-Sharq and theBlue Tower Hotel inDamascus
Syria's share in global exports has eroded gradually since 2001.[314] The real per capita GDP growth was just 2.5% per year in the 2000–2008 period.[314] Poverty rates increased from 11% in 2004 to 12.3% in 2007.[314] 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.[79]
As of 2012[update], the value of overall exports was slashed by two-thirds, from the figure of US$12billion in 2010 to only US$4billion in 2012.[315] Since 2012, oil and tourism industries in particular have been devastated, with US$5billion lost.[315] Reconstruction will cost as much as US$10billion.[315] 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.[316] Around 40% of all employees in the tourism sector lost their jobs since the beginning of the war.[317] In May 2015,ISIS captured Syria's phosphate mines, one of the Syrian government's last chief sources of income.[318] 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.[319] 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.[320]Aleppo soap is 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.[321]
TheUNDP announced in 2005 that 30% of the population lived in poverty, and 11.4% live below the subsistence level.[79] At the outset of the civil war, Syria was classified by theWorld Bank as a "lower middle income country,"[322] though in 2010 Syria remained dependent on the oil andagriculture sectors.[323] The oil sector provided about 40% of export earnings.[323]
During the civil war, theSyrian economy relied upon dwindling customs and income taxes which are heavily bolstered by lines of credit from Iran,[324] Russia and China.[325] Iran is believed to have spent between $6billion and US$20billion per year on Syria during the first four years of the civil war.[326] TheSyrian pound lost 80% of its value, with the economy becoming partstate-owned and partwar economy.[327] Provenoffshore expeditions have indicated that large sums of oil exist on the Mediterranean Sea floor between Syria and Cyprus.[328] 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.[323]
The economy was highly regulated by the government, which increased subsidies and tightened trade controls to assuage protesters and protectforeign currency reserves.[14] 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.[14]
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.[329]
PumpjackEnergy in Syria is mostly based onoil andgas.[330] Some energy infrastructure was damaged by theSyrian civil war. There is high reliance onfossil fuels for energy in Syria,[331] andelectricity demand is projected to increase by 2030, especially for industry activity such asautomation.[332] However, conflict in Syria has caused electricity generation to decrease by nearly 40% in recent years due to plant destruction and fuel shortages.[333] Electricity access in daily life for Syrians has also been altered due to conflict. Electricity to residents of Syria is largely provided by privatediesel generators, which is costly and limited in hours of use.[334] Conflict has increased household electricity expenditures while also decreasinghousehold income.[334] Some households have since turned tosolar energy as a supplementary source of energy, though high costs limit widespread adoption.[334]
Despite the crisis in Syria, agriculture remains a key part of the economy. The sector still accounts for an estimated 26 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and represents a critical safety net for the 6.7 million Syrians – including those internally displaced – who still remain in rural areas. However, agriculture and the livelihoods that depend on it have suffered massive losses. Today, food production is at a record low and around half the population remaining in Syria are unable to meet their daily food needs.[335]
Until the mid-1970s,agriculture in Syria was the primaryeconomic activity in Syria. At independence in 1946,agriculture (including minorforestry andfishing) was the most important sector of the economy, and in the 1940s and early 1950s, agriculture was the fastest growing sector. Wealthy merchants from urban centers such as Aleppo invested inland development and irrigation. The rapid expansion of the cultivated area and increased output stimulated the rest of the economy. However, by the late 1950s, there was little land left that could easily be brought under cultivation. During the 1960s,agricultural output stagnated because of political instability andland reform. Between 1953 and 1976, agriculture's contribution toGDP increased (in constant prices) by only 3.2%, approximately the rate of population growth. From 1976 to 1984 growth in agriculture declined to 2% a year, and its importance in the economy declined as other sectors grew more rapidly.
In 1981, as in the 1970s, 53% of the population was still classified asrural, although movement to the cities continued to accelerate. However, in contrast to the 1970s, when 50% of thelabor force was employed in agriculture, by 1983 agriculture employed only 30% of the labor force. Furthermore, by the mid-1980s, unprocessed farm products accounted for only 4% of exports, equivalent to 7% of non-petroleum exports. Industry, commerce, and transportation still depended onfarm produce and relatedagro-business, but agriculture's preeminent position had clearly eroded. By 1985 agriculture (including a little forestry and fishing) contributed only 16.5% to GDP, down from 22.1% in 1976.
By the mid-1980s, theSyrian government had taken measures to revitalize agriculture. The 1985 investment budget saw a sharp rise in allocations for agriculture, includingland reclamation andirrigation. The government's renewed commitment to agricultural development in the 1980s, by expanding cultivation and extending irrigation, promised brighter prospects for Syrian agriculture in the 1990s.
During theSyrian Civil War, the agricultural sector has witnessed a drop in producing all kinds of commodities such as wheat, cotton and olives,[336] due to the lack of security and immigration of agricultural workforce,[337] especially inAl-Hasakah Governorate andAleppo Governorate.
Syria has four international airports (Damascus,Aleppo,Lattakia andQamishli), which serve as hubs forSyrian Air and are also served by a variety of foreign carriers.[338] The majority of Syrian cargo is carried bySyrian Railways.[citation needed] As of 2024 there are no international rail services, buthigh-speed rail in Turkey is being extended close to the border.[339] 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.[14]
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.[344] A big challenge for Syria before the civil war was its high population growth (in 2006 the growth rate was 2.7%[345]), leading to rapidly increasing demand for urban and industrial water.[346]
Prior to the fall of the Ba'athist regime on 8 December 2024, Syria was home to a burgeoningillegal drugs industry run by associates and relatives of Bashar al-Assad.[347] It mainly producedcaptagon, an addictiveamphetamine popular in the Arab world. As of 2021, the export of illegal drugs eclipsed the country's legal exports, leading theNew York Times to call Syria "the world's newestnarcostate".[347] The drug exports allow the government to generate hard currency and bypassinternational sanctions.[347][348][127] 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.[349]
Most people live in theEuphrates 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).[352] 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.[353]
In what the UN has described as "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era",[354] by 2014 about 9.5million Syrians, half the population, had been displaced since March 2011;[355] 4million were outside the country as refugees.[356] 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.[357]
Syrians are an overall indigenousLevantine people, closely related to their immediate neighbors, such asLebanese,Palestinians,Jordanians andJews.[358][359] Syria has a population of approximately 18,500,000 (2019 estimate).Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000Palestinian not including the 6million refugees outside the country make up roughly 74% of the population.[14] The indigenousAssyrians andWestern Aramaic-speakers number around 400,000 people,[360] with the Western Aramaic-speakers living mainly in the villages ofMa'loula,Jubb'adin andBakh'a, while the Assyrians mainly reside in the north and northeast (Homs, Aleppo, Qamishli, Hasakah). Many (particularly the Assyrian group) still retain severalNeo-Aramaic dialects as spoken and written languages.[361]
The second-largest ethnic group in Syria are theKurds. They constitute about 9%[362] to 10%[7] of the population, or approximately 2 million people (including 40,000Yazidis[7]). Most Kurds reside in the northeastern corner of Syria and most speak theKurmanji variant of theKurdish language.[362] 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.[363][364][365] The fourth largest ethnic group are theAssyrians (3–4%),[7] followed by theCircassians (1.5%)[7] and theArmenians (1%),[7] 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.
The ethno-religious composition of Syria
There are also smaller ethnic minority groups, such as theAlbanians,Bosnians,Georgians,Greeks,Persians,Pashtuns andRussians.[7] However, most of these ethnic minorities have becomeArabized to some degree, particularly those who practice theMuslim faith.[7] The largest concentration of theSyrian diaspora outside theArab world is inBrazil, which has millions of people of Arab and other Near Eastern ancestries.[366] Brazil is the first country in the Americas to offer humanitarian visas to Syrian refugees.[367] The majority ofArab Argentines are from either Lebanese or Syrian background.[368]
Islam is the largest and predominant religion in Syria, comprising 87% of the population.Sunni Muslims make up around 74% of the population[14] and Sunni Arabs account for 59–60%. Most Kurds (8.5%)[372] and most Turkmens (3%)[372] are Sunni, while 3% of Syrians areShia Muslims (particularlyIsmailis, andTwelvers but there are also Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens), 10% areAlawites, 10% areChristians[14] (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.[14] Druze number around 500,000 and concentrate mainly in the southern area ofJabal al-Druze.[373] 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[update].[9]
Because theAssad family is Alawite, Alawites have historically dominated key government and military positions.[100][374][375]
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 Orthodox make up 45.7% of the Christian population; theSyriac Orthodox make up 22.4%; theArmenian Orthodox make up 10.9%; the Catholics (includingGreek Catholic,Syriac Catholic,Armenian Catholic,Maronite,Chaldean Catholic andLatin) make up 16.2%;Assyrian Church of the East and several smaller Christian denominations account for the remainder. Many Christianmonasteries also exist. Many Christian Syrians belong to a high socio-economic class.[376] 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.[377]
Syria was once home to a substantial population ofJews, with large communities in Damascus, Aleppo, andQamishii.[378] 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.[378] The process was completed with the establishment of Israel in 1948.[378] The remaining Jewish population dwindled as a result of the civil war. Today 100 Jews live in Syria.[378] 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 orvocational training period and a three-year academic or vocational program. The second three-year period of academic training is required for universityadmission. Total enrollment atpost-secondary schools is over 150,000. Theliteracy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 90.7% for males and 82.2% for females.[379][380]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2024)
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.[386] The life expectancy at birth was 75.7 years in 2010, or 74.2 years for males and 77.3 years for females.[387]
Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions.
Syria is a traditional society with a long cultural history.[388] 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, theDabkeh in all their variations, and the sword dance. Marriage ceremonies and the births of children are occasions for the lively demonstration of folk customs.[389]
Ba'ath Party rule has brought about renewed censorship.[390][391] 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.
Nearly all ofSyria's media outlets are state-owned.[393] The authorities operate several intelligence agencies,[394] among themShu'bat al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya, employing many operatives.[395] 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.[396]
Cuisine
Syrian cuisine is 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 wordyabraʾ deriving from the Turkish wordyaprak, meaning leaf).
Drinks vary, depending on the time of day and the occasion.Arabic coffee is 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.[397]
^Syria does not have an official flag sincethe fall of the Assad regime. A 2:3 variant of this flag was used between the fall of the Assad regime and 12 March 2025. This flag is unofficial and is thereforede facto, and is expected to receive official status by 2030.
^Although widely used in Syrian transitional government websites and documents, the coat of arms of Syria is unofficial since the fall of the Assad regime and therefore isde facto.
^After the fall of the Assad regime, it was briefly relinquished. Shortly thereafter, it was reinstated by theSyrian transitional government. However, on 18 January 2025, ade facto new anthem,In Pursuit of Glory, was played in a football match after theSyrian Football Association notifiedFIFA that they were using a new anthem. Ever since then, it has been unclear whether this anthem will still be used.
^abSources describing Syria as a totalitarian state:
Khamis, B. Gold, Vaughn, Sahar, Paul, Katherine (2013). "22. Propaganda in Egypt and Syria's "Cyberwars": Contexts, Actors, Tools, and Tactics". In Auerbach, Castronovo, Jonathan, Russ (ed.).The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 422.ISBN978-0-19-976441-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Wieland, Carsten (2018). "6: De-neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus".Syria and the Neutrality Trap: The Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 68.ISBN978-0-7556-4138-3.
Meininghaus, Esther (2016). "Introduction".Creating Consent in Ba'thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. I. B. Tauris. pp. 1–33.ISBN978-1-78453-115-7.
Sadiki, Larbi; Fares, Obaida (2014). "12: The Arab Spring Comes to Syria: Internal Mobilization for Democratic Change, Militarization and Internationalization".Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring: Rethinking Democratization. Routledge. p. 147.ISBN978-0-415-52391-2.
^The name "Rojava" ("The West") was initially used by the region'sPYD-led government, before its usage was dropped in 2016.[233][234][235] Since then, the name is still used by locals and international observers.
^abcdefghKhalifa, Mustafa (2013),"The impossible partition of Syria",Arab Reform Initiative:3–5,Arabs constitute the major ethnic group in Syria, making up between 80 and 85% of the population. Kurds are the second largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 10% of the Syrian population and distributed among four regions...with a Yazidi minority that numbers around 40,000... Turkmen are the third-largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 4–5% of the population. Some estimations indicate that they are the second biggest group, outnumbering Kurds, drawing on the fact that Turkmen are divided into two groups: the rural Turkmen who make up 30% of the Turkmen in Syria and have kept their mother tongue, and the urban Turkmen who have become Arabised and no longer speak their mother language... Assyrians are the fourth-largest ethnic group in Syria. They represent the original and oldest inhabitants of Syria, today making up around 3–4% of the Syrian population... Circassians are the fifth-largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 1.5% of the population... Armenians are sixth-largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 1% of the population... There are also a small number of other ethnic groups in Syria, including Greeks, Persians, Albanians, Bosnian, Pashtuns, Russians and Georgians...
^Shoup, John A. (2018),The History of Syria,ABC-CLIO, p. 6,ISBN978-1440858352,Syria has several other ethnic groups, the Kurds... they make up an estimated 9 percent...Turkomen comprise around 4-5 percent of the total population. The rest of the ethnic mix of Syria is made of Assyrians (about 4 percent), Armenians (about 2 percent), and Circassians (about 1 percent).
^First proposed byTheodor Nöldeke in 1881; cf.Harper, Douglas (November 2001)."Syria".Online Etymology Dictionary.Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved13 June 2007.
^Pettinato, Giovanni. The Archives of Ebla; Gelb, I. J. "Thoughts about Ibla: A Preliminary Evaluation" in Monographic Journals of the Near East, Syro-Mesopotamian Studies 1/1 (May 1977) pp. 3–30.
^Relations between God and Man in the Hurro-Hittite Song of Release, Mary R. Bachvarova,Journal of the American Oriental Society, Jan–Mar SAAD 2005
^"The foreigners of the fourth register, with long hairstyles and calf-length fringed robes, are labeled Chiefs of Retjenu, the ancient name tor the Syrian region. Like the Nubians, they come with animals, in this case horses, an elephant, and a bear; they also offer weapons and vessels most likely filled with precious substance." inHawass, Zahi A.; Vannini, Sandro (2009).The lost tombs of Thebes: life in paradise. Thames & Hudson. p. 120.ISBN9780500051597.
^Montgomery Watt W. (1956).Muhammad At Medina. Osmania University, Digital Library Of India. Oxford At The Clarendon Press. p. 35.This expedition receives scant notice in the sources, but in some ways it is the most significant so far. As Dumah was some 800 km (500 mi) from Medina there can have been no immediate threat to Muhammad, but it may be, as Caetani suggests, 1 that communications with Syria were being interrupted and supplies to Medina stopped. It is tempting to suppose that was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death.
^ab"Syria – Ottoman". Library of Congress Country Studies.Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved25 January 2013. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
^a b Stanford J. Shaw, "Dynamics of Ottoman Society and administration", in "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey"
^"Pouring a People into the Desert:The "Definitive Solution" of the Unionists to the Armenian Question", Fuat Dundar,A Question of Genocide, ed. Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Muge Gocek and Norman M. Naimark, (Oxford University Press, 2011), 280–281.
^abCreating Consent in Ba'thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. 2016.ISBN978-1784531157.Exceptionally, Perthes explicitly rejects the notion of Syria being totalitarian, stating that: [...] The state, under Asad's regime, has become authoritarian, not totalitarian.
^ab"As Lisa Weeden (1999, 27-30) argues, this system was not totalitarian but rather an authoritarian regime..." // Matthieu Rey. 2003: A Turning Point in the Formation in the Syrian Youth. Protests and Generations: Legacies and Emergences in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean, Brill, pp. 99-121, 2017, 9789004338159
^Wieland, Carsten (2021).Syria and the Neutrality Trap. New York: I.B. Tauris.ISBN978-0-7556-4138-3.
^Atassi, Karim (2018). "6: The Fourth Republic".Syria, the Strength of an Idea: The Constitutional Architectures of Its Political Regimes. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 252.doi:10.1017/9781316872017.ISBN978-1-107-18360-5.
^P. Miller, H. Rand, Andrew, Dafna (2020). "2: The Syrian Crucible and Future U.S. Options".Re-Engaging the Middle East. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 28.ISBN9780815737629.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^F. A. Schaeffer, Claude (2003).Syria and the Cradle of Civilization: The Findings of Claude F a Schaeffer in Ras Shamra. Trubner & Company.ISBN978-1-84453-129-5.
^Szmolk, Inmaculada (2017).Political Change in the Middle East and North Africa: After the Arab Spring. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 132–133,414–417.ISBN978-1-4744-1528 6.
^*Khamis, B. Gold, Vaughn, Sahar, Paul, Katherine (2013). "22. Propaganda in Egypt and Syria's "Cyberwars": Contexts, Actors, Tools, and Tactics". In Auerbach, Castronovo, Jonathan, Russ (ed.).The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 422.ISBN978-0-19-976441-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Wieland, Carsten (2018). "6: De-neutralizing Aid: All Roads Lead to Damascus".Syria and the Neutrality Trap: The Dilemmas of Delivering Humanitarian Aid Through Violent Regimes. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 68.ISBN978-0-7556-4138-3.
Ahmed, Saladdin (2019).Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura. Albany, New York: Suny Press. pp. 144, 149.ISBN9781438472911.
Hensman, Rohini (2018). "7: The Syrian Uprising".Indefensible: Democracy, Counterrevolution, and the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism. Chicago, Illinois: Haymarket Books.ISBN978-1-60846-912-3.
^Wedeen, Lisa (2015).Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. ix–xii,1–4,16–18,30–40.doi:10.7208/9780226345536 (inactive 1 November 2024).ISBN978-0-226-33337-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
^Rubin, Barry (2015).The Middle East. New York: Routledge. pp. 58, 233.ISBN978-0-7656-8094-5.
^Phillips, Christopher (2013).Everyday Arab Identity. New York: Routledge. pp. 49–70.ISBN978-0-415-68488-0.
^abcd"Syria (05/07)". State.gov.Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved25 October 2008. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
^Alianak, Sonia (2007).Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium. Peter Lang. p. 55.ISBN978-0-8204-6924-9.
^Schlager, Weisblatt, Neil, Jayne; A. Faksh, Mahmud (2006). "Syrian Arab Republic".World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties (4th ed.). New York: Facts on File. p. 1303.ISBN0-8160-5953-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Norris, Pippa; Martinez i Coma, Ferran; Grömping, Max (2015)."The Year in Elections, 2014".Election Integrity Project. Archived fromthe original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved12 May 2023.The Syrian election ranked as worst among all the contests held during 2014.
^Schmidinger, Thomas (2019).The Battle for the Mountain of the Kurds. Translated by Schiffmann, Thomas. Oakland, CA: PM Press, Kairos. p. 12.ISBN978-1-62963-651-1.Afrin was the home to the largest Ezidi minority in Syria.
^*"The international community maintains that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan is null and void and without international legal effect."International Labour Office (2009).The situation of workers of the occupied Arab territories (International government publication ed.). International Labour Office. p. 23.ISBN978-92-2-120630-9.. * "...occupied Syrian Golan Heights..." (The Arab Peace Initiative, 2002Archived 4 June 2009 at theWayback Machine,www.al-bab.com. Retrieved 1 August 2010.)
^"Syria: Events of 2018".World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Syria. Human Rights Watch. 17 December 2018.Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved18 October 2019.
^Hainoun, A.; Omar, H.; Almoustafa, S.; Seif-Eldin, M. K.; Meslmani, Y. (2014). "Future development of Syrian power sector in view of GHG Mitigation Options".Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.38:1045–1055.doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.090.
^Hainoun, A.; Seif-Eldin, M. K.; Almoustafa, S. (2006). "Analysis of the Syrian long-term energy and electricity demand projection using the end-use methodology".Energy Policy.34 (14):1958–1970.doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2004.12.024.
^Rosner, K. (2016). (tech.).Water and Electric Power in Iraq and Syria: Conflict and Fragility Implications for the Future. Robert Strauss Center.
^abcOmar, F. A.; Mahmoud, I.; Hussian, A.; Mohr, L.; Abdullah, H. O.; Farzat, A. (2020). "The effect of the Syrian crisis on electricity supply and the household life in North-West Syria: a university-based study".Education and Conflict Review.3:77–86.
^Eissa, T; Cho, Gi-Hwan (2013). "Internet Anonymity in Syria, Challenges and Solution".IT Convergence and Security 2012. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering. Vol. 215. pp. 177–186.doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5860-5_21.ISBN978-94-007-5859-9.
^World Bank (2001). Syrian Arab Republic Irrigation Sector Report. Rural Development, Water and Environment Group, Middle East and North Africa Region, Report No. 22602-SYR[1]
^"Who are the Turkmen in Syria?".BBC News. BBC. 2015.There are no reliable population figures, but they are estimated to number between about half a million and 3.5 million.
^"Who Are the Turkmens of Syria?".The New York Times. 2015.Q. How many are there? A. No reliable figures are available, and estimates on the number of Turkmens in Syria and nearby countries vary widely, from the hundreds of thousands up to 3 million or more.
^Peyrouse, Sebastien (2015),Turkmenistan: Strategies of Power, Dilemmas of Development,Routledge, p. 62,ISBN978-0-230-11552-1,There are nearly one million [Turkmen] in Syria...
^"The Arabs of Brazil". Saudi Aramco World. September–October 2005. Archived fromthe original on 26 November 2005. Retrieved30 January 2013.
^Ministry of Higher Education (23 November 2011)."Public universities". Ministry of Higher Education. Archived fromthe original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved22 January 2013.
^"Private universities". Ministry of Higher Education. 23 November 2011. Archived fromthe original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved22 January 2013.
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