Syria

• 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

total:

19.95 cu km/yr (3%/2%/95%)

per capita:

1,048 cu m/yr (2000)

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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification

noun:

Syrian(s)

adjective:

Syrian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.86 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

conventional long form:

Syrian Arab Republic

conventional short form:

Syria

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah

local short form:

Suriyah

former:

United Arab Republic (with Egypt)

name:

Damascus

geographic coordinates:

33 30 N, 36 18 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins first Friday in April; ends last Friday in October

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

chief of state:

• President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000);
• Vice President Farouk al-SHARA (since 11 February 2006) oversees foreign policy;
• Vice President Najah al-ATTAR (since 23 March 2006) oversees cultural policy

head of government:

Prime Minister Adil SAFR (since 14 April 2011)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - new Council appointed on 14 April 2011; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president approved by popular referendum for a second seven-year term (no term limits);
• referendum last held on 27 May 2007 (next to be held in May 2014);
• the president appoints the vice presidents, prime minister, and deputy prime ministers

election results:

Bashar al-ASAD approved as president; percent of vote - Bashar al-ASAD 97.6%, other 2.4%

• Supreme Judicial Council (appoints and dismisses judges; headed by the president);
• national level - Supreme Constitutional Court (adjudicates electoral disputes and rules on constitutionality of laws and decrees; justices appointed for four-year terms by the president);
• Court of Cassation;
• Appeals Courts (Appeals Courts represent an intermediate level between the Court of Cassation and local level courts);
• local level - Magistrate Courts;
• Courts of First Instance;
• Juvenile Courts;
• Customs Courts;
• specialized courts - Economic Security Courts (hear cases related to economic crimes);
• Supreme State Security Court (hear cases related to national security);
• Personal Status Courts (religious; hear cases related to marriage and divorce)

legal parties:

National Progressive Front or NPF [President Bashar al-ASAD, Dr. Suleiman QADDAH] (includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar al-ASAD]; Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallah Nasr Al-DIN]; Syrian Arab Socialist Union or ASU [Safwan al-QUDSI]; Syrian Communist Party (two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yusuf Rashid FAYSAL]; Syrian Social Nationalist Party [As'ad HARDAN]; Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL])

opposition parties not legally recognized:

• Communist Action Party [Fateh al-JAMOUS];
• National Democratic Rally [Hasan ABDUL-AZIM, spokesman] (includes five parties - Arab Democratic Socialist Union Party [Hasan ABDUL-AZIM], Arab Socialist Movement, Democratic Ba'th Party [Ibrahim MAKHOS], Democratic People's Party [Riad al TURK], Revolutionary Workers' Party [Abdul Hafez al HAFEZ])

Kurdish parties (considered illegal):

• Azadi Party [Kheirudin MURAD];
• Future Party [Masha'l TAMMO];
• Kurdish Democratic Alliance (includes four parties);
• Kurdish Democratic Front (includes three parties);
• Yekiti Party [Fu'ad ALEYKO]

other parties:

Syrian Democratic Party [Mustafa QALAAJI]

• Arab Human Rights Organization in Syria or AHRO;
• Damascus Declaration Group (a broad alliance of secular, religious, and Kurdish opposition groups);
• National Salvation Front (alliance between former Vice President Abd al-Halim KHADDAM and other small opposition groups in exile; formerly included the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood);
• Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression [Mazin DARWISH];
• Syrian Human Rights Organization [Muhanad al-HASANI];
• Syrian Human Rights Society or HRAS [Fayez FAWAZ];
• Syrian Muslim Brotherhood or SMB [Muhammad Riyad al-SHAQFAH] (operates in exile in London)

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant)

chancery:

2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 232-6313

FAX:

[1] (202) 265-4585

chief of mission:

Ambassador Robert S. FORD

embassy:

Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansour Street, No. 2, Damascus

mailing address:

P. O. Box 29, Damascus

telephone:

[963] (11) 3391-4444

FAX:

[963] (11) 3391-3999

name:

"Humat ad-Diyar" (Guardians of the Homeland)

lyrics/music:

Khalil Mardam BEY/Mohammad Salim FLAYFEL and Ahmad Salim FLAYFEL

note: adopted 1936, restored 1961; between 1958 and 1961, while Syria was a member of the United Arab Republic with Egypt, the country had a different anthem

agriculture:

17%

industry:

16%

services:

67% (2008 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology and expansion of the network to rural areas

domestic:

• the number of fixed-line connections has increased markedly since 2000;
• mobile-cellular service growing with telephone subscribership reaching nearly 50 per 100 persons in 2009

international:

• country code - 963;
• submarine cable connection to Egypt, Lebanon, and Cyprus;
• satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region);
• coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey;
• participant in Medarabtel

• state-run television and radio broadcast networks;
• state operates 2 TV networks and a satellite channel;
• roughly two-thirds of Syrian homes have a satellite dish providing access to foreign TV broadcasts;
• 3 state-run radio channels;
• first private radio station launched in 2005;
• private radio broadcasters prohibited from transmitting news or political content (2007)

total:

2,052 km

country comparison to the world: 72

standard gauge:

1,801 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:

251 km 1.050-m gauge (2010)

total:

68,157 km

country comparison to the world: 68

paved:

61,514 km (includes 1,103 km of expressways)

unpaved:

6,643 km (2009)

• 18 years of age for compulsory military service;
• conscript service obligation - 21 months (18 months in the Syrian Arab Navy);
• women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve (2010)

males age 16-49:

5,889,837

females age 16-49:

5,660,751 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

5,055,510

females age 16-49:

4,884,151 (2010 est.)

male:

256,698

female:

244,712 (2010 est.)

• Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964;
• lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute;
• since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shab'a Farms in the Golan Heights;
• 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan;
• approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan

refugees (country of origin):

1-1.4 million (Iraq); 522,100 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA))

IDPs:

305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2007)

current situation:

• Syria is principally a destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking;
• women from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia are recruited by employment agencies to work in Syria as domestic servants, but are subsequently subjected to conditions of forced labor;
• some economically desperate Syrian children are subjected to conditions of forced labor within the country, particularly by organized street begging rings;
• some Syrian women in Lebanon may be forced to engage in street prostitution and small numbers of Syrian girls are reportedly brought to Lebanon for the purpose of prostitution

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List - the government made modest anti-trafficking efforts, however, it did not demonstrate evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and punish trafficking offenses, inform the public about the practice of human trafficking, or provide much-needed anti-trafficking training to law enforcement and social welfare officials (2011)

• a transit point for opiates, hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets;
• weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money laundering