Syria

35°N 38°E / 35°N 38°E / 35; 38

Syrian Arab Republic ٱلْجُمْهُورِيَّةُ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلسُّورِيَّةُ (Arabic) al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: وَحْدَةٌ ، حُرِّيَّةٌ ، اِشْتِرَاكِيَّةٌ Waḥdah, Ḥurrīyah, Ishtirākīyah ("Unity, Freedom, Socialism")
Anthem: حُمَاةَ الدِّيَارِ Ḥumāt ad-Diyār ("Guardians of the Homeland")
Location of  Syria  (green) Show globe Show map of Syria
Capital and largest city	Damascus 33°30′N 36°18′E / 33.500°N 36.300°E / 33.500; 36.300
Official languages	Arabic[1]
Recognised languages	Kurdish Armenian Syriac Circassian Aramaic Turkish French English Azerbaijani
Ethnic groups (2014[2])	90% Arab 10% Other
Religion	87% Islam 10% Christianity[3] 3% Druze[4]
Demonym(s)	Syrian
Government	Unitary dominant-party semi-presidential Ba’athist republic under an authoritarian hereditary dictatorship[5]
• President	Bashar al-Assad
• Prime Minister	Hussein Arnous
• Vice Presidents	Farouk al-Sharaa Najah al-Attar
• Speaker of the People's Council	Hammouda Sabbagh
Legislature	People's Council
Establishment
• Arab Kingdom of Syria	8 March 1920
• State of Syria under French mandate	1 December 1924
• Syrian Republic	14 May 1930
• De jure Independence	24 October 1945
• De facto Independence	17 April 1946
• Left the United Arab Republic	28 September 1961
• Ba'ath party takes power	8 March 1963
• Current constitution	27 February 2012
Area
• Total	185,180[6] km2 (71,500 sq mi) (87th)
• Water (%)	1.1
Population
• 2020 estimate	17,500,657 (66th)
• 2010 census	21,018,834
• Density	118.3/km2 (306.4/sq mi) (70th)
GDP (PPP)	2015 estimate
• Total	$50.28 billion[3]
• Per capita	$2,900[3]
GDP (nominal)	2014 estimate
• Total	$24.6 billion[3] (167)
• Per capita	$831[3]
Gini (2014)	55.8[7] high
HDI (2019)	0.567[8] medium · 151st
Currency	Syrian pound (SYP)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+963
ISO 3166 code	SY
Internet TLD	.sy سوريا.

Syria is a country in the Middle East, the west part of Asia. It borders (from south to north) on Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Its western part faces the Mediterranean Sea and it shares a maritime border with Cyprus. Its eastern and northern parts are mountainous.

The current president and head of state is Bashar al-Assad. Syria's national capital is Damascus. The biggest city is Aleppo. The Syrian civil war began in 2011.

The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi Shia, 10% Christian, 3% Druze, 1% Ismaili Shia 0.4% Twelver Shia, and 0.1% Yazidi.^[9]

1. ↑ "Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic – 2012" (PDF). International Labour Organization. International Labour Organization. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
2. ↑ "Syria". CIA World factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 24 June 2014 suggested (help)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} "Syria". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
4. ↑ "Syria: Ethnic Shift, 2010–mid 2018". gulf2000.columbia.edu. Columbia University Gulf2000. 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
5. ↑ "Constitution of Syria 2012". Scribd. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
6. ↑ "Syrian ministry of foreign affairs". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
7. ↑ "World Bank GINI index". World Bank. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
8. ↑ Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 15 December 2020. pp. 343–346. ISBN 978-92-1-126442-5. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
9. ↑ "Religion in Syria - 1943 Syrian Census". Retrieved 8 January 2024.