SYRIA                                                                           
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 185,180 km2; land area: 184,050 km2 (including 1,295                
km2 of Israeli-occupied territory)                                              
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than North Dakota                             
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 2,253 km total; Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km,                     
Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km                                    
                                                                                
Coastline: 193 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Contiguous zone: 6 nm beyond territorial sea limit;                             
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 35 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan               
Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic               
disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over            
water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers;          
Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR                  
                                                                                
Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August)                
and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast                      
                                                                                
Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal                  
plain; mountains in west                                                        
                                                                                
Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese                  
ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum                              
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 28%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures             
46%; forest and woodland 3%; other 20%; includes irrigated 3%                   
                                                                                
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;                          
desertification                                                                 
                                                                                
Note: there are 38 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied                   
Golan Heights                                                                   
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 12,965,996 (July 1991), growth rate 3.8% (1991);                    
in addition, there are at least 12,000 Druze and 13,000 Jewish settlers         
in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (1990 est.)                               
                                                                                
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 37 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 71 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Syrian(s); adjective--Syrian                                 
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Arab 90.3%; Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%                  
                                                                                
Religion: Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim                    
sects 16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, tiny Jewish communities in            
Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo                                               
                                                                                
Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic,                        
Circassian; French widely understood                                            
                                                                                
Literacy: 64% (male 78%, female 51%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 2,400,000; miscellaneous and government services 36%,              
agriculture 32%, industry and construction 32%; majority unskilled;             
shortage of skilled labor (1984)                                                
                                                                                
Organized labor: 5% of labor force                                              
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Syrian Arab Republic                                            
                                                                                
Type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963                 
                                                                                
Capital: Damascus                                                               
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (muhafazat,                              
singular--muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al                             
Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda, Dara, Dayr az Zawr,                          
Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq,                                
Tartus                                                                          
                                                                                
Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under               
French administration); formerly United Arab Republic                           
                                                                                
Constitution: 13 March 1973                                                     
Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special                
religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                  
                                                                                
National holiday: National Day, 17 April (1946)                                 
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, three vice presidents, prime minister,             
three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)                    
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Council (Majlis al-Chaab)               
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court, High Judicial                    
Council, Court of Cassation, State Security Courts                              
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Hafiz al-ASAD (since 22 February                      
1971); Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, Rifat al-ASAD, and                 
Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984);                                
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mahmud ZUBI (since 1 November                
1987);                                                                          
Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mustafa TALAS (since 11 March 1984);             
Deputy Prime Minister Salim YASIN (since NA December 1981);                     
Deputy Prime Minister Mahmud QADDUR (since NA May 1985)                         
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: ruling party is the Arab Socialist               
Resurrectionist (Bath) Party;                                                   
the Progressive National Front is dominated by Bathists but includes            
independents and members of the Syrian Arab Socialist Party (ASP),              
Arab Socialist Union (ASU),                                                     
Syrian Communist Party (SCP),                                                   
Arab Socialist Unionist Movement, and                                           
Democratic Socialist Union Party                                                
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 10-11 February 1985 (next to be held February              
1992);                                                                          
results--President Hafiz al-ASAD was reelected without opposition;              
                                                                                
People's Council--last held 22-23 May 1990 (next to be                          
held May 1994);                                                                 
results--Bath 53.6%, ASU 3.2%, SCP 3.2%, Arab Socialist Unionist                
Movement 2.8%, ASP 2%, Democratic Socialist Union Party 1.6%,                   
independents 33.6%;                                                             
seats--(250 total) Bath 134, ASU 8, SCP 8,                                      
Arab Socialist Unionist Movement 7, ASP 5, Democratic Socialist Union           
Party 4, independents 84;                                                       
the People's Council was expanded to 250 seats total prior to the               
May 1990 election                                                               
                                                                                
Communists: mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000                          
                                                                                
Other political or pressure groups: non-Bath parties have little                
effective political influence; Communist party ineffective; greatest            
threat to Asad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative        
religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood                                           
Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24,                  
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,                
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN,                  
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO                          
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Walid MOUALEM;                            
Chancery at 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)        
232-6313;                                                                       
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh,                     
Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29,               
Damascus); telephone  963  (11) 333052 or 332557, 330416, 332814, 332315,       
714108, 337178, 333232, 334352                                                  
                                                                                
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black               
with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered           
in the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen which has a plain white         
band and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic                    
inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white                         
band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle              
centered in the white band                                                      
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Syria's rigidly structured Bathist economy turned                     
out slightly more goods in 1990 than in 1983, when the population was 20%       
smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe             
drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts               
to match Israel's military strength, a falloff in Arab aid, and                 
insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry        
and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic        
regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the        
mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit for which Syrian businessmen have         
long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have          
benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural            
development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled          
Syria to cut oil imports. A long-term concern is the additional drain of        
upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation             
projects are completed toward the end of the 1990s. Output in 1990              
rebounded from the very bad year of 1989, as agricultural production            
and oil revenues increased substantially.                                       
                                                                                
GDP: $20.0 billion, per capita $1,600; real growth rate 12%                     
(1990 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50% (1990 est.)                               
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $4.8 billion; expenditures $5.5 billion, including             
capital expenditures of $2.1 billion (1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Exports: $2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--petroleum 40%, textiles 30%, farm products 13%,                    
phosphates (1989);                                                              
                                                                                
partners--USSR and Eastern Europe 42%, EC 31%, Arab countries 17%,              
US/Canada 2% (1989)                                                             
                                                                                
Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--foodstuffs and beverages 21%, metal and metal                      
products 16%, machinery 14%, textiles, petroleum (1989);                        
                                                                                
partners--EC 42%, USSR and Eastern Europe 13%, other Europe 13%,                
US/Canada 8%, Arab countries 6% (1989)                                          
                                                                                
External debt: $5.2 billion in hard currency (1990 est.)                        
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 17% (1990 est.); accounts                    
for 19% of GDP                                                                  
                                                                                
Electricity: 2,867,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced,                 
500 kWh per capita (1989)                                                       
                                                                                
Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco,                      
phosphate rock mining, petroleum                                                
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 27% of GDP and one-third of labor force;              
all major crops (wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas) grown               
mainly on rainfed land causing wide swings in production; animal                
products--beef, lamb, eggs, poultry, milk; not self-sufficient in grain         
or livestock products                                                           
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $538                   
million; Western (non-US) ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88),          
$1.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12.3 billion; Communist            
countries (1970-89), $3.3 billion                                               
                                                                                
Currency: Syrian pound (plural--pounds);                                        
1 Syrian pound (LS) = 100 piasters                                              
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Syrian pounds (LS) per US$1--11.2250 (fixed rate                
since 1987), 3.9250 (fixed rate 1976-87)                                        
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 2,241 km total; 1,930 km standard gauge, 311 km                      
1.050-meter narrow gauge; note--the Tartus-Latakia line is nearly               
complete                                                                        
                                                                                
Highways: 27,000 km total; 21,000 km paved, 3,000 km gravel or                  
crushed stone, 3,000 km improved earth                                          
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 672 km; of little economic importance                         
                                                                                
Pipelines: 1,304 km crude oil; 515 km refined products                          
                                                                                
Ports: Tartus, Latakia, Baniyas                                                 
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 61,951                   
GRT/86,552 DWT; includes 18 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 vehicle          
carrier, 1 bulk                                                                 
                                                                                
Civil air: 35 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 99 total, 96 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways;               
none with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;                  
4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                    
                                                                                
Telecommunications: fair system currently undergoing significant                
improvement; 512,600 telephones; stations--9 AM, 1 FM, 40 TV; satellite         
earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station, with 1                   
Intersputnik station under construction; 1 submarine cable; coaxial             
cable and radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon (inactive)           
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, Syrian Arab Air                   
Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces, Police and Security Force                
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,825,214; 1,584,887 fit for                
military service; 149,105 reach military age (19) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $1.6 billion, 10.9% of GDP (1988 est.)                    
                                                                                
