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%
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.)
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
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.)
