Syria Passport

[Country Name] The Syrian Arab Republic.

[Area] 185180 square kilometers (including approximately 1200 square kilometers of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel).

Population: 23.22 million (2023). Among them, Arabs account for over 80%, as well as Kurds, Armenians, Turkmen, and others.

Arabic is the national language.

85% of residents believe in Islam and 14% believe in Christianity. Among the Muslim population, Sunnis account for 80% (about 68% of the national population), Shiites account for 20%, and among Shiites, the ruling Alawites account for 75% (about 11.5% of the national population).

【 Capital 】 Damascus, with a population of 2.58 million (2023).

President Bashar Al Assad, who took office in July 2000, was re elected twice in May 2007 and July 2014, and was re elected again in May 2021.

National Day: April 17th.

【 Geography 】 Located in the western part of the Asian continent, on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Türkiye in the north, Iraq in the southeast, Jordan in the south, Lebanon and Israel in the southwest, and Cyprus across the sea in the west. The coastline is 183 kilometers long.

The northern region has a subtropical Mediterranean climate, while the southern region has a tropical desert climate. Desert areas have less rainfall in winter and dry and hot summers. The lowest temperature is below 0 ° C, and the highest temperature reaches around 40 ° C. The annual average precipitation is over 1000 millimeters in coastal areas and only 100 millimeters in southern regions.

In 3000 BC, primitive city-state states existed. Starting from the 8th century BC, it was successively ruled by the Assyrian Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Roman Empire, the Arab Empire, the Ottoman Empire, etc. In April 1920, it became a French mandate and was controlled by Nazi Germany in June 1940. On September 27, 1941, General Jadoule, the commander-in-chief of the Free French Army, declared Syria's independence in the name of the Allies. In August 1943, Syria established a government and Shukri Quatli was elected as the first President of the Syrian Republic. On April 17, 1946, Britain and France were forced to withdraw their troops from Syria, and Syria gained complete independence. On February 1, 1958, Syria and Egypt merged to form the United Arab Republic (UAE). On September 28, 1961, Syria declared its independence from the Arab League and established the Syrian Arab Republic. On March 8, 1963, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Ba'ath Party) formed the new Syrian government. On November 13, 1970, Syrian Defense Minister and Air Force Commander Hafez al Assad launched a "correction movement", reorganized the party and government, and appointed himself as Prime Minister. In March 1971, Assad was elected president and served until his death on June 10, 2000. His second son Bashar al Assad succeeded him as president on July 10 of the same year and has been re elected ever since.

Since March 2011, the situation in Syria has been turbulent and escalating, with continuous armed violence within the country. The Arab League, the United Nations, and other parties have successively intervened in mediation, and the relevant parties have held two meetings on the Syrian issue in Geneva, both of which were unsuccessful. In 2015, the domestic war in Syria was intense, terrorist and extremist forces were growing, the humanitarian situation was severe, and the spillover effects of the refugee problem were highlighted. At the end of September, Russia's military intervention in the Syrian issue led to renewed international efforts to promote peace. In December, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2254, which established the main principles, time frame, and roadmap for a political solution to the Syrian issue. Subsequently, the United Nations has repeatedly promoted peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition. As of October 2024, the United Nations has hosted nine rounds of Geneva talks on Syria, eight rounds of constitutional committee meetings, and Syria, Russia, Iran, and Türkiye have hosted 21 rounds of Astana talks on Syria.

The original constitution was passed by a national referendum on March 12, 1973, stipulating that Syria is a people's democratic socialist country, and the Ba'ath Party is the leading core of the country and society. Implement a planned socialist economy. In February 2012, Syria held a referendum and passed a new constitution, which mainly includes: the national political system should be based on the principle of pluralism, and the one party system should be changed to a multi-party system; Implementing political democracy through voting, the president is directly elected by the people for a term of 7 years and can only be re elected once.

Parliament, also known as the People's Assembly, is the national legislative body. Its function is to nominate presidential candidates; By law; Discussing cabinet policies; Through the national budget and development plan; Approve international treaties and agreements related to national security; Deciding to grant amnesty; Accept and approve the resignation of members of parliament, revoke trust in cabinet members, etc. The People's Assembly was established on February 21, 1971. In July 2024, Syria held its fourth People's Assembly election since the 2011 unrest, with the Ba'ath Party led coalition winning a majority of seats and Hamuda Sabag re elected as Speaker.

The current government was established on September 24, 2024, with 28 members, mainly including Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al Jalali, Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas, Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Minister Bassam Sabbagh, and others.

The country is divided into 14 provinces and cities: Damascus Rural Province, Homs Province, Hama Province, Latakia Province, Idlib Province, Tartus Province, Raqqa Province, Deir ez Zor Province, Hassakeh Province, Daraa Province, Suwayda Province, Quneitra Province, Aleppo Province, and Damascus City.

Judicial institutions: Higher Constitutional Courts are established nationwide, while primary courts and mediation courts are set up in each province, city, and county.

Before the turbulent situation in Syria in 2011, the economy gradually transitioned to a market economy, but was unsuccessful due to multiple factors. After the turbulent situation in Syria in 2011, the United States and other Western and regional countries imposed sanctions on Syria. Syria faced multiple pressures, including the interruption of oil exports, sharp decline in foreign exchange income, currency depreciation, rising prices, and high unemployment rate. The economic situation became increasingly severe. In June 2020, the United States announced the implementation of the Caesar Act, which imposed unilateral sanctions on Syria.

The main economic data are as follows (from the World Bank database):

Gross Domestic Product: 8.98 billion US dollars (2021).

Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: 1.3% (2021).

Per capita Gross Domestic Product: 421.1 US dollars (2021).

Currency name: Syrian Pound.

The main resources include oil, natural gas, phosphate, rock salt, asphalt, etc. The proven oil reserves are 2.5 billion barrels. The proven natural gas reserves are 650 billion cubic meters, phosphate reserves are 650 million tons, and rock salt reserves are 55 million tons.

The industrial foundation is relatively weak. The existing industries are divided into mining industry, processing industry, and hydropower industry. The mining industry mainly includes oil, natural gas, phosphate, marble, etc. The processing industry mainly includes textiles, food, leather, chemicals, cement, tobacco, etc.

Syria is a major agricultural country in the Middle East. Before the turbulent situation in 2011, Syria's agricultural cultivation area was 4.736 million hectares, with an agricultural population of about 4.4 million. The main grain crops were wheat, barley, corn, etc., and the main economic crops were cotton, beans, sugar beets, tobacco, etc. The main livestock breeds were cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, etc. After the turbulent situation in 2011, the development of agriculture in Syria was severely affected, and the production of agricultural and livestock products sharply decreased.

Before the turmoil in Syria, the main export products included petroleum and petroleum products, cotton and cotton products, phosphates, spices, leather, etc. The main imported products include machinery, steel, textiles, fuel, grain, canned goods, sugar, chemical raw materials, cultural and educational supplies, medicine, wood, etc. The main importing countries are France, Italy, Germany, Türkiye and China, and the main exporting countries are Germany, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. After 2011, Syria's foreign trade sharply declined, and currently mainly imports fuel, food, clothing, etc.

[Transportation] Domestic transportation is mainly highway, with a total length of 45900 kilometers, connecting cities and towns, and leading to Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. The total length of the railway is 2798 kilometers. There are currently 5 ports including Latakia and Tartus. In addition to Damascus International Airport, there are six provincial local airports. After the turbulent situation in 2011, Syria's external air routes sharply decreased due to the impact of external sanctions.

The military was established in 1946 and developed rapidly in the 1970s, becoming a strong armed force in the Middle East. The General Command of the Armed Forces is the highest command authority, with President Bashar al Assad serving as the commander-in-chief. Implement compulsory military service system, with a service period of 30 months. Before the turbulent situation in 2011, the total strength of the Syrian armed forces was 408000, including 300000 in the army, 8000 in the navy, 100000 in the air and air defense forces, and over 400000 in the paramilitary forces. The weapons and equipment mainly come from the former Soviet Union and Russia. After the turbulent situation in 2011, there was no detailed statistical data on the Syrian military strength.

Education: Promote compulsory primary education and implement compulsory education in junior high school. Male students need to serve in the military for 2 years after graduating from university to obtain a diploma, while female students can obtain a diploma after graduation. There are four comprehensive universities in the country: Damascus University, Aleppo University, October University, and Renaissance University.

National Arabic language daily newspapers include "Revival Daily", "Revolution Daily", "October Daily", etc. Local Arabic language daily newspapers include "Masses Daily", "Dedication Daily", "Arabism Daily", "Unity Daily", etc. It also publishes English daily newspapers such as the Syrian Times.

The Syrian Arab News Agency is the official news agency. The Syrian Radio was established in 1936 and has local radio stations in various provinces and cities. The radio station has two sets of programs, which are broadcast in English, French, German, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew and Spanish, in addition to Arabic.

Since the turbulent situation in Syria, major Western countries and some Arab countries have claimed that Bashar al Assad has lost his legitimacy in power and continue to impose sanctions and pressure on Syria. The Arab League has passed a resolution to suspend Syria's membership, suspend diplomatic cooperation with the Syrian government, and cut off economic and trade exchanges. In March 2013, the Arab League transferred Syria's seat in the Arab League to the "National League". Russia and Iran strongly support the Syrian government in politics, military and other aspects. On May 7, 2023, the Arab League held a special foreign ministers' meeting and agreed to restore Syria's membership in the Arab League; On the 19th, Syrian President Bashar attended the 32nd Arab League Summit held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. On June 25th, Hussein, the Syrian Permanent Representative to the League of Arab States, submitted his appointment letter to the Secretary General of the League, Gheit, in Cairo, Egypt. On May 16, 2024, Syrian President Bashar al Assad attended the 33rd Arab League Summit held in Manama, Bahrain.