ntermittent recalls for
training over the next 22 years (2004)

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,890,091 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 1,606,391 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 45,654 (2004 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$2.548 billion (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Switzerland

Disputes - international:
none

Illicit drugs:
a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering
and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant
legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and
nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore
entities and various intermediaries; transit country for and
consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005

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@Syria

Introduction Syria

Background:
Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I,
Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In
the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel.
Since 1976, Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon, ostensibly
in a peacekeeping capacity. Over the past decade, Syria and Israel
have held occasional peace talks over the return of the Golan
Heights.

Geography Syria

Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and
Turkey

Geographic coordinates:
35 00 N, 38 00 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 185,180 sq km
note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory
water: 1,130 sq km
land: 184,050 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than North Dakota

Land boundaries:
total: 2,253 km
border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon
375 km, Turkey 822 km

Coastline:
193 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 41 nm

Climate:
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

Terrain:
primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain;
mountains in west

Elevation extremes:
lowest