spute 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: 28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures;
3% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 3% irrigated

Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Note: there are 35 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights

- People
Population: 12,483,440 (July 1990), growth rate 3.8% (1990);
in addition, there are 13,500 Druze and 10,500 Jewish settlers in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 70 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Syrian(s); adjective--Syrian

Ethnic divisions: 90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other

Religion: 74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects;
10% Christian (various sects); tiny Jewish communities in Damascus,
Al Qamishli, and Aleppo

Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic,
Circassian; French widely understood

Literacy: 49%

Labor force: 2,400,000; 36% miscellaneous and government services,
32% agriculture, 32% industry and construction); 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, Madinat 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