l 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

@Syria:Economy

Economy-overview: Syria's predominantly statist economy is on a shaky
footing because of Damascus's failure to implement extensive economic
reform. The dominant agricultural sector remains underdeveloped, with
roughly 80% of agricultural land still dependent on rain-fed sources.
Although Syria has sufficient water supplies in the aggregate at
normal levels of precipitation, the great distance between major water
supplies and population centers poses serious distribution problems.
The water problem is exacerbated by rapid population growth,
industrial expansion, and increased water pollution. Private
investment is critical to the modernization of the agricultural,
energy, and export sectors. Oil production is leveling off, and the
efforts of the nonoil sector to penetrate international markets have
fallen short. Syria's inadequate infrastructure, outmoded
technological base, and weak educational system make it vulnerable to
future shocks and hamper competition with neighbors such as Jordan and
Israel.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$106.1 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 4.6% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$6,600 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 28%
industry: 14%
services: 58% (1995)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 15%-20% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 4.7 million (1995 est.)
by occupation: services 40%, agriculture 40%, industry 20% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 12% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.9 billion
expenditures: $4.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.9
billion (1996 est.)

Industries: petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco,
phosphate rock mining

Industrial production growth rate: 0.2% (1996 est.)

Electricity-capacity: 4.157 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 14.9 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 970 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas; beef,
lamb, eggs, poultry, milk

Exports:
total value: $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 199