15 Nations Global Tour: Syria (Stop #11)

Profile manager: David Randall [send private message]

This sub-project is part of the larger 15 Nations Global Tour. Please visit the main project page for details on the goals and objectives of this project.

Geography

Syria is one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "cradle of civilization," located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea.

Syria is divided into 14 governorates, which are sub-divided into 61 districts, which are further divided into sub-districts. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Syrian civil war, although is not recognized by the country as such.

The capital and largest city in Syria is Damascus, followed by Homs, Latakia, Hama, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.

Demographics

Most Syrians live in the Euphrates River Valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. including the majority Syrian Arabs as well as Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Circassians, Armenians, Albanians, Greeks, and Chechens.

With a population of about 18.5 million people, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups. Roughly 74% of the population are indigenous Syrian Arabs, closely related to their immediate neighbors, such as Lebanese, Palestinians, Jordanians and Jews. The second-largest ethnic group in Syria are the Kurds, constituting about 10% of the population. The third largest ethnic group are the Turkish-speaking Syrian Turkmen/Turkoman, although there are no reliable estimates of their total population. The fourth largest ethnic group are the Assyrians, followed by the Circassians and the Armenians. There are also smaller ethnic minority groups, such as the Albanians, Bosnians, Georgians, Greeks, Persians, Pashtuns and Russians. Most of these ethnic minorities have become Arabized to some degree, particularly those who practice the Muslim faith.

Arabic is the official language of Syria. Several modern Arabic dialects are used in everyday life, most notably Levantine in the west and Mesopotamian in the northeast. Other languages spoken in Syria include Kurdish, Turkish, Neo-Aramaic (four dialects), Circassian, Chechen, Armenian, and finally Greek. However, none of these minority languages have official status. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the region before the advent of Arabic, and is still spoken among Assyrians, and Classical Syriac is still used as the liturgical language of various Syriac Christian denominations. English and French are widely spoken as second languages, but English is more often used.

Syrian religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. Sunni Muslims make up around 74% of Syria's population, while Christians number about 1.2 million. Syria was once also home to a substantial population of Jews, but due to a combination of persecution in Syria and opportunities elsewhere, the Jews began to emigrate to the United States, and Israel. The process was completed with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. By 2021, there were no Jews left in Syria.

History

The name "Syria" historically referred to a wide region broadly synonymous with the Levant. The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of Ottoman rule and encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including Aleppo and the capital city of Damascus, which are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

After a period as a French mandate (1923–1946), Syria gained de jure independence as a democratic parliamentary republic on 24 Oct 1945 when the Republic of Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended the former French mandate (although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946).

Syria's post-independence period was tumultuous, with multiple military coups and coup attempts shaking the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic, which was terminated by the 1961 Syrian coup d'état. The republic was renamed the Arab Republic of Syria in late 1961.

Another significant event was the 1963 coup d'état carried out by the military committee of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which established a one-party state. It ran Syria under emergency law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles within neo-Ba'athist factions caused further coups in 1966 and 1970, which eventually resulted in the seizure of power by General Hafez al-Assad.

After the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency and a political system centered around a cult of personality to the al-Assad family. The Ba'ath regime is a totalitarian dictatorship that has been internationally condemned for its political repression alongside its numerous human rights abuses, including summary executions, massive censorship, forced disappearances, mass-murders, barrel-bombings, chemical attacks and other war-crimes. Since its violent suppression of the Arab Spring protests of 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war.

Today, Syria is amongst the most dangerous places in the world, ranking third to last on the 2022 Global Peace Index. The Syrian civil war has killed more than 570,000 people, with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of the total civilian casualties. By 2020, the UN estimated that over 5.5 million Syrians had fled the country as refugees, and 6.1 million others were internally displaced. The war has also left more than 90% of the population living in poverty. Additionally, Syria has become the epicenter of a state-sponsored multi-billion-dollar illicit drug cartel, the largest in the world.

Some Notable Syrians

In the below list, columns can be sorted by clicking on the arrow button in any category heading box. A "C" in the final column denotes a Notable who has been successfully connected to the Big Tree. "N/C" stands for Not Connected.

Notable	Born	Died	Claim to Fame	Photo	Status
Maryana Marash	1848	1919	Feminist Poet		Connected
Izz al-Din al-Qassam	1882	1935	Nationalist Reformer		Not Connected
Shukri al-Quwatli	1891	1967	First President of Post-Independence Syria		Not Connected
Soraya Tarzi	1899	1968	Queen Consort of Afghanistan		Connected
Jean Carzou	1907	2000	Artist and Illustrator		Not Connected
Adib al-Shishakli	1909	1964	Military Dictator		Not Connected
Michel Aflaq	1910	1989	Philosopher, founder of Ba'athist thought		Not Connected
Asmahan	1917	1944	Singer		Connected
Nizar Qabbani	1923	1998	National Poet of Syria		Connected
Nureddin al-Atassi	1929	1992	Deposed President of Syria		Not Connected
Moustapha Akkad	1930	2005	Producer of the Halloween film franchise		Connected
Khaled al-Assad	1932	2015	Archeologist and head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra		Not Connected
Sabah Fakhri	1933	2021	Tenor		Not Connected
Gen. Muhammed Faris	1951	LIVING	Cosmonaut		Not Connected
Bashar al-Assad	1965	LIVING	Current President of Syria		Not Connected