Syria
Syrian Arab Republic
Capital: Damascus
The Syria Bulletin
Weekly Brief: October 12, 2015
Top Story Russia announced on Monday that its “volunteer” ground forces would join the fighting in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he will not send Russian soldiers to Syria, but the plan to deploy irregulars parallels Russian operations in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The news comes as Russia intensified airstrikes it began last […]
Weekly Brief: October 5, 2015
Top Story Russia began airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday. America’s Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad should leave power, but Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Assad should meet with the Syrian opposition to discuss a settlement to the conflict. Though Russia claimed to target the Islamic State of Iraq and the […]
Weekly Brief: September 28, 2015
Top Story Russia is escalating its military presence in Syria. American officials report (though Russia denies) that Russia has at least 28 warplanes deployed at an airbase near Latakia, on the Syrian coast. Russia also began flying surveillance missions in Syria with drones, a week after sending artillery and tanks to an airbase controlled by the Syrian government at […]
Weekly Brief: September 21, 2015
Top Story The influx of refugees from Syria and other parts of the Middle East and Africa continued to make headlines last week. Migrants attempting to reach Western Europe have been stymied by Hungarian border security, where police used tear gas and water cannons to keep them from overwhelming crossings along Hungary’s border with Serbia, […]
Weekly Brief: May 4, 2015
Top Story Representatives from around the world traveled to New York this week to begin the ninth review conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Review conferences have been held every five years since the NPT entered into effect in 1970. American Secretary of State John Kerry, who will lead his country’s […]
Weekly Brief: April 27, 2015
Top Story American President Barack Obama acknowledged on Wednesday that an American drone strike on an al Qaeda compound along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in January killed two hostages, an American and an Italian. Mr. Obama claimed that the mistake was due to faulty intelligence, and that American officials had no reason to believe the hostages […]
Weekly Brief: April 20, 2015
Africa Al-Shabab militants drove a car loaded with explosives into a government compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday. After the explosion, gunmen stormed the government offices and killed at least 17 people, including eight civilians and two soldiers. Security guards and Somali special forces soldiers eventually managed to secure the building, killing five attackers.
Weekly Brief: October 18, 2013
A short Weekly Brief focused mostly on the Middle East covers developments in Iran’s nuclear programs; an update on Syria, including fallout at the United Nations; concerning developments regarding violence and political division in Iraq; and efforts to combat organized crime in Mexico.
History
Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French administered the area as Syria until granting it independence in 1946. The new country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In September 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawi sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah. In May 2007 Bashar al-ASAD's second term as president was approved by popular referendum. Influenced by major uprisings that began elsewhere in the region, antigovernment protests broke out in the southern province of Dar'a in March 2011 with protesters calling for the repeal of the restrictive Emergency Law allowing arrests without charge, the legalization of political parties, and the removal of corrupt local officials. Since then demonstrations and unrest have spread to nearly every city in Syria, but the size and intensity of protests have fluctuated over time. The government responded to unrest with a mix of concessions - including the repeal of the Emergency Law and approving new laws permitting new political parties and liberalizing local and national elections - and force. However, the government's response has failed to meet opposition demands for ASAD to step down, and the government's ongoing security operations to quell unrest and widespread armed opposition activity have led to extended violent clashes between government forces and oppositionists. International pressure on the ASAD regime has intensified since late 2011, as the Arab League, EU, Turkey, and the United States have expanded economic sanctions against the regime. Lakhdar BRAHIMI, current Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian crisis, in October 2012 began meeting with regional heads of state to assist in brokering a cease-fire. In December 2012, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces was recognized by more than 130 countries as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Unrest persists in 2013, and the death toll among Syrian Government forces, opposition forces, and civilians has topped 70,000.
Geography
Metric Units
| Total Area | 185,180 sq km |
| Land Boundaries | 2,253 km |
| Border Countries | Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km |
| Coastline | 193 km |
| Terrain | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
| Minimum Elevation | -200 m |
| Maximum Elevation | 2,814 m |
| 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 |
| Natural Resources | petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower |
| Arable Land | 24.9% |
| Permanent Crops | 5.69% |
Economy
| Gross Domestic Product | $107.6 billion |
| GDP (per capita) | $5,100 |
| GDP Growth | No data% |
| Unemployment Rate | 18% |
| Population in Poverty | 11.9% |
| GINI Index | No data |
Budget & Debt
| Expenditures | $12.68 billion |
| Revenue | $6.51 billion |
| Current Account Balance | $-5.1 billion |
| External Debt | $8.82 billion |
Trade
| Exports | $4.98 billion |
| Export Items | crude oil, minerals, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, textiles, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat |
| Export Partners | Iraq 38.8%, Italy 7.9%, Germany 7.1%, Saudi Arabia 6.5%, Kuwait 4.2% (2011) |
| Imports | $10.01 billion |
| Import Items | machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper |
| Import Partners | Saudi Arabia 14.8%, China 10.3%, UAE 7.3%, Turkey 6.8%, Iran 5.4%, Italy 5.1%, Russia 4.6%, Iraq 4.4% (2011) |
People
| Population | 22,457,336 |
| Population Growth | 0.15% |
| Ethnic Groups | Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7% |
| Religion | Sunni Muslim (Islam - official) 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo) |
| Life Expectancy | 75.14 years |
| Infant Mortality | 1.03 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality | 2.5 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
| Electricity Production | 40.86 billion kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 28.87 billion kWh |
| From Fossil Fuels | 84.8% |
| From Nuclear | 0% |
| From Hydroelectric | 15.2% |
| From Renewable Sources | 0% |
