{"id":8978,"date":"2021-12-03T04:00:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=8978"},"modified":"2021-12-03T12:04:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:04:48","slug":"syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

Syria, officially the\u00a0Syrian Arab Republic, is a\u00a0country<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Western Asia<\/a>, bordering\u00a0Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0the southwest<\/a>, the\u00a0Mediterranean Sea<\/a>\u00a0to the west,\u00a0Turkey<\/a>\u00a0to the north,\u00a0Iraq<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0the east<\/a>,\u00a0Jordan<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0the south<\/a>, and\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0the southwest<\/a>. Its\u00a0capital<\/a>\u00a0and largest city is\u00a0Damascus<\/a>. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to\u00a0diverse ethnic and religious groups<\/a>, including the majority\u00a0Syrian Arabs<\/a>,\u00a0Kurds<\/a>,\u00a0Turkmens<\/a>,\u00a0Assyrians<\/a>,\u00a0Armenians<\/a>,\u00a0Circassians<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0Mandaeans<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0Greeks<\/a>. Religious groups include\u00a0Sunnis<\/a>,\u00a0Christians<\/a>,\u00a0Alawites<\/a>,\u00a0Druze<\/a>,\u00a0Isma’ilis<\/a>,\u00a0Mandaeans<\/a>,\u00a0Shiites<\/a>,\u00a0Salafis<\/a>, and\u00a0Yazidis<\/a>. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Sunnis are the largest religious group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Syria on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Syria is a\u00a0unitary<\/a>\u00a0republic<\/a>\u00a0consisting of\u00a014 governorates<\/a>\u00a0and is the only country that politically espouses\u00a0Ba’athism<\/a>. It is a member of one international organization other than the United Nations, the\u00a0Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>; it was suspended from the\u00a0Arab League<\/a>\u00a0in November 2011<\/sup>\u00a0and the\u00a0Organisation of Islamic Cooperation<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0and self-suspended from the\u00a0Union for the Mediterranean<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The name “Syria” historically referred to a\u00a0wider region<\/a>, broadly synonymous with the\u00a0Levant<\/a>, and known in Arabic as\u00a0al-Sham<\/i>. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the\u00a0Eblan<\/a>\u00a0civilization of the 3rd millennium\u00a0BC<\/a>.\u00a0Aleppo<\/a>\u00a0and the capital city\u00a0Damascus<\/a>\u00a0are among the\u00a0oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In the\u00a0Islamic<\/a>\u00a0era,\u00a0Damascus<\/a>\u00a0was the seat of the\u00a0Umayyad Caliphate<\/a>\u00a0and a provincial capital of the\u00a0Mamluk Sultanate<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Egypt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of\u00a0Ottoman<\/a>\u00a0rule, and after a brief period of\u00a0French mandate<\/a>. The newly created state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly\u00a0Ottoman<\/a>-ruled\u00a0Syrian provinces<\/a>. It gained\u00a0de jure<\/i>\u00a0independence as a\u00a0parliamentary republic<\/a>\u00a0on 24 October 1945, when the\u00a0Republic of Syria<\/a>\u00a0became 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Views of Damascus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The post-independence period was tumultuous, with many\u00a0military coups<\/a>\u00a0and coup attempts shaking the country from 1949 to 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt called the\u00a0United Arab Republic<\/a>, which was terminated by the\u00a01961 Syrian coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>. The republic was renamed as the Arab Republic of Syria in late 1961 after the\u00a0December 1 constitutional referendum<\/a>\u00a0of that year, and was increasingly unstable until the\u00a01963 Ba’athist coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>, since which the Ba’ath Party has maintained its power. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens.<\/p>\n

Bashar al-Assad<\/a>\u00a0has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father\u00a0Hafez al-Assad<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0who was in office from 1971 to 2000. Throughout his rule, Syria and the ruling Ba’ath Party have been condemned and criticized for various\u00a0human rights abuses<\/a>, including\u00a0frequent executions of citizens and political prisoners<\/a>, and\u00a0massive censorship<\/a>.\u00a0Since March 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a\u00a0multi-sided civil war<\/a>, with a number of\u00a0countries in the region and beyond involved<\/a>\u00a0militarily or otherwise. As a result, a number of self-proclaimed political entities have emerged on Syrian territory, including the\u00a0Syrian opposition<\/a>,\u00a0Rojava<\/a>,\u00a0Tahrir al-Sham<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant<\/a>. Syria was ranked last on the\u00a0Global Peace Index<\/a>\u00a0from 2016 to 2018,<\/sup>\u00a0making it the most violent country in the world due to the war. The conflict has killed more than 570,000 people,<\/sup>\u00a0caused 7.6\u00a0million\u00a0internally displaced people<\/a>\u00a0(July 2015\u00a0UNHCR<\/a>\u00a0estimate) and over 5\u00a0million\u00a0refugees<\/a>\u00a0(July 2017 registered by\u00a0UNHCR<\/a><\/i>),<\/sup>\u00a0making population assessment difficult in recent years.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

Ancient Antiquity:<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
\n
Since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of the centers of <\/span>Neolithic<\/a>\u00a0culture (known as\u00a0<\/span>Pre-Pottery Neolithic A<\/a>) where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period (<\/span>PPNB<\/a>) is represented by rectangular houses of\u00a0<\/span>Mureybet<\/a>\u00a0culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps and burnt lime (<\/span>Vaisselle blanche<\/a>). Finds of\u00a0<\/span>obsidian<\/a>\u00a0tools from\u00a0<\/span>Anatolia<\/a>\u00a0are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of\u00a0<\/span>Hamoukar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Emar<\/a>\u00a0played an important role during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age.\u00a0<\/span>Archaeologists<\/a>\u00a0have demonstrated that\u00a0<\/span>civilization<\/a>\u00a0in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of\u00a0<\/span>Mesopotamia<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The earliest recorded indigenous civilization in the region was the Kingdom of\u00a0Ebla<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0near present-day\u00a0Idlib<\/a>, northern Syria. Ebla appears to have been founded around 3500 BC,<\/sup>\u00a0and gradually built its fortune through trade with the\u00a0Mesopotamian<\/a>\u00a0states of\u00a0Sumer<\/a>,\u00a0Assyria<\/a>, and\u00a0Akkad<\/a>, as well as with the\u00a0Hurrian<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hattian<\/a>\u00a0peoples to the northwest, in\u00a0Asia Minor<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Gifts from\u00a0Pharaohs<\/a>, found during excavations, confirm Ebla’s contact with\u00a0Egypt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Female figurine, 5000 BC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One of the earliest written texts from Syria is a trading agreement between Vizier\u00a0Ibrium<\/a>\u00a0of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called\u00a0Abarsal<\/a> c. 2300 BC.\u00a0Scholars believe the\u00a0language of Ebla<\/a>\u00a0to be among the oldest known written\u00a0Semitic languages<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0Akkadian<\/a>. Recent classifications of the Eblaite language have shown that it was an\u00a0East Semitic language<\/a>, closely related to the\u00a0Akkadian language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ebla was weakened by a long war with\u00a0Mari<\/a>, and the whole of Syria became part of the Mesopotamian\u00a0Akkadian Empire<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0Sargon of Akkad<\/a>\u00a0and his grandson\u00a0Naram-Sin<\/a>‘s conquests ended Eblan domination over Syria in the first half of the 23rd century BC.<\/sup><\/p>\n

By the 21st century BC,\u00a0Hurrians<\/a>\u00a0settled the northern east parts of Syria while the rest of the region was dominated by the\u00a0Amorites<\/a>. Syria was called the Land of the Amurru (Amorites) by their Assyro-Babylonian neighbors. The\u00a0Northwest Semitic<\/a>\u00a0language of the\u00a0Amorites<\/a>\u00a0is the earliest attested of the\u00a0Canaanite languages<\/a>.\u00a0Mari<\/a>\u00a0reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by\u00a0Hammurabi<\/a>\u00a0of Babylon.\u00a0Ugarit<\/a>\u00a0also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern\u00a0Latakia<\/a>.\u00a0Ugaritic<\/a>\u00a0was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the\u00a0Ugaritic alphabet<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0considered to be the world’s earliest known alphabet. The Ugaritic kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European\u00a0Sea Peoples<\/a>\u00a0in the 12th century BC in what was known as the Late\u00a0Bronze Age Collapse<\/a>\u00a0which saw similar kingdoms and states witness the same destruction at the hand of the Sea Peoples.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ishqi-Mari, king of the Second Kingdom of Mari, circa 2300 BC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Yamhad<\/a>\u00a0(modern\u00a0Aleppo<\/a>) dominated northern Syria for two centuries,<\/sup>\u00a0although Eastern Syria was occupied in the 19th and 18th centuries BC by the\u00a0Old Assyrian Empire<\/a>\u00a0ruled by the Amorite Dynasty of\u00a0Shamshi-Adad I<\/a>, and by the\u00a0Babylonian Empire<\/a>\u00a0which was founded by Amorites. Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon.<\/sup>\u00a0Yamhad imposed its authority over\u00a0Alalakh<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0Qatna<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0the\u00a0Hurrians<\/a>\u00a0states and the Euphrates Valley down to the borders with Babylon.<\/sup>\u00a0The army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as\u00a0D\u0113r<\/a>\u00a0on the border of\u00a0Elam<\/a>\u00a0(modern Iran).<\/sup>\u00a0Yamhad was conquered and destroyed, along with Ebla, by the\u00a0Indo-European<\/a>\u00a0Hittites<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Asia Minor<\/a>\u00a0circa 1600 BC.<\/sup><\/p>\n

From this time, Syria became a battle ground for various foreign empires, these being the\u00a0Hittite Empire<\/a>,\u00a0Mitanni<\/a>\u00a0Empire,\u00a0Egyptian Empire<\/a>,\u00a0Middle Assyrian Empire<\/a>, and to a lesser degree\u00a0Babylonia<\/a>. The Egyptians initially occupied much of the south, while the Hittites, and the Mitanni, much of the north. However, Assyria eventually gained the upper hand, destroying the Mitanni Empire and annexing huge swathes of territory previously held by the Hittites and Babylon.<\/p>\n

Around the 14th century BC, various Semitic peoples appeared in the area, such as the semi-nomadic\u00a0Suteans<\/a>\u00a0who came into an unsuccessful conflict with\u00a0Babylonia<\/a>\u00a0to the east, and the\u00a0West Semitic<\/a>\u00a0speaking\u00a0Arameans<\/a>\u00a0who subsumed the earlier Amorites. They too were subjugated by Assyria and the Hittites for centuries. The Egyptians fought the Hittites for control over western Syria; the fighting reached its zenith in 1274 BC with the\u00a0Battle of Kadesh<\/a>.<\/sup><\/sup> The west remained part of the Hittite empire until its destruction c. 1200 BC, while eastern Syria largely became part of the Middle Assyrian Empire,\u00a0who also annexed much of the west during the reign of\u00a0Tiglath-Pileser I<\/a>\u00a01114\u20131076 BC.<\/p>\n

With the destruction of the Hittites and the decline of Assyria in the late 11th century BC, the Aramean tribes gained control of much of the interior, founding states such as\u00a0Bit Bahiani<\/a>,\u00a0Aram-Damascus<\/a>,\u00a0Hamath<\/a>,\u00a0Aram-Rehob<\/a>,\u00a0Aram-Naharaim<\/a>, and\u00a0Luhuti<\/a>. From this point, the region became known as\u00a0Aramea<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Aram<\/a>. There was also a synthesis between the Semitic Arameans and the remnants of the Indo-European\u00a0Hittites<\/a>, with the founding of a number of\u00a0Syro-Hittite<\/a>\u00a0states centered in north central Aram (Syria) and south central Asia Minor (modern Turkey), including\u00a0Palistin<\/a>,\u00a0Carchemish<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sam’al<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Syrians bringing presents to Pharaoh\u00a0Tuthmosis III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A\u00a0Canaanite<\/a>\u00a0group known as the\u00a0Phoenicians<\/a>\u00a0came to dominate the coasts of Syria, (and also Lebanon and northern\u00a0Palestine<\/a>) from the 13th century BC, founding city states such as\u00a0Amrit<\/a>,\u00a0Simyra<\/a>,\u00a0Arwad<\/a>,\u00a0Paltos<\/a>,\u00a0Ramitha<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shuksi<\/a>. From these coastal regions, they eventually spread their influence throughout the\u00a0Mediterranean<\/a>, including building colonies in\u00a0Malta<\/a>, Sicily, the\u00a0Iberian peninsula<\/a>\u00a0(modern Spain and\u00a0Portugal<\/a>), and the coasts of North Africa and most significantly, founding the major city state of\u00a0Carthage<\/a>\u00a0(in modern\u00a0Tunisia<\/a>) in the 9th century BC, which was much later to become the center of a major empire, rivaling the\u00a0Roman Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Syria and the Western half of\u00a0Near East<\/a>\u00a0then fell to the vast\u00a0Neo Assyrian Empire<\/a>\u00a0(911 BC \u2013 605 BC). The Assyrians introduced\u00a0Imperial Aramaic<\/a>\u00a0as the\u00a0lingua franca<\/a>\u00a0of their empire. This language was to remain dominant in Syria and the entire\u00a0Near East<\/a>\u00a0until after the\u00a0Arab<\/a>\u00a0Islamic<\/a>\u00a0conquest in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, and was to be a vehicle for the spread of Christianity. The Assyrians named their colonies of Syria and Lebanon\u00a0Eber-Nari<\/a>. Assyrian domination ended after the Assyrians greatly weakened themselves in a series of brutal internal civil wars, followed by attacks from: the\u00a0Medes<\/a>,\u00a0Babylonians<\/a>,\u00a0Chaldeans<\/a>,\u00a0Persians<\/a>,\u00a0Scythians<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cimmerians<\/a>. During the fall of Assyria, the\u00a0Scythians<\/a>\u00a0ravaged and plundered much of Syria. The last stand of the Assyrian army was at\u00a0Carchemish<\/a>\u00a0in northern Syria in 605 BC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Amrit Phoenician Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Assyrian Empire was followed by the\u00a0Neo-Babylonian Empire<\/a>\u00a0(605 BC \u2013 539 BC). During this period, Syria became a battle ground between Babylonia and another former Assyrian colony, that of\u00a0Egypt<\/a>. The Babylonians, like their Assyrian relations, were victorious over Egypt.<\/p>\n

Classical Antiquity:<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

The\u00a0Achaemenid Empire<\/a>, founded by\u00a0Cyrus the Great<\/a>, annexed\u00a0Syria<\/a>\u00a0along with Babylonia to its empire in 539 BC. The\u00a0Persians<\/a>\u00a0retained Imperial Aramaic as one of the diplomatic languages of the Achaemenid Empire (539 BC \u2013 330 BC), as well as the Assyrian name for the new\u00a0satrapy<\/a>\u00a0of Aram\/Syria\u00a0Eber-Nari<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Syria was conquered by the\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0Macedonian Empire<\/a>, ruled by\u00a0Alexander the Great<\/a>\u00a0circa 330 BC, and consequently became\u00a0Coele-Syria<\/a>\u00a0province of the\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0Seleucid Empire<\/a>\u00a0(323 BC \u2013 64 BC), with the Seleucid kings styling themselves ‘King of Syria’ and the city of Antioch being its capital starting from 240.<\/p>\n

Thus, it was the Greeks who introduced the name “Syria” to the region. Originally an Indo-European corruption of “Assyria” in northern Mesopotamia, the Greeks used this term to describe not only Assyria itself but also the lands to the west which had for centuries been under Assyrian dominion.<\/sup>\u00a0Thus in the\u00a0Greco-Roman<\/a>\u00a0world both the\u00a0Arameans<\/a>\u00a0of Syria and the\u00a0Assyrians<\/a>\u00a0of Mesopotamia (modern day\u00a0Iraq<\/a>) to the east were referred to as “Syrians” or “Syriacs”, despite these being distinct peoples in their own right, a confusion which would continue into the modern world. Eventually parts of southern Seleucid Syria were taken by\u00a0Judean<\/a>\u00a0Hasmoneans<\/a>\u00a0upon the slow disintegration of the Hellenistic Empire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ancient city of Palmyra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Syria briefly came under\u00a0Armenian<\/a>\u00a0control from 83 BC, with the conquests of the Armenian king\u00a0Tigranes the Great<\/a>, who was welcomed as a savior from the\u00a0Seleucids<\/a>\u00a0and Romans by the Syrian people. However,\u00a0Pompey the Great<\/a>, a general of the\u00a0Roman Empire<\/a>, rode to Syria and captured\u00a0Antioch<\/a>, its capital, and turned Syria into a\u00a0Roman province<\/a>\u00a0in 64 BC, thus ending Armenian control over the region which had lasted two decades. Syria prospered under Roman rule, being strategically located on the silk road, which gave it massive wealth and importance, making it the battleground for the rivaling Romans and Persians.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Roman Theatre at Bosra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

Palmyra<\/a>, a rich and sometimes powerful native\u00a0Aramaic<\/a>-speaking kingdom arose in northern Syria in the 2nd century; the Palmyrene established a trade network that made the city one of the richest in the Roman empire. Eventually, in the late 3rd century AD, the Palmyrene king\u00a0Odaenathus<\/a>\u00a0defeated the Persian emperor\u00a0Shapur I<\/a>\u00a0and controlled the entirety of the Roman East while his successor and widow\u00a0Zenobia<\/a>\u00a0established the\u00a0Palmyrene Empire<\/a>, which briefly conquered Egypt, Syria, Palestine, much of Asia Minor, Judah and Lebanon, before being finally brought under Roman control in 273 AD.<\/p>\n

The northern Mesopotamian\u00a0Assyrian<\/a>\u00a0kingdom of\u00a0Adiabene<\/a> controlled areas of north east Syria between 10 AD and 117 AD, before it was conquered by Rome.<\/p>\n

The Aramaic language has been found as far afield as Hadrian’s Wall in Ancient Britain,<\/sup>\u00a0with an inscription written by a Palmyrene emigrant at the site of Fort\u00a0Arbeia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Control of Syria eventually passed from the\u00a0Romans<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Byzantines<\/a>, with the split in the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

The largely\u00a0Aramaic<\/a>-speaking population of Syria during the heyday of the Byzantine Empire was probably not exceeded again until the 19th century. Prior to the\u00a0Arab Islamic Conquest<\/i>\u00a0in the 7th century AD, the bulk of the population were\u00a0Arameans<\/a>, but Syria was also home to\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Roman<\/a>\u00a0ruling classes,\u00a0Assyrians<\/a>\u00a0still dwelt in the north east,\u00a0Phoenicians<\/a>\u00a0along the coasts, and\u00a0Jewish<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Armenian<\/a>\u00a0communities were also extant in major cities, with\u00a0Nabateans<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0pre-Islamic<\/i>\u00a0Arabs<\/a>\u00a0such as the\u00a0Lakhmids<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ghassanids<\/a>\u00a0dwelling in the deserts of southern Syria.\u00a0Syriac Christianity<\/a>\u00a0had taken hold as the major religion, although others still followed\u00a0Judaism<\/a>,\u00a0Mithraism<\/a>,\u00a0Manicheanism<\/a>,\u00a0Greco-Roman Religion<\/a>,\u00a0Canaanite Religion<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mesopotamian Religion<\/a>. Syria’s large and prosperous population made Syria one of the most important of the Roman and Byzantine provinces, particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries (AD).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Temple of Jupiter, Damascus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Syrians held considerable amounts of power during the <\/span>Severan dynasty<\/a>. The matriarch of the family and Empress of Rome as wife of emperor\u00a0<\/span>Septimius Severus<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0<\/span>Julia Domna<\/a>, a Syrian from the city of\u00a0<\/span>Emesa<\/a>\u00a0(modern day\u00a0<\/span>Homs<\/a>), whose\u00a0<\/span>family<\/a>\u00a0held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the god\u00a0<\/span>El-Gabal<\/a>. Her great nephews, also Arabs from Syria, would also become Roman Emperors, the first being\u00a0<\/span>Elagabalus<\/a>\u00a0and the second, his cousin\u00a0<\/span>Alexander Severus<\/a>. Another Roman emperor who was a Syrian was\u00a0<\/span>Philip the Arab<\/a>\u00a0(Marcus Julius Philippus), who was born in\u00a0<\/span>Roman Arabia<\/a>. He was emperor from 244 to 249,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0and ruled briefly during the\u00a0<\/span>Crisis of the Third Century<\/a>. During his reign, he focused on his home town of Philippopolis (modern day\u00a0<\/span>Shahba<\/a>) and began many construction projects to improve the city, most of which were halted after his death.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Syria is significant in the\u00a0history of Christianity<\/a>; Saulus of Tarsus, better known as the\u00a0Apostle Paul<\/a>, was converted on the\u00a0Road to Damascus<\/a>\u00a0and emerged as a significant figure in the Christian Church at\u00a0Antioch<\/a>\u00a0in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys. (Acts 9:1\u201343<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The ancient city of Apamea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Middle Ages:<\/span><\/h3>\n

Muhammad<\/a>‘s first interaction with the people and tribes of Syria was during the\u00a0Invasion of Dumatul Jandal<\/a> in July 626 where he ordered his followers to invade Duma, because Muhammad received intelligence that some tribes there were involved in highway robbery and preparing to attack Medina itself.<\/p>\n

William Montgomery Watt<\/a>\u00a0claims that this was the most significant expedition Muhammad ordered at the time, even though it received little notice in the primary sources.\u00a0Dumat Al-Jandal<\/a> was 800 kilometers (500 mi) from Medina, and Watt says that there was no immediate threat to Muhammad, other than the possibility that his communications to Syria and supplies to Medina being interrupted. Watt says “It is tempting to suppose that Muhammad was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death”, and that the rapid march of his troops must have “impressed all those who heard of it”.<\/p>\n

William Muir<\/a> also believes that the expedition was important as Muhammad followed by 1000 men reached the confines of Syria, where distant tribes had now learnt his name, while the political horizon of Muhammad was extended.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Umayyad fresco from Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharb\u00ee, built in the early 7th century<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

By AD 640, Syria\u00a0was conquered<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0Arab<\/a>\u00a0Rashidun army<\/a>\u00a0led by\u00a0Khalid ibn al-Walid<\/a>. In the mid-7th century, the\u00a0Umayyad dynasty<\/a>, then rulers of the empire, placed the capital of the empire in Damascus. The country’s power declined during later Umayyad rule; this was mainly due to totalitarianism, corruption and the resulting revolutions. The Umayyad dynasty was then overthrown in 750 by the\u00a0Abbasid dynasty<\/a>, which moved the capital of empire to\u00a0Baghdad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arabic<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 made official under Umayyad rule<\/sup>\u00a0\u2013 became the dominant language, replacing\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Aramaic<\/a>\u00a0of the Byzantine era. In 887, the Egypt-based\u00a0Tulunids<\/a>\u00a0annexed Syria from the Abbasids, and were later replaced by once the Egypt-based\u00a0Ikhshidids<\/a>\u00a0and still later by the\u00a0Hamdanids<\/a>\u00a0originating in\u00a0Aleppo<\/a>\u00a0founded by\u00a0Sayf al-Dawla<\/a>.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The 1299 Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar. The Mongols under Ghazan defeated the Mamluks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sections of Syria were held by French, English,\u00a0Italian<\/a>\u00a0and German overlords between 1098 and 1189 AD during the\u00a0Crusades<\/a>\u00a0and were known collectively as the\u00a0Crusader states<\/a>\u00a0among which the primary one in Syria was the\u00a0Principality of Antioch<\/a>. The coastal mountainous region was also occupied in part by the\u00a0Nizari Ismailis<\/a>, the so-called\u00a0Assassins<\/a>, who had intermittent confrontations and truces with the Crusader States. Later in history when “the Nizaris faced renewed Frankish hostilities, they received timely assistance from the Ayyubids.”<\/p>\n

After a century of Seljuk rule, Syria was largely conquered (1175\u20131185) by the\u00a0Kurdish<\/a>\u00a0liberator\u00a0Salah ad-Din<\/a>, founder of the\u00a0Ayyubid<\/a>\u00a0dynasty of Egypt. Aleppo\u00a0fell<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0Mongols<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Hulegu<\/a>\u00a0in January 1260, and Damascus in March, but then Hulegu was forced to break off his attack to return to China to deal with a succession dispute.<\/p>\n

A few months later, the Mamluks arrived with an army from Egypt and defeated the Mongols in the\u00a0Battle of Ain Jalut<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Galilee<\/a>. The Mamluk leader,\u00a0Baibars<\/a>, made Damascus a provincial capital. When he died, power was taken by\u00a0Qalawun<\/a>. In the meantime, an emir named Sunqur al-Ashqar had tried to declare himself ruler of Damascus, but he was defeated by Qalawun on 21 June 1280, and fled to northern Syria. Al-Ashqar, who had married a Mongol woman, appealed for help from the Mongols. The\u00a0Mongols<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Ilkhanate<\/a>\u00a0took Aleppo in October 1280, but Qalawun persuaded Al-Ashqar to join him, and they fought against the Mongols on 29 October 1281, in the\u00a0Second Battle of Homs<\/a>, which was won by the\u00a0Mamluks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1400, the Muslim\u00a0Turco-Mongol<\/a>\u00a0conqueror\u00a0Tamurlane<\/a>\u00a0invaded Syria, in which he\u00a0sacked Aleppo<\/a>,<\/sup>\u00a0and\u00a0captured Damascus<\/a>\u00a0after defeating the Mamluk army. The city’s inhabitants were massacred, except for the artisans, who were deported to\u00a0Samarkand<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Tamurlane also conducted specific massacres of the\u00a0Aramean<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Assyrian<\/a> Christian populations, greatly reducing their numbers.\u00a0By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to the Far East ended the need for an\u00a0overland trade route<\/a>\u00a0through Syria.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Syrian women, 1683<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ottoman Syria:<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 1516, the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>\u00a0invaded the\u00a0Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt<\/a>, conquering Syria, and incorporating it into its empire. The Ottoman system was not burdensome to Syrians because the Turks respected Arabic as the language of the\u00a0Quran<\/a>, and accepted the mantle of defenders of the faith. Damascus was made the major entrepot for\u00a0Mecca<\/a>, and as such it acquired a holy character to Muslims, because of the beneficial results of the countless pilgrims who passed through on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
1803 Cedid Atlas, showing Ottoman Syria labelled as “Al Sham” in yellow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ottoman administration followed a system that led to peaceful coexistence. Each\u00a0ethno-religious<\/a>\u00a0minority\u2014Arab<\/a>\u00a0Shia Muslim<\/a>,\u00a0Arab<\/a>\u00a0Sunni Muslim<\/a>,\u00a0Aramean<\/a>–Syriac Orthodox<\/a>,\u00a0Greek Orthodox<\/a>,\u00a0Maronite Christians<\/a>,\u00a0Assyrian Christians<\/a>,\u00a0Armenians<\/a>,\u00a0Kurds<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jews<\/a>\u2014constituted a\u00a0millet<\/a>. The religious heads of each community administered all personal status laws and performed certain civil functions as well.\u00a0In 1831,\u00a0Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt<\/a>\u00a0renounced his loyalty to the Empire and overran\u00a0Ottoman Syria<\/a>, capturing Damascus. His short-term rule over the domain attempted to change the demographics and social structure of the region: he brought thousands of Egyptian villagers to populate the plains of\u00a0Southern Syria<\/a>, rebuilt\u00a0Jaffa<\/a>\u00a0and settled it with veteran Egyptian soldiers aiming to turn it into a regional capital, and he crushed\u00a0peasant<\/a>\u00a0and Druze rebellions and deported non-loyal tribesmen. By 1840, however, he had to surrender the area back to the Ottomans.<\/p>\n

From 1864,\u00a0Tanzimat<\/a>\u00a0reforms were applied on Ottoman Syria, carving out the provinces (vilayets) of\u00a0Aleppo<\/a>,\u00a0Zor<\/a>,\u00a0Beirut<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Damascus Vilayet<\/a>;\u00a0Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0was created, as well, and soon after the\u00a0Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem<\/a>\u00a0was given a separate status.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Armenian deportees near Aleppo during the Armenian genocide, 1915<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During\u00a0World War I<\/a>, the\u00a0Ottoman Empire<\/a>\u00a0entered the conflict on the side of Germany and the\u00a0Austro-Hungarian Empire<\/a>. It ultimately suffered defeat and loss of control of the entire\u00a0Near East<\/a>\u00a0to the\u00a0British Empire<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0French Empire<\/a>. During the conflict,\u00a0genocide<\/a>\u00a0against indigenous Christian peoples was carried out by the Ottomans and their allies in the form of the\u00a0Armenian genocide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Assyrian genocide<\/a>, of which\u00a0Deir ez-Zor<\/a>, in Ottoman Syria, was the final destination of these death marches. <\/sup>In the midst of\u00a0World War I<\/a>, two\u00a0Allied<\/a>\u00a0diplomats (Frenchman\u00a0Fran\u00e7ois Georges-Picot<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Briton<\/a>\u00a0Mark Sykes<\/a>) secretly agreed on the post-war division of the Ottoman Empire into respective zones of influence in the\u00a0Sykes-Picot Agreement<\/a>\u00a0of 1916. Initially, the two territories were separated by a border that ran in an almost straight line from Jordan to\u00a0Iran<\/a>. However, the discovery of oil in the region of\u00a0Mosul<\/a>\u00a0just before the end of the war led to yet\u00a0another negotiation with France in 1918<\/a>\u00a0to cede this region to the British zone of influence, which was to become Iraq. The fate of the intermediate province of Zor was left unclear; its\u00a0occupation by Arab nationalists resulted in its attachment to Syria<\/a>. This border was recognized internationally when Syria became a\u00a0League of Nations<\/a> mandate in 1920 and has not changed to date.<\/p>\n

French Mandate:<\/span><\/h3>\n
In 1920, a short-lived independent\u00a0Kingdom of Syria<\/a>\u00a0was established under\u00a0Faisal I<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Hashemite<\/a>\u00a0family. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the\u00a0Battle of Maysalun<\/a>. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the\u00a0San Remo conference<\/a>\u00a0proposed that the League of Nations put Syria under a French mandate. General Gouraud had according to his secretary de Caix two options: “Either build a Syrian nation that does not exist… by smoothing the rifts which still divide it” or “cultivate and maintain all the phenomena, which require our arbitration that these divisions give”. De Caix added “I must say only the second option interests me”. This is what Gouraud did.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
The inauguration of President Hashim al-Atassi in 1936<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 1925,\u00a0Sultan al-Atrash<\/a>\u00a0led\u00a0a revolt<\/a>\u00a0that broke out in the\u00a0Druze Mountain<\/a>\u00a0and spread to engulf the whole of Syria and parts of Lebanon. Al-Atrash won several battles against the French, notably the\u00a0Battle of al-Kafr<\/a>\u00a0on 21 July 1925, the\u00a0Battle of al-Mazraa<\/a>\u00a0on 2\u20133 August 1925, and the battles of Salkhad,\u00a0al-Musayfirah<\/a>\u00a0and Suwayda. France sent thousands of troops from Morocco and Senegal, leading the French to regain many cities, although resistance lasted until the spring of 1927. The French sentenced Sultan al-Atrash to death, but he had escaped with the rebels to Transjordan and was eventually pardoned. He returned to Syria in 1937 after the signing of the Syrian-French Treaty.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Syrian rebels in Ghouta during the Great Syrian Revolt against French colonial rule in the 1920s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Syria and France negotiated a\u00a0treaty of independence<\/a>\u00a0in September 1936, and\u00a0Hashim al-Atassi<\/a>\u00a0was the first president to be elected under the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, the treaty never came into force because the French Legislature refused to ratify it. With the fall of France in 1940 during\u00a0World War II<\/a>, Syria came under the control of\u00a0Vichy France<\/a>\u00a0until the British and Free French occupied the country in the\u00a0Syria-Lebanon campaign<\/a>\u00a0in July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalists and the British\u00a0forced the French<\/a> to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.<\/p>\n

Independent Syrian Republic:<\/span><\/h3>\n

Upheaval dominated Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s. In May 1948, Syrian forces invaded\u00a0Palestine<\/a>, together with other Arab states, and immediately\u00a0attacked<\/a>\u00a0Jewish settlements.<\/sup>\u00a0Their president\u00a0Shukri al-Quwwatli<\/a> instructed his troops in the front, “to destroy the Zionists”.\u00a0The Invasion purpose was prevention of the establishment of the\u00a0State of Israel<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Defeat in this war was one of several trigger factors for the\u00a0March 1949 Syrian coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>\u00a0by Col.\u00a0Husni al-Za’im<\/a>, described as the first military overthrow of the\u00a0Arab World<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0since the start of the Second World War. This was soon followed by another overthrow, by Col.\u00a0Sami al-Hinnawi<\/a>, who was himself quickly deposed by Col.\u00a0Adib Shishakli<\/a>, all within the same year.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Shishakli eventually abolished multipartyism altogether, but was himself overthrown in a\u00a01954 coup<\/a>\u00a0and the parliamentary system was restored.<\/sup>\u00a0However, by this time, power was increasingly concentrated in the military and security establishment.<\/sup>\u00a0The weakness of Parliamentary institutions and the mismanagement of the economy led to unrest and the influence of\u00a0Nasserism<\/a>\u00a0and other ideologies. There was fertile ground for various\u00a0Arab nationalist<\/a>,\u00a0Syrian nationalist<\/a>, and socialist movements, which represented disaffected elements of society. Notably included were religious minorities, who demanded radical reform.<\/p>\n

In November 1956, as a direct result of the\u00a0Suez Crisis<\/a>,[80]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Syria signed a pact with the\u00a0Soviet Union<\/a>. This gave a foothold for Communist influence within the government in exchange for military equipment.<\/sup>\u00a0Turkey<\/a>\u00a0then became worried about this increase in the strength of Syrian military technology, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake\u00a0\u0130skenderun<\/a>. Only heated debates in the United Nations lessened the threat of war.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Aleppo in 1961<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On 1 February 1958, Syrian President\u00a0Shukri al-Quwatli<\/a>\u00a0and Egypt’s Nasser announced the merging of Egypt and Syria, creating the\u00a0United Arab Republic<\/a>, and all Syrian political parties, as well as the communists therein, ceased overt activities. Meanwhile, a group of Syrian Ba’athist officers, alarmed by the party’s poor position and the increasing fragility of the union, decided to form a secret Military Committee; its initial members were Lieutenant-Colonel\u00a0Muhammad Umran<\/a>, Major\u00a0Salah Jadid<\/a>\u00a0and Captain\u00a0Hafez al-Assad<\/a>. Syria seceded from the union with Egypt on 28 September 1961, after a\u00a0coup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Ba’athist Syria<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ensuing instability following the\u00a01961 coup<\/a>\u00a0culminated in the\u00a08 March 1963 Ba’athist coup<\/a>. The takeover was engineered by members of the\u00a0Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party<\/a>, led by\u00a0Michel Aflaq<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Salah al-Din al-Bitar<\/a>. The new Syrian cabinet was dominated by Ba’ath members.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Hafez al-Assad greets Richard Nixon on his arrival at Damascus airport in 1974<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On 23 February 1966, the Military Committee carried out an\u00a0intra-party overthrow<\/a>, imprisoned President\u00a0Amin Hafiz<\/a>\u00a0and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba’ath government on 1 March.<\/sup>\u00a0Although\u00a0Nureddin al-Atassi<\/a>\u00a0became the formal head of state,\u00a0Salah Jadid<\/a> was Syria’s effective ruler from 1966 until November 1970,<\/sup>\u00a0when he was deposed by\u00a0Hafez al-Assad<\/a>, who at the time was Minister of Defense.\u00a0The coup led to a split within the original\u00a0pan-Arab Ba’ath Party<\/a>: one\u00a0Iraqi-led ba’ath movement<\/a>\u00a0(ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003) and one\u00a0Syrian-led ba’ath movement<\/a>\u00a0was established.<\/p>\n

In the first half of 1967, a low-key state of war existed between Syria and\u00a0Israel<\/a>. Conflict over Israeli cultivation of land in the\u00a0Demilitarized Zone<\/a>\u00a0led to\u00a07 April pre-war aerial clashes<\/a>\u00a0between Israel and Syria.<\/sup>\u00a0When the\u00a0Six-Day War<\/a>\u00a0broke out between Egypt and Israel, Syria joined the war and attacked Israel as well. In the final days of the war, Israel turned its attention to Syria, capturing two-thirds of the\u00a0Golan Heights<\/a> in under 48 hours. The defeat caused a split between Jadid and Assad over what steps to take next.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Quneitra village, largely destroyed before the Israeli withdrawal in June 1974.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Disagreement developed between Jadid, who controlled the party apparatus, and Assad, who controlled the military. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the\u00a0PLO<\/a>\u00a0during the “Black September<\/a>” hostilities with Jordan reflected this disagreement.<\/sup>\u00a0The power struggle culminated in the November\u00a01970 Syrian Corrective Revolution<\/a>, a bloodless military overthrow that installed Hafez al-Assad as the strongman of the government.<\/p>\n

On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt initiated the\u00a0Yom Kippur War<\/a>\u00a0against Israel. The\u00a0Israel Defense Forces<\/a> reversed the initial Syrian gains and pushed deeper into Syrian territory.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
In the late 1970s, an <\/span>Islamist uprising<\/a>\u00a0by the\u00a0<\/span>Muslim Brotherhood<\/a>\u00a0was aimed against the government. Islamists attacked civilians and off-duty military personnel, leading security forces to also kill civilians in retaliatory strikes. The uprising had reached its climax in the 1982\u00a0<\/span>Hama massacre<\/a>,<\/span><\/sup>\u00a0when some 10,000 \u2013 40,000 people were killed by regular\u00a0<\/span>Syrian Army<\/a>\u00a0troops.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a major shift in relations with both other\u00a0Arab states<\/a>\u00a0and the Western world, Syria participated in the US-led\u00a0Gulf War<\/a>\u00a0against Saddam Hussein. Syria participated in the multilateral\u00a0Madrid Conference of 1991<\/a>, and during the 1990s engaged in negotiations with Israel. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further direct Syrian-Israeli talks since President\u00a0Hafez al-Assad<\/a>‘s meeting with then President\u00a0Bill Clinton<\/a> in Geneva in March 2000.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Military situation in the Syrian Civil War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Hafez al-Assad died on 10 June 2000. His son,\u00a0Bashar al-Assad<\/a>, was elected president in\u00a0an election<\/a>\u00a0in which he ran unopposed.<\/sup>\u00a0His election saw the birth of the\u00a0Damascus Spring<\/a>\u00a0and hopes of reform, but by autumn 2001, the authorities had suppressed the movement, imprisoning some of its leading intellectuals.<\/sup> Instead, reforms have been limited to some market reforms.<\/sup><\/p>\n

On 5 October 2003, Israel\u00a0bombed a site near Damascus<\/a>, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members of\u00a0Islamic Jihad<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0In March 2004, Syrian Kurds and Arabs\u00a0clashed<\/a> in the northeastern city of al-Qamishli. Signs of rioting were seen in the cities of Qamishli and Hasakeh. In 2005, Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon.\u00a0On 6 September 2007, foreign jet fighters, suspected as Israeli, reportedly carried out\u00a0Operation Orchard<\/a>\u00a0against a suspected\u00a0nuclear reactor<\/a>\u00a0under construction by\u00a0North Korean<\/a> technicians.<\/p>\n

Syrian Civil War:<\/span><\/h3>\n

The ongoing\u00a0Syrian Civil War<\/a>\u00a0was inspired by the\u00a0Arab Spring<\/a>\u00a0revolutions. It began in 2011 as a chain of peaceful protests, followed by an alleged crackdown by the Syrian Army.<\/sup>\u00a0In July 2011, Army defectors declared the formation of the\u00a0Free Syrian Army<\/a>\u00a0and began forming fighting units. The opposition is dominated by\u00a0Sunni<\/a>\u00a0Muslims, whereas the leading government figures are generally associated with\u00a0Alawites<\/a>. <\/sup>The war also involves rebel groups (IS<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0al-Nusra<\/a>) and various\u00a0foreign countries<\/a>, leading to claims of a\u00a0proxy war<\/a> in Syria.<\/p>\n

According to various sources, including the United Nations, up to 100,000 people had been killed by June 2013, including 11,000 children. To escape the violence, 4.9\u00a0million<\/sup>\u00a0Syrian refugees<\/a>\u00a0have fled to neighboring countries of Jordan,<\/sup>\u00a0Iraq,<\/sup> Lebanon, and Turkey.\u00a0An estimated 450,000\u00a0Syrian Christians<\/a> have fled their homes. By October 2017, an estimated 400,000 people had been killed in the war according to the UN.<\/sup><\/p>\n

Geography:<\/span><\/h2>\n

The country consists mostly of arid plateau, although the northwest part bordering the Mediterranean is fairly green.\u00a0Al-Jazira<\/a>\u00a0in the northeast and\u00a0Hawran<\/a>\u00a0in the south are important agricultural areas. The\u00a0Euphrates<\/a>, Syria’s most important river, crosses the country in the east. Syria is one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called “cradle of civilization<\/a>“.<\/sup>\u00a0Its land straddles the “northwest of the\u00a0Arabian plate<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Topographic Map of Syria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Petroleum in commercial quantities was first discovered in the northeast in 1956. The most important oil fields are those of Suwaydiyah, Qaratshui, Rumayian, and Tayyem, near\u00a0Dayr az\u2013Zawr<\/a>. The fields are a natural extension of the Iraqi fields of\u00a0Mosul<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kirkuk<\/a>. Petroleum became Syria’s leading natural resource and chief export after 1974. Natural gas was discovered at the field of Jbessa in 1940.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

As of 2015, the Syrian economy relies upon inherently unreliable revenue sources such as dwindling customs and income taxes which are heavily bolstered by lines of credit from Iran.<\/sup>\u00a0Iran is believed to spend between $6\u00a0billion and US$20\u00a0billion a year on Syria during the Syrian Civil War.<\/sup>\u00a0The Syrian economy has contracted 60% and the\u00a0Syrian pound<\/a>\u00a0has lost 80% of its value, with the economy becoming part\u00a0state-owned<\/a>\u00a0and part\u00a0war economy<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0At the outset of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, Syria was classified by the\u00a0World Bank<\/a>\u00a0as a “lower middle income country.”<\/sup>\u00a0In 2010, Syria remained dependent on the oil and\u00a0agriculture sectors<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0The oil sector provided about 40% of export earnings.<\/sup>\u00a0Proven\u00a0offshore<\/a>\u00a0expeditions have indicated that large sums of oil exist on the Mediterranean Sea floor between Syria and Cyprus.<\/sup>\u00a0The agriculture sector contributes to about 20% of GDP and 20% of employment. Oil reserves are expected to decrease in the coming years and Syria has already become a net oil importer.<\/sup>\u00a0Since the civil war began, the economy shrank by 35%, and the Syrian pound has fallen to one-sixth of its prewar value.<\/sup> The government increasingly relies on credit from Iran, Russia and China.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Pre-civil war Syria Export Treemap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The economy is highly regulated by the government, which has increased subsidies and tightened trade controls to assuage protesters and protect\u00a0foreign currency reserves<\/a>.<\/sup>\u00a0Long-run economic constraints include foreign trade barriers, declining oil production, high unemployment, rising budget deficits, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution.<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0UNDP<\/a> announced in 2005 that 30% of the Syrian population lives in poverty and 11.4% live below the subsistence level.<\/p>\n

Syria’s share in global exports has eroded gradually since 2001.<\/sup> \u00a0Unemployment is high at above 10%. Poverty rates have increased from 11% in 2004 to 12.3% in 2007.<\/sup> In 2007, Syria’s main exports include crude oil, refined products, raw cotton, clothing, fruits, and grains. The bulk of Syrian imports are raw materials essential for industry, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Earnings from oil exports as well as remittances from Syrian workers are the government’s most important sources of foreign exchange.<\/p>\n

Political instability poses a significant threat to future economic development.<\/sup>\u00a0Foreign investment is constrained by violence, government restrictions, economic sanctions, and international isolation. Syria’s economy also remains hobbled by state bureaucracy, falling oil production, rising budget deficits, and inflation.[190]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Prior to the civil war in 2011, the government hoped to attract new investment in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. The government began to institute economic reforms aimed at liberalizing most markets, but those reforms were slow and ad hoc, and have been completely reversed since the outbreak of conflict in 2011.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus in 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As of 2012, because of the ongoing Syrian civil war, the value of Syria’s overall exports has been slashed by two-thirds, from the figure of US$12 billion in 2010 to only US$4 billion in 2012.<\/sup><\/p>\n

As of 2012, Syria’s oil and tourism industries in particular have been devastated, with US$5\u00a0billion lost to the ongoing conflict of the civil war.<\/sup>\u00a0Reconstruction needed because of the ongoing civil war will cost as much as US$10\u00a0billion.<\/sup> Sanctions have sapped the government’s finance. US and European Union bans on oil imports, which went into effect in 2012, are estimated to cost Syria about $400\u00a0million a month.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Syria Export Treemap by Product (2014)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Revenues from tourism have dropped dramatically, with hotel occupancy rates falling from 90% before the war to less than 15% in May 2012.<\/sup> Around 40% of all employees in the tourism sector have lost their jobs since the beginning of the war.<\/p>\n

In May 2015,\u00a0ISIS<\/a>\u00a0captured Syria’s phosphate mines, one of the Syrian governments last chief sources of income.<\/sup>\u00a0The following month, ISIS blew up a gas pipeline to Damascus that was used to generate heating and electricity in Damascus and Homs; “the name of its game for now is denial of key resources to the regime” an analyst stated.<\/sup>\u00a0In addition, ISIS was closing in on Shaer gas field and three other facilities in the area\u2014Hayan, Jihar and Ebla\u2014with the loss of these western gas fields having the potential to cause Iran to further subsidize the Syrian government.<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

Syria has four international airports (Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia and Kamishly), which serve as hubs for\u00a0Syrian Air<\/a> and are also served by a variety of foreign carriers.<\/p>\n

The majority of Syrian cargo is carried by\u00a0Syrian Railways<\/a>\u00a0(the Syrian railway company), which links up with\u00a0Turkish State Railways<\/a> (the Turkish counterpart). For a relatively underdeveloped country, Syria’s railway infrastructure is well maintained with many express services and modern trains.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Road Map of Syria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road network in Syria is 69,873 kilometers (43,417 miles) long, including 1,103 kilometers (685 miles) of expressways. The country also has 900 kilometers (560 miles) of navigable but not economically significant waterways<\/p>\n

Flag of Syria:<\/h2>\n

As a result of the\u00a0Syrian Civil War<\/a>, there are at least two flags used to represent\u00a0Syria<\/a>, used by different factions in the war.<\/sup>\u00a0The incumbent\u00a0government of the Syrian Arab Republic<\/a>\u00a0led by the\u00a0Ba’ath Party<\/a> uses the red-white-black tricolor originally used by the\u00a0United Arab Republic<\/a>, while\u00a0Syrian opposition<\/a>\u00a0factions such as the\u00a0Syrian National Coalition<\/a> use the green-white-black tricolor known as the ”Independence flag”, first used by\u00a0Mandatory Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flag of Syria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Syrian flag is described in Article 6 of the <\/span>Syrian Constitution<\/a>. The first paragraph of the Article states: <\/span>The current flag was first adopted in 1958 to represent Syria as part of the\u00a0United Arab Republic<\/a>, and was used until 1961. It was readopted in 1980. Since its first adoption, variations of the red-white-black flag have been used in various Arab Unions of Syria with\u00a0Egypt<\/a>,\u00a0Libya<\/a>,\u00a0Sudan<\/a>,\u00a0Yemen<\/a>, and\u00a0Iraq<\/a>. Although Syria is not part of any Arab state union, the flag of the United Arab Republic was readopted to show Syria’s commitment to Arab unity.<\/sup>\u00a0The usage of the flag has become disputed because it is often associated with the\u00a0Ba’ath Party<\/a>\u00a0and has come to represent parties loyal to\u00a0Bashar al-Assad’s<\/a>\u00a0government in the\u00a0Syrian civil war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The flag of the Syrian Arab Republic consists of three colors: red, white and black, with two green stars, of five angles each. The flag is rectangular, with its width measuring two-thirds of its length. It is divided into three rectangles of identical dimensions and have the same length as the flag. The upper one is red, the middle being white and the bottom one is black, with the two green stars in the middle of the white rectangle.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u20091st Paragraph of\u00a0Article 6\u00a0of the Syrian Constitution<\/em><\/p>\n

The flag of Syria is based on the Arab Liberation Flag, which had four colors \u2013 black, green, white and red \u2013 representing four major dynasties of Arab history: Abbasids, Fa\u1e6dimids, Umayyads, and Hashimites.<\/p>\n

Red: The Hashemite dynasty, bloody struggle for freedom.
\nWhite: The Umayyad dynasty, bright and peaceful future.
\nGreen: The Fatimid dynasty, the stars representing Egypt and Syria.
\nBlack: The Abbasid dynasty, oppression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag, which had four colors \u2013 black, green, white and red \u2013 representing four major dynasties of Arab history: Abbasids, Fa\u1e6dimids, Umayyads, and Hashimites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[36,59,5,6,7,87,49,18,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9545,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8978\/revisions\/9545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}