1985 Edition

Agriculture

dairy farming predominates; less than 50% self-sufficient; food shortages— fish, refined sugar, fats and oils (other than butter), grains, eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat

Aid

donor — bilateral economic aid committed, ODA and OOF (1970-82), $1.1 billion

Airfields

75 total, 72 usable; 42 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,660 m, 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

bicameral parliament (National Council, Council of States) has legislative authority; federal council (Bundesrat) has executive authority; justice left chiefly to cantons

Army, Air Force

executive powers vested in President and Council of Ministers; power rests in unicameral legislative (People's Council); seat of power is the Ba'th Party Regional (Syrian) Command

Budget

receipts, $8.45 billion; expenditures, $9.0 billion; deficit, $0.55 billion (1983)

Capital

Bern

Damascus

Civil air

89 major transport aircraft

Coastline

193 km People

Communists

about 5,000 members

mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000 Syria (continued)

Elections

held every four years; next elections 1987 Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party (SPS), Helmuth Hubacher, president; Radical Democratic Party (FDP), Yann Richter, president; Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), Hans Wyer, president; Swiss People's Party (SVP), Fritz Hofmann, chairman; Labor Party (PdA), Armand Magnin, chairman; National Action Party (NA), Hans Zwicky, chairman; Independents' Party (LdU), Walter Biel, president; Republican Movement (Rep); Liberal Party (LPS) Rud Thi Sazrasin, president; Evangelical People's Party (EVP), Paul Gysel, president; Maoist Party (POSH/PSA); Green Party (GP); Autonomous Socialist Party (PSA), Werner Carobbio, secretary; Progressive Swiss Organization (POS), George Degen, secretary

People's Council election November 1983; presidential election February Political parties and leaders: ruling party is the Arab Socialist Resurrectionist (Ba'th) Party; the Progressive National Front is dominated by Ba'thists but includes independents and members of the Syrian Arab Socialist Party (ASP), Arab Socialist Union (ASU), Socialist Unionist Movement, and Syrian Communist Party (SCP)

Electric power

16,690,000 kW capacity (1984); 56.203 billion kWh produced (1984), 8,650 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other

Exports

$25.6 billion (f.o.b., 1983); principal items — machinery and equipment, chemicals, precision instruments, metal products, textiles, foodstuffs

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

GNP

$100.2 billion (1983), $15,390 per capita; 60% consumption, 22% investment, 0.13% government, —1% net foreign balance; real growth rate 0% (1983)

Government leader

Kurt FURGLER, President (1985; presidency rotates annually)

Lt. Gen. Hafiz alASSAD, President (since February 1971)

Highways

62,145 km total (all paved), of which 18,620 km are canton and 1,057 km are national highways (740 km autobahn); 42,468 km are communal roads

Imports

$28.6 billion (f.o.b., 1983); principal items — machinery and transportation equipment, metals and metal products, foodstuffs, chemicals, textile fibers and yarns

Inland waterways

65 km; Rhine River — Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Constanz; in addition, there are 12 navigable lakes

Labor force

2.3 million; 37% miscellaneous services, 32% agriculture, 31% industry (including construction); majority unskilled; shortage of skilled labor

Land boundaries

2, 1 96 km (1967) (excluding occupied area 2,156 km) Water

Language

Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian; French and English widely understood

Legal system

civil law system influenced by customary law; constitution adopted 1874, amended since; judicial review of legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory character; legal education at Universities of Bern, Geneva, and Lausanne and four other university schools of law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; constitution promulgated in 1973; legal education at Damascus University and University of Aleppo; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

35 nm

Literacy

about 50%

Major industries

machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments

Major trade partners

57% EC, 22% other developed, 4% Communist, 15% less developed countries

Member of

ADB, Council of Europe, DAC, EFTA, ELDO (observer), ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDB— Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, ILO, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, OECD, UNESCO, UPU, World Confederation of Labor, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO; permanent observer status at the UN; does not hold UN membership Economy

Military budget

proposed for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985, $1.9 billion; 20.1% of proposed central government budget See region*! map VI Land 185,180 km2 (including 1,295 km2 of Israelioccupied territory); the size of North Dakota; 48% arable, 29% grazing, 21% desert, 2% forest

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,707,000; 1,475,000 fit for military service; 50,000 reach military age (20) annually

Monetary conversion rate

2.44 francs=US$l (third quarter 1984)

National holiday

National Day, 1 August

Independence Day, 17 April

Nationality

noun — Syrian(s); adjective — Syrian

Official name

Swiss Confederation

Syrian Arab Republic

Organized labor

20% of labor force Government

5% of labor force Government

Pipelines

314 km crude oil; 1,046 km natural gas

Political subdivisions

23 cantons (3 divided into half cantons)

13 provinces and city of Damascus administered as separate unit

Population

10,535,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 3. 7%

Ports

1 major (Basel), 2 minor (all inland)

Railroads

5,157 km total; 2,952 km government owned (SBB), 2,879 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 73 km 1.000-meter narrow gauge; 1,432 km double track, 99% electrified; 2,203 km nongovernment owned, 710 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1,418 km 1.000meter gauge, 75 km 0.790-meter gauge, 100% electrified

Religion

74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects; 10% Christian (various sects)

Shortages

practically all important raw materials except hydroelectric energy

Suffrage

universal over age 20

universal at age 18

Telecommunications

excellent domestic, international, and broadcast services; 4.98 million telephones (77.0 per 100 popl.); 7AM, 209 FM, 1,203 TV stations; 1 satellite station with 2 Atlantic Ocean antennas Syria Defense Forces

Type

federal republic

republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963

Voting strength

(1983 election) 23.4% FDP, 22.8% SPS, 20.5% CVP, 11.1% SVP, 3.5% NA, 2.9% GP, 16.1% others