1989 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1989 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Airports
72 total, 70 usable; 42 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,4403,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Branches
Army, Air Force
Civil air
89 major transport aircraft
Climate
mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast
Coastline
193 km
Comparative area
slightly larger than North Dakota
Contiguous zone
6 nm beyond territorial sea limit
Defense expenditures
$1.2 billion (1989 est.) 150l»m Mediterranean Sea Srr regional map VI
Disputes
separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
Environment
deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
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
Inland waterways
65 km; Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee); 12 navigable lakes
Land boundaries
2,253 km total; Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km
Land use
28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 3% irrigated
Merchant marine
20 ships (1,000 CRT or over) totaling 215,851 GRT/365,131 DWT; includes 4 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 chemical tanker, 3 specialized liquid cargo, 8 bulk
Military manpower
males 15-49, 1,800,211; 1,550,662 fit for military service; 44,154 reach military age (20) annually
Natural resources
crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum
Note
there are 35 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
Pipelines
314 km crude oil; 1,506 km natural gas
Ports
Basel (river port)
Telecommunications
excellent domestic, international, and broadcast services; 5,808,000 telephones; stations — 6 AM, 36 (400 relays) FM, 145 (1,250 relays) TV; communications satellite earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems Defense Forces
Terrain
primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Territorial sea
35 nm
Total area
185,180 km2; land area: 184,050 km2 (including 1,295 km2 of Israeli-occupied territory)
Total area
network consists of 2,897 km 1.435-meter standard gauge and 74 km 1.000-meter narrow gauge track; 1,432 km double track, 99% electrified; the nongovernment network consists of 710 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1,418 km 1.000-meter gauge, and 75 km 0.790-meter gauge track, 100% electrified
People and Society
Birth rate
44 births/ 1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
6 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other
Infant mortality rate
38 deaths/ 1 ,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
2,400,000; 36% miscellaneous and government services, 32% agriculture, 32% industry and construction); majority unskilled; shortage of skilled labor (1984)
Language
Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian; French widely understood
Life expectancy at birth
68 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Literacy
49%
Nationality
noun — Syrian(s); adjective — Syrian
Net migration rate
0 migrants/ 1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
5% of labor force
Population
12,483,440 (July 1990), growth rate 3.8% (1990); in addition, there are 13,500 Druze and 10,500 Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
Religion
74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects; 10% Christian (various sects); tiny Jewish communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo
Total fertility rate
6.7 children born/ woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
14 provinces (muhafa/at, singular — muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al LadhiqTyah, Al Qunaytirah. Ar Raqqah, As Suwayd'a, Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, MadTnat Dimashq, Tarsus
Capital
Damascus
Communists
mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000
Constitution
13 March 1973
Diplomatic representation
Minister-Counselor, Charge d'Affaires ad interim Bushra KANAFANI; Chancery at 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-6313; US— Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh, Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29, Damascus); telephone [963] (1 1) 333052 or 332557, 330416, 332814, 332315
Elections
President— last held 10-11 February 1985 (next to be held February 1992); results — President Hafiz alAssad was reelected without opposition; People 's Council — last held 10-11 February 1986 (next to be held 22 May 1990); results— Ba'th 66%, ASU 5%, SCP 5%, Socialist Unionist Movement 4%, ASP 2%, independents 18%; seats — (195 total) Ba'th 129, Communist 9, ASU 9, Socialiist Unionist Movement 8, ASP 5, independents 35; the People's Council will have 250 seats total in the 22 May 1990 election
Executive branch
president, three vice presidents, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Flag
three equal horizontal 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 flags of the YAR which has one star and Iraq which has three stars (in a horizontal line centered in the white band) — all green and five-pointed; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band
Independence
1 7 April 1 946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration); formerly United Arab Republic
Judicial branch
Supreme Constitutional Court, High Judicial Council, Court of Cassation, State Security Courts
Leaders
Chief of State — President Lt. Gen. Hafiz al-ASSAD (since 22 February 1971); Vice Presidents 'Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, Dr. Rif at al-ASSAD, and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984); Head of Government — Prime Minister Mahmud ZU'BI (since 1 November 1987); Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mustafa T ALAS (since 11 March 1984) 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)
Legal system
based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
unicameral People's Council (Majlis ash Sha'ab)
Long-form name
Syrian Arab Republic
Member of
Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, I FAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WSG, WTO
National holiday
National Day, 17 April (1946)
Other political or pressure groups
nonBa'th parties have little effective political influence; Communist party ineffective; greatest threat to Assad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1 963
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 27% of GDP and one-third of labor force; all major crops (wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas) grown on rainfed land causing wide swings in yields; animal products — beef, lamb, eggs, poultry, milk; not self-sufficient in grain or livestock products
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $538 million; Western (nonUS) ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12.3 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $3.3 billion
Budget
revenues $NA; expenditures $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.92 billion (1989)
Currency
Syrian pound (plural — pounds); 1 Syrian pound (£S) = 100 piasters
Electricity
2,867,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced, 500 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
Syrian pounds (£S) per US$1— 1 1.2250 (fixed rate since 1987), 3.9250 (fixed rate 1976-87)
Exports
$1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities — petroleum, textiles, fruits and vegetables, phosphates; partners — Italy, Romania, USSR, US, Iran, France
External debt
$5.3 billion in hard currency (1989 est.)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$18.5 billion, per capita $1,540; real growth rate -2% (1989 est.)
Imports
$1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities — petroleum, machinery, base metals, foodstuffs and beverages; partners—Iran, FRG, USSR, France, GDR, Libya, US
Industrial production
growth rate NA%
Industries
textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, petroleum
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
70% (1989 est.)
Overview
Syria's rigidly structured Ba'thist economy is turning out roughly the same amount of goods in 1989 as in 1983, when the population was 20% smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts to match Israel's military strength, a falloff in Arab aid, and insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit for which Syrian businessmen have long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled Syria to cut back its substantial imports of light crude. A long-term concern is the additional drain of upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation projects are completed toward the end of the 1990s.
Unemployment rate
NA%
Communications
Airports
97 total, 94 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m
Branches
Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Navy
Civil air
35 major transport aircraft
Defense expenditures
NA
Highways
27,000 km total; 21,000 km paved, 3,000 km gravel or crushed stone, 3,000 km improved earth
Inland waterways
672 km; of little economic importance
Merchant marine
19 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 53,938 GRT/72,220 DWT; includes 16 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 bulk
Military manpower
males 15-49, 2,712,360; 1,520,798 fit for military service; 144,791 reach military age (19) annually
Pipelines
1,304 km crude oil; 515 km refined products
Ports
Tartus, Latakia, Baniyas
Railroads
2,241 km total; 1,930 km standard gauge, 311 km 1.050-meter narrow gauge; note — the Tartus-Latakia line is nearly complete
Telecommunications
fair system currently undergoing significant improvement; 512,600 telephones; stations — 9 AM, 1 FM, 40 TV; satellite earth stations — 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station, with 1 Intersputnik station under construction; 1 submarine cable; coaxial cable and radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon (inactive) Defense Forces