Outline of Syria

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Syria:

Syria – country in West Asia, that borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. Civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth. Syria is part of the Fertile Crescent, and from approximately 10,000 BCE it was one of the centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. Over the millennia, Syria has been conquered and settled by many different peoples. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, it is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Assyrians, Kurds, Turkmens, Circassians, Armenians, Greeks, Arameans (of Maaloula and Jubb'adin), Black people of Yarmouk Basin, Romani, Druze, Alawite, Christians, Shias and Sunnis. The latter make up the majority of the population.

In 2011, Syria was embroiled in civil war in the wake of uprisings (considered an extension of the Arab Spring, the mass movement of revolutions and protests in the Arab world) against Assad and the neo-Ba'athist government. In 2024, the Assad regime was toppled by several opposition militias and organizations. As of 2025, the country is led by Ahmed al-Sharaa and a provisional government, which aims to lead a transitional period of up to five years.

General reference

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪ.ri.ə/; Arabic: سُورِيَا, romanized: Sūriyā [ˈsuːrja] (officially the Syrian Arab Republic; Arabic: اَلْجُمْهُورِيَّةُ ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْسُوْرِيَّة, romanized: al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Sūriyyah)
Common English country name: Syria
Official English country name: Syrian Arab Republic
Common endonym(s): List of countries and capitals in native languages
Official endonym(s): List of official endonyms of present-day nations and states
Adjectival(s): Syrian
Demonym(s): Syrians
Etymology: Name of Syria
International rankings of Syria
ISO country codes: SY, SYR, 760
ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:SY
Internet country code top-level domain: .sy

Geography of Syria

Syria is: a country
Location:
- Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere
- Eurasia
  - Asia
    - Western Asia
      - Southwest Asia
- Middle East
  - Levant
- Time in Syria
  - Time zone: UTC+02, summer UTC+03
- Extreme points of Syria
  - High: Jabal el-Sheikh 2,814 m (9,232 ft)
  - Low: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
- Land boundaries: 2,253 km

Turkey 822 km

Iraq 605 km

Jordan 375 km

Lebanon 375 km

Israel 76 km

Coastline: Mediterranean Sea 193 km

Population of Syria: 24,672,760 - 57th most populous country
Area of Syria: 185180 km²
Atlas of Syria

Environment of Syria

Natural geographic features of Syria

Administrative divisions of Syria

Governorates and Districts of Syria

Demography of Syria

Demographics of Syria

Government and politics of Syria

Form of government: Provisional government
Capital of Syria: Damascus
Elections in Syria
Political parties in Syria

Branches of the government of Syria

Government of Syria

Executive branch of the government of Syria

Legislative branch of the government of Syria

People's Assembly of Syria (Unicameral)
- List of speakers of the Parliament of Syria

Judicial branch of the government of Syria

Judiciary of Syria

Supreme Judicial Council of Syria
- Court of Cassation
- Civil and criminal courts
- Military courts
- Security courts
Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria

Foreign relations of Syria

International organization membership

International organization membership of Syria The Syrian Arab Republic is a member of:^[1]

Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA)
Arab Federation for Engineering Industries (General Organization for Engineering Industries)^[2]
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD)
Arab Monetary Fund (AMF)
Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU)
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Group of 24 (G24)
Group of 77 (G77)
Interkosmos Spaceflight Program
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
International Criminal Court (ICCt) (signatory)
International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
International Development Association (IDA)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS)
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM)
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO)
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
League of Arab States (LAS)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
Nonaligned Movement (NAM)
Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)^[3]
United Nations (UN)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Universal Postal Union (UPU)
World Customs Organization (WCO)
World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Law and order in Syria

Military of Syria

History of Syria

History of Syria, by period

Syria during the Stone Age
- Levantine corridor – relatively narrow land route of migrations between the Mediterranean Sea to the northwest and deserts to the southeast that connects Africa into Eurasia. It is believed that early hominids spread from Africa to Asia and Europe via the Horn of Africa and the Levantine corridor (named after the Levant, which includes Syria).
- Cradle of civilization – term referring to locations identified as the sites of the emergence of civilization. In Western European and Middle Eastern cultures, it has frequently been applied to the Ancient Near Eastern Chalcolithic (Ubaid period, Naqada culture), especially in the Fertile Crescent (Levant and Mesopotamia).
  - Mesopotamia – area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, the northeastern section of Syria and to a lesser extent southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of southwestern Iran. Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West.
- Natufian culture – Epipaleolithic culture that existed from 13,000 to 9,800 years ago in the Levant. It was unusual in that it was sedentary, or semi-sedentary, before the introduction of agriculture.
  - Tell Abu Hureyra – archaeological site located in the Euphrates valley in modern Syria. The remains of the villages within the tell come from over 4,000 years of habitation, spanning the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic periods. The inhabitants of Abu Hureyra started out as hunter-gatherers but gradually transitioned to farming, making them the earliest known farmers in the world.
- Tell Aswad – large prehistoric, Neolithic Tell, about 5 hectares (540,000 sq ft) in size, located around 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Damascus in Syria.
- Tell Ramad – prehistoric, Neolithic tell at the foot of Mount Hermon, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Damascus in Syria. The tell was the site of a small village of 2 hectares (220,000 sq ft), which was first settled in the late eighth millennium BC.
- Halaf culture – prehistoric period that existed between 6,100 - 5,100 BC primarily in the Khabur River, and is considered a continuous development of the Late Neolithic
  - Tell Halaf – prehistoric, Neolithic tell in Al-Hasakah, a few kilometers from Ras al-Ayn near the Syria-Turkey border. Considered the type-site of Halaf culture, with the name meaning "made of former city"
Syria during the Bronze Age
- Canaanites – Semitic-speaking civilization of the Levant, with significant religious importance
- Amorites – Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age peoples from the Levant, establishing several city states such as Andariq, Yamhad, and Andarig
- Eblaites (Ebla city-state) – One of the earliest kingdoms in Syria, its remains now constitute a tell southwest of the city of Aleppo
- Ugarites – Ancient port city in northern Syria, ruling an area roughly equating to the modern Latakia governorate
- Akkadian Empire – First ever empire in the world
- Arameans – Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical Aram) during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
- Bronze Age collapse – sudden and culturally disruptive transition in the Aegean Region, Southwestern Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, during which the palace economy characterising the Late Bronze Age was replaced by the isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages. Prior to and during the Bronze Age Collapse, Syria became a battle ground between the empires of the Hittites, Assyrians, Mitanni and Egyptians, and the coastal regions came under attack from the Sea Peoples. From the 13th Century BCE the Arameans came to prominence in Syria, and the region outside of the Phoenician coastal areas eventually became Aramaic speaking.
Syro-Hittite states – Various Luwian and ancient Aramean regional polities, lasting from the collapse of the Hittite New Kingdom until their conquest by the Assyrian empire
Phoenicia – City states along the Levantine region, with the core of its culture located in Arwad
Achaemenid Empire – also known as the Persian Empire, primarily based in what is now modern day Iran
Seleucid Empire – Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period
- Roman–Syrian War – also known as the Antiochene War, fought between the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire
Syria (Roman province) – Early Roman province annexed by the Roman Republic, existed until its division into Coele Syria and Phoenice
- Syria Palaestina – renamed Roman province formerly known as Judaea in what is now the region of Palestine
- List of Roman governors of Syria
Palmyrene Empire
- Palmyra – ancient city in central Syria and prosperous regional center
Syria in the Middle Ages
- Byzantine Syria – Coele Syria (formerly part of the Roman province of Syria)
- Muslim conquest of the Levant –
  - Rashidun Caliphate – First Islamic caliphate, incorporated Syria after the death of Muhammad
  - Umayyad Caliphate – Second Islamic caliphate, led by the Umayyad dynasty
    - Bilad al-Sham – Islamic Syria, province of the four successive caliphates
  - Great Seljuq Empire – Turco-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire led by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks
  - Ayyubid dynasty
  - Mongol invasions of Syria – starting in the 1240s, the Mongols made repeated invasions of Syria or attempts thereof. Most failed, but they did have some success in 1260 and 1300, capturing Aleppo and Damascus and destroying the Ayyubid dynasty.
  - County of Edessa – 12th century crusader state and centre of intellectual life within the Syriac Orthodox Church
  - Principality of Antioch – 12th century crusader state, mostly of Armenian and Greek Orthodox population
  - Ilkhanate – Mongol khanate with rule established over Syria in 1255
  - Mamluk Sultanate – State that ruled over Syria after the Mongols, before its invasion by the Ottoman Empire
Early modern period
- Ottoman Empire
  - Ottoman Syria
    - Timeline of Ottoman Syria history
Modern history of Syria

History of Syria, by subject

Culture of Syria

Art in Syria

People of Syria

Religion in Syria

Sports in Syria

Economy and infrastructure of Syria

Education in Syria

Health in Syria

References

↑ "Syria". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
↑ "Arab Federation for Engineering Industries".
↑ "Member States". OPCW. Retrieved 2026-02-02.

External links

Wikimedia Atlas of Syria

Search

Syria Syrian search engine

Etymology

Syria and Asyria Etymology

Government

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
E.sy, the First Complete Governmental Online Services
The Syrian Baath Party
Syrian Parliament
Syria:country study, Lib. of Congress

Culture

Society

syriapath for Syrians and Syrian expats
Syria-Events A website which keeps track of upcoming events and activities in Syria
A short video song about Syria and its main landmarks

News

amude.net political news (in Kurdish)
knntv.net political news (in Arabic)
esyria.sy the first complete Syrian portal
syria-news.com popular local news website
syriatodaynews.com news agency
sana.org SANA Syrian Arab News Agency, government news agency
rtv.gov.sy Syrian General Organization of Radio and TV
champress.net Cham Press, a complete roundup of news about Syria (in Arabic and English)

Cities & Towns

Travel

Syria travel guide from Wikivoyage

[CIA_World_Factbook-1] "Syria". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved 2009-07-23.

[2] "Arab Federation for Engineering Industries".

[3] "Member States". OPCW. Retrieved 2026-02-02.

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