Syria Maps

Syria, also known as the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country located in the Eastern Mediterranean and is a part of the Western Asian region. The country is bordered by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel. Syria is home to a multitude of different ethnic groups, such as Arabs, which is the largest group, Kurds, Turkmens, and Assyrians. Syria spans a total land area of 185,180 square kilometers, or 71,500 square miles. The total population is 22,142,061 inhabitants, which makes Syria the 60th most populated country in the world.

The climate of Syria varies, with a humid Mediterranean coast, a semiarid steppe zone, as well as a hot arid desert. The landscape of the country mainly consists of arid plateaus, with important agricultural areas in both the northwest and southern regions of the country. The most important river within Syria is the Euphrates, which reaches a length of 2,800 kilometers, or 1,740 miles long. The highest point within all of Syria is Mount Hermon, which reaches an altitude of 2,814 meters, or 9,232 feet high. Syria is also one of the fifteen states that are believed to belong within the cradle of civilization. The wild animal life of Syria is sparse. Animals that can still be found within remote areas include wolves, hyenas, foxes, badgers, wild boar, and jackals. Squirrels, deer, and bear, as well as smaller carnivores such as martens and polecats can be found. Common desert animals include vipers, lizards, and chameleons. Domesticated animals include horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, goats, as well as chickens. Bees are also commonly kept. Trees found all throughout Syria include yew, lime, fir, date palm, lemon, and orange trees. Plants include grains, olive trees, grapevines, apricot trees, oaks, as well as poplars.

The economy of Syria is heavily regulated by the government. According to the World Bank, Syria is considered as a lower middle income country. As of 2010, the country was heavily focused on oil and agricultural sectors as a way of income. Some of the country's exports include crude petroleum oils, natural calcium phosphates, live sheep, cotton yarn, tomatoes, as well as refined petroleum oils. The agricultural sector currently takes up 20% of the GDP and also employs 20% of the entire workforce. Since the civil war between Syria and Iran, Syria’s economy has shrunk by 35%, and over US$20 billion dollars go towards the war yearly.

A great majority of Syria’s population is around the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain. The population density of Syria pre-war measured at around 99 people per square kilometer, or 258 people per square mile. There is currently a population of 1,852,300 refugees and asylum seekers, with 1,300,000 of these being from Iraq. In 2014, there were around 9.5 million Syrians that have been displaced since the beginning of the Syrian War in March 2011. In 2020, it was estimated that there were over 5.5 million Syrians living as refugees in the region.