Over view
- Official name | |
Syria Arab Republic | |
- Capital | |
Damascus (Dimashq), (pop. about 5 millions) | |
- Main port | |
Lattakia on the north coast (pop. about 250 thousands). | |
Second port is tartus. | |
- Additional urban centers | |
Aleppo (pop. about 1.5 million) | |
Homs (pop. about 500 thousands) | |
Hama (pop. about 200 thousands) | |
- Population | |
About 16.5 Milions | |
- Population density | |
About 63 persons per sq. km | |
- Population profile | |
Mainly Arab ( about 90%), with Kurdish and Armenian minorities | |
- Land area | |
185,180 sq. km | |
- Highest point | |
Mount Hermon 2814 meters | |
- Languages | |
Arabic with Kurdish spoken in the north | |
English is widely under stood as a second languages | |
- Currency | |
Syrian pound (local name lira) divided into 100 piastres (qirsh) | |
Banknotes are in units of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 | |
- Government | |
Republic, legislated by the People's Assembly | |
Divided into 14 governorates | |
- Head of State | |
President Hafez Al-Assad |
- Official religion |
Islam is practiced by 86% of the population, most of which are Sunnite Muslims |
most of the rest of the population practice Christianity, in a number of varying sectors |
- International dialing code |
+963 |
- Time zone |
GMT +2 |