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Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) - Syria (2006)
Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) z Syria (2006)
| Arctic Ocean (2001) | Syria (2006) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | - | 14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus |
| Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 37% (male 3,592,915/female 3,384,722)
15-64 years: 59.7% (male 5,779,257/female 5,500,887) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 296,070/female 327,510) (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | - | wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk |
| Airports | - | 92 (2006) |
| Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 26
over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2006) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 66
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 54 (2006) |
| Area | total:
14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies |
total: 185,180 sq km
land: 184,050 sq km water: 1,130 sq km note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory |
| Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US | slightly larger than North Dakota |
| Background | The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean. | Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic, but in September 1961 the two entities separated and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, and over the past decade Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD in July 2000, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April of 2005. |
| Birth rate | - | 27.76 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Budget | - | revenues: $6.392 billion
expenditures: $7.613 billion; including capital expenditures of $3.23 billion (2005 est.) |
| Capital | - | name: Damascus
geographic coordinates: 33 30 N, 36 18 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins 1 April; ends 30 September |
| Climate | polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow | mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus |
| Coastline | 45,389 km | 193 km |
| Constitution | - | 13 March 1973 |
| Country name | - | conventional long form: Syrian Arab Republic
conventional short form: Syria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah local short form: Suriyah former: United Arab Republic (with Egypt) |
| Death rate | - | 4.81 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external | - | $8.566 billion; note - excludes military debt and debt to Russia (2005 est.) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Michael CORBIN
embassy: Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansour Street, No. 2, Damascus mailing address: P. O. Box 29, Damascus telephone: [963] (11) 333-1342 FAX: [963] (11) 224-7938 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission: Ambassador Imad MUSTAFA
chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-6313 FAX: [1] (202) 234-9548 |
| Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964; Lebanon claims Shaba'a farms in Golan Heights; international pressure prompts the removal of Syrian troops and intelligence personnel stationed in Lebanon since October 1976; 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan |
| Economic aid - recipient | - | $180 million (2002 est.) |
| Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals. | The Syrian Government estimates the economy grew by 4.5 percent in real terms in 2005, led by the petroleum and agricultural sectors, which together account for about half of GDP. Economic performance and the exchange rate on the informal market were hit by international political developments following the assassination in February of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-HARIRI and the specter of international sanctions. Higher crude oil prices countered declining oil production and exports and helped to narrow the budget deficit and widen the current account surplus. The Government of Syria has implemented modest economic reforms in the last few years, including cutting interest rates, opening private banks, consolidating some of the multiple exchange rates, and raising prices on some subsidized foodstuffs. Nevertheless, the economy remains highly controlled by the government. Long-run economic constraints include declining oil production and exports, increasing pressure on water supplies caused by rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution. |
| Electricity - consumption | - | 28.26 billion kWh (2003 est.) |
| Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - production | - | 29.53 billion kWh (2003 est.) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -200 m
highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m |
| Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack | deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water |
| Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
| Ethnic groups | - | Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7% |
| Exchange rates | - | Syrian pounds per US dollar - (public sector rate): 11.225 (2005), 11.225 (2004), 11.225 (2003), 11.225 (2002), 11.225 (2001), (parallel market rate in 'Amman and Beirut): NA (2005), NA (2004), 52.8 (2003), 52.4 (2002), 50.4 (2001), (official rate for repaying loans): 11.25 (2004) |
| Executive branch | - | chief of state: President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000); Vice President Farouk al-SHARA (since 11 February 2006)
head of government: Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI (since 10 September 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Abdallah al-DARDARI (since 14 June 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president approved by popular referendum for a seven-year term (no term limits); referendum last held 10 July 2000 - after the death of President Hafiz al-ASAD, father of Bashar al-ASAD - (next to be held 2007); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Bashar al-ASAD approved as president; percent of vote - Bashar al-ASAD 97.29% note: Hafiz al-ASAD died on 10 June 2000; on 20 June, the Ba'th Party nominated Bashar al-ASAD for president and presented his name to the People's Council on 25 June; he was approved by a popular referendum on 10 July |
| Exports | - | 285,000 bbl/day (2004) |
| Exports - commodities | - | crude oil, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat |
| Exports - partners | - | Iraq 22.3%, Saudi Arabia 15.3%, Italy 8.4%, Germany 8.3%, Lebanon 7.7%, Egypt 4.3%, France 4.2% (2005) |
| Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
| Flag description | - | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black, colors associated with the Arab Liberation flag; two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; former flag of the United Arab Republic where the two stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band, Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band, and that of Egypt, which has a gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band; the current design dates to 1980 |
| GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 24.9%
industry: 23% services: 51.9% (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | - | 2.8% (2005 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 90 00 N, 0 00 E | 35 00 N, 38 00 E |
| Geography - note | major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months | there are 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (August 2005 est.) |
| Heliports | - | 7 (2006) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Illicit drugs | - | a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money-laundering |
| Imports | - | NA bbl/day |
| Imports - commodities | - | machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper |
| Imports - partners | - | Saudi Arabia 10.6%, China 5.6%, Egypt 5.4%, Italy 5.3%, UAE 5.2%, Ukraine 4.2%, Germany 4.1% (2005) |
| Independence | - | 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) |
| Industrial production growth rate | - | 7% (2002 est.) |
| Industries | - | petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining |
| Infant mortality rate | - | total: 28.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 28.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 28.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 5% (2005 est.) |
| International organization participation | - | ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
| Irrigated land | - | 13,330 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | - | Supreme Constitutional Court (adjudicates electoral disputes and rules on constitutionality of laws and decrees; justices appointed for four-year terms by the President); High Judicial Council (appoints and dismisses judges; headed by the President); Court of Cassation (national level); State Security Courts (hear cases related to national security); Personal Status Courts (religious; hear cases related to marriage and divorce); Courts of First Instance (local level; include magistrate, summary, and peace courts) |
| Labor force | - | 5.12 million (2004 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture: 30%
industry: 27% services: 43% (2002 est.) |
| Land boundaries | - | total: 2,253 km
border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km |
| Land use | - | arable land: 24.8%
permanent crops: 4.47% other: 70.73% (2005) |
| Languages | - | Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood |
| Legal system | - | based on a combination of French and Ottoman civil law; religious law is used in the family court system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Legislative branch | - | unicameral People's Council or Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 2-3 March 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NPF 67%, independents 33%; seats by party - NPF 167, independents 83; note - the constitution guarantees that the Ba'th Party (part of the NPF alliance) receives one-half of the seats |
| Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 70.32 years
male: 69.01 years female: 71.7 years (2006 est.) |
| Literacy | - | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.9% male: 89.7% female: 64% (2003 est.) |
| Location | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey |
| Map references | Arctic Region | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | - | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 41 nm |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 108 ships (1000 GRT or over) 386,603 GRT/563,506 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 93, container 1, livestock carrier 4, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 11 (Lebanon 7, Romania 3, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 130 (Cambodia 20, Comoros 4, Cyprus 3, Dominica 1, Georgia 43, Hong Kong 1, North Korea 14, Lebanon 1, Malta 7, Mongolia 1, Panama 18, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Sierra Leone 1, Slovakia 2, unknown 5) (2006) |
| Military branches | - | Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian Arab Army (includes Syrian Arab Navy), Syrian Arab Air and Air Defense Force (includes Air Defense Command) (2005) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $858 million (FY00 est.); note - based on official budget data that may understate actual spending |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 5.9% (FY00) |
| National holiday | - | Independence Day, 17 April (1946) |
| Nationality | - | noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian |
| Natural hazards | ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May | dust storms, sandstorms |
| Natural resources | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) | petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower |
| Net migration rate | - | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 2,764 km; oil 2,000 km (2006) |
| Political parties and leaders | - | Arab Socialist Unionist Movement [Ahmed al-AHMED]; National Progressive Front or NPF (includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party; the governing party) [President Bashar al-ASAD, secretary general]; Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallal Nasr Al-DIN]; Syrian Arab Socialist Party or ASP [Safwan QUDSI]; Syrian Communist Party (two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yuusuf Rashid FAYSAL]; Syrian Social National Party [Jubran URAYJI]; Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | - | Kurdish Democratic Alliance (includes several groups but has no designated leader); Kurdish Democratic Front (includes several groups but has no designated leader); Muslim Brotherhood (operates in exile in London) [Sadr al-Din al-BAYANUNI]; National Democratic Front [Hassan Abd al-AZIM] |
| Population | - | 18,881,361
note: in addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers (July 2006 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | - | 20% (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate | - | 2.3% (2006 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 14, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Railways | - | total: 2,711 km
standard gauge: 2,460 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 251 km 1.050-m gauge (2005) |
| Religions | - | Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects 16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo) |
| Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
| Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | - | general assessment: fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology
domestic: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 963; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 1 submarine cable; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey; participant in Medarabtel |
| Telephones - main lines in use | - | 2.903 million (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 2.95 million (2005) |
| Television broadcast stations | - | 44 (plus 17 repeaters) (1995) |
| Terrain | central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
| Total fertility rate | - | 3.4 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | - | 12.3% (2004 est.) |
| Waterways | - | 900 km (not economically significant) (2005) |
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