Compare Guinea-Bissau (2008) - Syria (2006)

Compare Guinea-Bissau (2008) z Syria (2006)

	Guinea-Bissau (2008)	Syria (2006)

Administrative divisions	9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos	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: 41.2% (male 302,408/female 303,786) 15-64 years: 55.8% (male 394,799/female 427,055) 65 years and over: 3% (male 18,463/female 26,269) (2007 est.)	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	rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish	wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk
Airports	27 (2007)	92 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)	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: 24 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 19 (2007)	total: 66 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 54 (2006)
Area	total: 36,120 sq km land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km	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 three times the size of Connecticut	slightly larger than North Dakota
Background	Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA, after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique ROSA was sworn in as interim president. In 2005, former President VIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation.	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	36.81 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	27.76 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Budget	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA	revenues: $6.392 billion expenditures: $7.613 billion; including capital expenditures of $3.23 billion (2005 est.)
Capital	name: Bissau geographic coordinates: 11 51 N, 15 35 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	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	tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds	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	350 km	193 km
Constitution	16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and in 1996	13 March 1973
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau local short form: Guine-Bissau former: Portuguese Guinea	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	16.29 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	4.81 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Debt - external	$941.5 million (2000 est.)	$8.566 billion; note - excludes military debt and debt to Russia (2005 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; the US Ambassador to Senegal is accredited to Guinea-Bissau	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: none; note - Guinea-Bissau does not have official representation in Washington, DC	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	in 2006, political instability within Senegal's Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees, cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau	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	$79.12 million (2005)	$180 million (2002 est.)
Economy - overview	One of the five poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. Offshore oil prospecting is underway in several sectors but has not yet led to commercially viable crude deposits. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. In December 2003, the World Bank, IMF, and UNDP were forced to step in to provide emergency budgetary support in the amount of $107 million for 2004, representing over 80% of the total national budget. Government drift and indecision, however, resulted in continued low growth in 2002-06. Higher raw material prices boosted growth to 3.7% in 2007.	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	55.8 million kWh (2005)	28.26 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - production	60 million kWh (2005)	29.53 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m	lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -200 m highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m
Environment - current issues	deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing	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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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	African 99% (includes Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%	Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Exchange rates	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro	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 Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA (since 1 October 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Martinho N'Dafa CABI (since 9 April 2007) cabinet: NA elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits); election last held 24 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature election results: Joao Bernardo VIEIRA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Joao Bernardo VIEIRA 52.4%, Malam Bacai SANHA 47.6%	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	0 bbl/day (2004)	285,000 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities	cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber	crude oil, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat
Exports - partners	India 76.1%, Nigeria 18.1%, Italy 1.4% (2006)	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	calendar year
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia	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: 62% industry: 12% services: 26% (1999 est.)	agriculture: 24.9% industry: 23% services: 51.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	3.7% (2007 est.)	2.8% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates	12 00 N, 15 00 W	35 00 N, 38 00 E
Geography - note	this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland	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%: 0.5% highest 10%: 42.4% (1991)	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs	increasingly important transit country for South American cocaine enroute to Europe; enabling environment for trafficker operations thanks to pervasive corruption; archipelago-like geography around the capital facilitates drug smuggling	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	2,463 bbl/day (2004)	NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products	machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper
Imports - partners	Portugal 18.7%, Senegal 16.3%, Italy 13%, Pakistan 4.5% (2006)	Saudi Arabia 10.6%, China 5.6%, Egypt 5.4%, Italy 5.3%, UAE 5.2%, Ukraine 4.2%, Germany 4.1% (2005)
Independence	24 September 1973 (declared); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal)	17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Industrial production growth rate	4.7% (2003 est.)	7% (2002 est.)
Industries	agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks	petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining
Infant mortality rate	total: 103.5 deaths/1,000 live births male: 113.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 93.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	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)	4% (2002 est.)	5% (2005 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CPLP, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO	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	250 sq km (2003)	13,330 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)	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	480,000 (1999)	5.12 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 82% industry and services: 18% (2000 est.)	agriculture: 30% industry: 27% services: 43% (2002 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 724 km border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km	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: 8.31% permanent crops: 6.92% other: 84.77% (2005)	arable land: 24.8% permanent crops: 4.47% other: 70.73% (2005)
Languages	Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages	Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Legal system	based on French civil law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	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 National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2%; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1	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: 47.18 years male: 45.37 years female: 49.04 years (2007 est.)	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: 42.4% male: 58.1% female: 27.4% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.9% male: 89.7% female: 64% (2003 est.)
Location	Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal	Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Map references	Africa	Middle East
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	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	People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP): Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary force	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	3.1% (2005 est.)	5.9% (FY00)
National holiday	Independence Day, 24 September (1973)	Independence Day, 17 April (1946)
Nationality	noun: Guinean(s) adjective: Guinean	noun: Syrian(s) adjective: Syrian
Natural hazards	hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires	dust storms, sandstorms
Natural resources	fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum	petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 2,764 km; oil 2,000 km (2006)
Political parties and leaders	African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Party for Social Renewal or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Democratic Social Front or FDS; Electoral Union or UE; Guinea-Bissau Civic Forum/Social Democracy or FCGSD [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; Guinea-Bissau Democratic Party or PDG; Guinea-Bissau Socialist Democratic Party or PDSG [Serifo BALDE]; Labor and Solidarity Party or PST [Iancuba INDJAI]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Party for Renewal and Progress or PRP; Progress Party or PP [Ibrahima SOW]; Union for Change or UM [Amine SAAD]; Union of Guinean Patriots or UPG [Francisca VAZ]; United Platform or UP (coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB); United Popular Alliance or APU; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD	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	NA	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	1,472,780 (July 2007 est.)	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	NA%	20% (2004 est.)
Population growth rate	2.052% (2007 est.)	2.3% (2006 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2001)	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	indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5%	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: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.995 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.924 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.703 male(s)/female total population: 0.945 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	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	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: small system domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications; fixed-line teledensity less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity reached 7 per 100 in 2005 international: country code - 245	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	10,200 (2005)	2.903 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	95,000 (2005)	2.95 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations	NA (2005)	44 (plus 17 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east	primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Total fertility rate	4.79 children born/woman (2007 est.)	3.4 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	12.3% (2004 est.)
Waterways	rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2007)	900 km (not economically significant) (2005)

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