Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a nation located in West Asia.

It sits within the Levant region at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The country shares borders with several neighbors. Turkey lies to the north and northwest. Iraq is to the east and southeast. Jordan sits to the south. Israel and Lebanon are located to the southwest.

The landscape is physically diverse. It contains fertile plains, high mountains, and wide plateaus. Large desert areas also cover parts of the land. The nation is divided into 14 governorates. Damascus serves as the capital and the largest city.

The geography of Syria has shaped its long history. The land offers varied environments for people to live. Most of the population consists of Arabs. Sunni Muslims represent the largest religious group. The country is the 56th-most populous nation in the world. It is the 87th-largest country by land area. These physical features have supported many different groups over thousands of years. The region has acted as a crossroads for many different cultures.

Human civilization in Syria is among the oldest on Earth. The Natufian culture was among the first to become sedentary. They settled in the region around the 11th millennium BC. This period is known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. These people began practicing agriculture and cattle breeding. At the site of Tell Qaramel, people built round stone towers. These structures date back to 10650 BC. They are considered some of the oldest structures in the world.

Later, the Mureybet culture lived in rectangular houses. They used containers made of stone, gyps, and burnt lime.

Trade and early kingdoms defined the Bronze Age. The Kingdom of Ebla was founded around 3500 BC. It was located near modern-day Idlib. Ebla grew wealthy through trade with Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Scholars believe the Eblaite language was an East Semitic language. This language was closely related to Akkadian. Another important kingdom was Ugarit, which arose around 1800 BC. Near modern Latakia, the people of Ugarit developed the Ugaritic alphabet. This is considered the world's earliest known alphabet. The kingdom was eventually destroyed by the Sea Peoples during the Late Bronze Age collapse.

For many centuries, Syria was a site of imperial competition. Various empires fought to control its strategic territory. The Hittite, Egyptian, and Assyrian empires all held influence here. The Egyptians occupied much of the south. The Hittites and the Mitanni occupied the north. A famous conflict occurred in 1274 BC at the Battle of Kadesh.

Later, the Phoenicians dominated the coasts. They founded city-states like Amrit and Arwad.

These coastal groups eventually spread their influence across the Mediterranean. Damascus later became the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate.

This period saw the region become a center of political power.

The modern state of Syria emerged in the mid-20th century. Before this, the region was under Ottoman rule. It then became a French Mandate. Syria gained de jure independence as a parliamentary republic in 1945. This act legally ended the French Mandate. French troops finally withdrew in April 1946. This gave the nation de facto independence. However, the post-independence years were very unstable. There were many coups and coup attempts between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria joined a brief pan-Arab union with Egypt. This union ended after a coup in 1961.

Political shifts led to long-term rule by the Ba'ath Party. A military committee carried out a coup in 1963. This established a one-party state. The country lived under martial law from 1963 to 2011. Internal power struggles caused more coups in 1966 and 1970. In 1970, Hafez al-Assad came to power. Under his leadership, Syria became a hereditary dictatorship.

He died in 2000. His son, Bashar al-Assad, succeeded him. This era of rule lasted until the Arab Spring began in 2011.

Recent history has been marked by intense conflict. A multi-sided civil war began in 2011. This war involved several different countries. The conflict caused a massive refugee crisis. More than 6 million people were displaced from Syria.

In 2014 and 2015, the Islamic State made rapid territorial gains. Several countries intervened to oppose them. This led to the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in 2017.

After the war, three political entities emerged to challenge the government. These included the Syrian Interim Government and the Syrian Salvation Government. In late 2024, opposition forces captured Damascus.

This caused the Assad regime to fall. By 2025, the economy remained in a poor state due to war and sanctions.