Syria, officially Syrian Arab Republic, republic (1995 est. pop.
15,452,000), 71,467 sq mi (185,100 sq km), SW Asia, bordered by Israel, Lebanon,
and the Mediterranean Sea (W), Turkey (N), Iraq (E), and Jordan (S). Principal
cities include Damascus (the capital) and Aleppo. Most of Syria is occupied by
the Syrian Desert, which is crossed by the Euphrates R. In the west are the
Anti-Lebanon Mts., including Mt. Hermon (9,232 ft/2,814 m), Syria's highest
point; in the southwest the fertile plain of Hawran extends from the Jabal
al-Duruz Mts. to the Sea of Galilee. Major crops include wheat, fruit and
vegetables, barley, sugar beets, cotton, and tobacco; poultry, cattle, and sheep
are raised. The state plays a major role in the economy, and a large-scale
industrialization program begun in the early 1960s has diversified the formerly
agricultural economy. Petroleum production provides the leading export. Refined
petroleum, textiles, processed foods, chemicals, and precision-engineered
products are the chief manufactures. The Euphrates Dam supplies most of the
nation's electric power. Most Syrians are Arabic-speaking Muslims, mainly
Sunnite with significant Alawite and Druze minorities; there are also Kurds,
Armenians, and Circassians. About 10% of the people are Christian, mainly
Orthodox. Arabic is the official language.
History Situated on trade and military routes between the
Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, Syria (which historically included all of modern
Syria and Lebanon, and parts of Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia) has
always been an object of foreign conquest. Settled (2100 BC) by the Amorites, a
Semitic people from the Arabian peninsula, it fell to the Hittites (15th–13th
cent BC), the Assyrians and Babylonians (11th–6th cent. BC), the Persians
(6th–4th cent. BC), and the Greeks (333 BC). Syria was Hellenized by the
Seleucids and had fallen to Rome by 63 BC After a period of Byzantine rule
(5th–7th cent. AD) Syria was conquered (633–40) by Muslim Arabs. Most Syrians
converted to Islam, and Damascus, as the usual capital of the Umayyad caliph
(661–750), became the center of the Islamic world. The area was later ruled by
the Seljuk Turks, the Mongols, Saladin, and the Mamluks. Christians also came to
Syria on the Crusades (11th–14th cent.). It was part of the Ottoman Empire from
1516 until the end of World War I, and in 1920 France received a League of
Nations mandate over the Levant States (roughly modern Syria and Lebanon).
During World War II Free French forces granted (1944) independence to Syria,
but French troops did not leave until 1946. Syria joined with Egypt in the
United Arab Republic in 1958, but withdrew in 1961. Independent Syria has been
characterized by economic growth, political instability, and hostility toward
Israel. In 1981 Israel exacerbated the situation by annexing the Golan Heights,
captured from Syria in the Six-Day War (1967).
Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976, ostensibly to quell civil strife, and
they continue to maintain a presence in that country. During the 1982 Israeli
invasion of Lebanon, Syria suffered severe losses in combat with Israeli forces.
The ruling Ba'ath party, which came to power in a 1963 coup, maintains a policy
of socialism and Arab nationalism. In the 1980s Syria experienced internal
unrest, moved closer to the USSR, espoused hard-line Arab positions, and was
linked to international terrorists. By 1990, however, the country was trying to
improve relations with Western nations. In 1991 Syria contributed 20,000
soldiers to the international coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War and in
the same year it participated in initial peace talks with Israel. Although talks
broke off in 1996, Syria appeared more willing to reopen negotiations following
the installation of a Labor government in Israel in 1999. Talks resumed in Dec.
1999, but after secret details concerning Syrian concessions were published
(Jan. 2000) in Israel, Syria took a harder line and talks stalled.
After Assad died suddenly in June 2000, his son, Bashar al-Assad, who had
been groomed to succeed his father since 1994, became president. The son was
regarded as an advocate of a free-market economy and political change, but
movement toward both has proceeded slowly and has at times been reversed or
hindered. Syria strongly opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and was accused
by U.S. government officials of supplying aid to Iraq and helping Iraqi
officials to escape from U.S. forces. A new cabinet with a mandate to push
reforms forward was appointed in Sept., 2003.
In October, Israel struck at what it called a terrorist training base in
Syria in retaliation for suicide-bombing attacks in Israel; it was the first
Israeli strike against Syrian territory in 20 years. Simmering grievances among
the nation’s Kurds erupted into rare antigovernment protests in NE Syria in
Mar., 2004. In August and September Syria blatantly forced Lebanon to extend
President Lahoud’s term, an act that was denounced by the UN Security Council.
********
Copyright (c) 2003 Columbia
University Press. Used by permission of Columbia University Press.
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