Best Countries

Syria, Arab Republic

Important facts

Capital: Damascus (See more on ITYPEMBA.COM)

Official language: Arabic

Currency: lb

Continent: West Asia

Arabic course and buildings of antiquity

According to Countryaah, Syria is a modern country in the Middle East that welcomes tourists.

Syria travel information

Like no other country in the Middle East, Syria’s history is linked to ancient Europe. The country, which is partly separated from Lebanon from the Mediterranean Sea, was repeatedly the target of the crusaders. The reason for these bloody disputes in the Middle Ages were the few Christian communities, some of which still exist today.

In addition to Iraq and Turkey, Syria also borders Israel and Jordan. The country is hot like most of the Middle Eastern countries. However, it also has some mountains over 3000 metersand temperatures below zero are not uncommon in the plateaus.

Highlights of Syria

The ancient cities like Damascus and Aleppo are a must on any trip to Syria. Other destinations that you should plan in your Syria vacation are: the city of Bosra, famous for the Roman amphitheater, which has world cultural heritage status, the oasis city of Tadmu and the city of Apamea, which has a place of interest especially for fans of ancient architecture. There you will find an almost 2.5 kilometer long columned street. The amphitheater in Tadmur is somewhat better preserved.

Travel to Syria

Syria is a hospitable country that is constantly modernizing. It is not a haven for aggressive Islamists, but has learned over the years to deal with its diversity. In addition to mosques, you will find beautiful monasteries of the Syrian Coptic Church in the country. Christianity and Judaism are minority religions in Syria, but they still exist in the country where these religions originated.

The nice thing about Syria’s old buildings is that they are not only a large open-air museum, but are still in use today. This applies not only to the bazaar and citadels of Aleppo, but also to the mosque of Damascus.

You can also go on a beach holiday in Syria! What seems a bit unusual for the Islamic world is possible in Lattakia. This place on the Mediterranean is very popular with the Syrians themselves.

And one more thing: Syrian Arabic is considered to be that which is close to Standard Arabic, a language that is mainly written and is mostly spoken only for religious purposes. If you’ve ever considered learning Arabic, take a language course in Syria!

Currency

Currency (sub-unit)

Pounds (100 piastres)

ISO 4217 code

SYP / 760

Geography

Continent: Asia

Region: west

Geo coordinates: N 34 ° 48 ‘7.5 ” E 38 ° 59’ 48.5″

Highest mountain: Mount Hermon (2,814 m)

Total area: 185,180 km²

Mainland: 184,050 km²

National border: 2,253 km

Coastline: 193 km

Politics

Dependency: France until 1946 (mandate)

UN member since: 1945

Other political affiliation: Arab League

Form of government: Socialist republic

Economy

Export goods: Cotton, grain

BSP: $ 31,898,700,000

GDP: $ 33,244,600,000

GDP purchasing power parity: $ 79.8 billion

Economic growth: 4.8%

GDP share of agriculture: 23.4%

GDP share of industry: 24.2%

GDP share of services: 52.4%

Inflation rate: 6.2%

Unemployment: 12.8%

State budget revenue: $ 4294967295

State budget expenditure: $ 4294967295

National debt: 43.6%

Export: $ 6,892,000,000

Import: $ 6,507,000,000

Gold and currency reserves: $ 5,788,000,000

Electricity consumption: 32,140 million KWh

Gas reserves: 240,700 million m³

Gas production: 9,560 million m³

Gas consumption: 9,560 million m³

Oil reserves: 2,500 million m³

Oil production: 467,000 million m³

Oil consumption: 252,000 million m³

Cultivation area: 29.23%

Bovine: 826,000 pieces

Sheep: 13,200,000 pieces

Fishing: 14,700 t

Demographic data

Residents: 18,881,400

Residents in cities: 9,782,000

Average age: 20.7 years

0-14 years: 37%

15-64 years: 59.7%

> 65 years: 3.3%

Population growth: 2.3%

Birth rate: 27.76 / 1,000 residents

Death rate: 4.81 / 1,000 residents

Ratio men / women: 1.05

Fertility: 3.4 children / woman

Infant mortality: 28.61 ‰

Life expectancy men: 69.01 years

Life expectancy women: 71.7 years

Country codes and abbreviations

ISO 3166 Alpha 2: SY

ISO 3166 Alpha 3: SYR

ISO 3166 numeric: 760

Top Level Domain: sy

IOC country code: SYR

UN / LOCODE: SY

Source: Abbreviationfinder

Communication

Telephone connections: 2,670,000

Cell Phones: 1,270,000

Radios: 5,260,000

TV: 4,640,000

Computer: 610,000

Internet users: 940,000

Transportation

Railway lines: 2,711 km

Paved roads: 18,714 km

of which expressways: 1,001 km

Cars: 170,000

Merchant fleet (ships over 1,000 GRT): 108

Pipelines: 4,483

Health

Number of doctors: 28,080

Daily food intake: 3,080 kcal / resident

HIV- infected people: 600

Education

Illiteracy: 22%

History

Foundation: 2500 BC Chr.

Last sovereign since: -1946 BC Chr.

Religion

Main religious group: Muslims

Crime

Prison inmates: 16,500

Military

Armed forces (troop strength): 317,000

Main battle tank: 4,700

Battleships: 2

Submarines: 3

Warplanes: 460

Helicopter: 190

Defense Spending: $ 2,246,000,000

GETTING THERE

Arriving by plane

For Syria’s national airline Syrian Arab Airlines (RB) (Internet: www.syriaair.com) there is a flight and landing ban in the EU. EU citizens are only allowed to buy flight tickets from Syrian Arab Airlines (RB) when leaving Syria.

Air passes

With the Star Alliance’s Middle East Airpass, travelers can explore Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates on up to ten flights. More information is available on the Star Alliance website, www.staralliance.com.

Departure fee

£ 200, travelers in transit and children under 10 are excluded.

Arrival by car

The most important international roads lead from Istanbul via the E5 to Ankara, Adana and Iskenderun (Turkey) on to Syria. Coming from Europe, take the Bab-al-Hawa road from Antakya, which leads to Aleppo and at Kassab to Latakia. The best roads going south come from Aqaba on the Red Sea (Jordan). Long-distance bus: Daily bus connections between Istanbul and Aleppo and between Beirut and Aleppo and Damascus. For more information see Documents and traffic regulations (tourist traffic – national) .

Arriving by train

Syrian Railways (Internet: www.cfssyria.org) runs once a week from Damascus to Tehran (Iran) and from Damascus to Istanbul (Turkey).

Arrival by ship

Latakia, Tartus and Banias are the main port cities.
There are car ferries to Bodrum (Turkey). Beirut (Lebanon). is served from Alexandria, Cyprus and Greece. From there, Damascus can be reached in a couple of hours by land.