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. 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. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-Asad, his son, Bashar al-Asad, was approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005.

During the July-August 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 19,314,747 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 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 36.5% (male 3,633,562/female 3,423,435) 15-64 years: 60.1% (male 5,952,275/female 5,664,236) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 303,346/female 337,893) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 21.1 years male: 20.9 years female: 21.2 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 2.244% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 27.19 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 4.74 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.051 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.898 male(s)/female total population: 1.049 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 27.7 deaths/1,000 live births male: 27.94 deaths/1,000 live births female: 27.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.61 years male: 69.27 years female: 72.02 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.31 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 500 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Syrian(s) adjective: Syrian

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Ethnic groups: Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%

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Religions: Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)

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Languages: Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 79.6% male: 86% female: 73.6% (2004 census)

The Syrian economy grew by an estimated 2.9% in real terms in 2006 led by the petroleum and agricultural sectors, which together account for about one-half of GDP. Higher crude oil prices countered declining oil production and exports and led to higher budgetary and export receipts. Total foreign assets of the Central Bank and domestic banking system rose to about $20 billion in 2006, and the government strengthened the private sector foreign exchange rate by about 7% from the start of the year. The Government of Syria has implemented modest economic reforms in the past few years, including cutting lending interest rates, opening private banks, consolidating some of the multiple exchange rates, and raising prices on some subsidized items, most notably, gasoline and cement. Nevertheless, the economy remains highly controlled by the government. Long-run economic constraints include declining oil production and exports, weak investment, high unemployment, and increasing pressure on water supplies caused by heavy use in agriculture, rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and water pollution.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $77.66 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $24.26 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 3.5% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,100 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 24% industry: 18% services: 58% (2005 est.)

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Labor force: 5.505 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 26% industry: 14% services: 60% (2003 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 12.5% (2005 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 11.9% (2006 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 22.1% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $8.7 billion expenditures: $9.9 billion; including capital expenditures of $3.82 billion (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 37.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk

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Industries: petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, cement, oil seeds crushing

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Industrial production growth rate: 1.5% (2005)

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Electricity - production: 34.94 billion kWh (2005 est.)

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Electricity - consumption: 34 billion kWh (2005 est.)

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Electricity - exports: 0.2 kWh (2005)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2005)

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Oil - production: 405,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 230,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)

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Oil - exports: 175,000 bbl/day (2006)

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 2.4 billion bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 8.5 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 5.1 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 240 billion cu m (2006 est.)

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Current account balance: -$529 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $6.923 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) Exports - commodities: crude oil, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat

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Exports - partners: Iraq 27.4%, Germany 12.2%, Lebanon 9.5%, Italy 6.6%, Egypt 5.3%, Saudi Arabia 4.8% (2006)

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Imports: $6.634 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper

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Imports - partners: Saudi Arabia 12.1%, China 7.7%, Egypt 6.1%, UAE 5.9%, Italy 4.8%, Ukraine 4.7%, Germany 4.7%, Iran 4.4% (2006) Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.5 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $8.355 billion; note - excludes military debt and debt to Russia (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $180 million (2002 est.)

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Currency (code): Syrian pound (SYP)

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Exchange rates: Syrian pounds per US dollar - 51.689 (2006), 50 (2005), 48.5 (2004), 52.8 (2003), 52.4 (2002) note: data for 2004-06 are the public sector rate; data for 2002-03 are the parallel market rate in 'Amman and Beirut; the official rate for repaying loans was 11.25 Syrian pounds per US dollars during 2004-06,

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Fiscal year: calendar year