Syria A Country Study Guide

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. De jure Syrian territory borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west,Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest, but the government’s control now extends to approximately 30–40% of the de jure state area and less than 60% of the population. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home todiverse ethnic and religious groups, including Syrian Arabs, Greeks,Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Circassians, Mandeans and Turks. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans,Shiites, Salafis, and Yazidis. Sunni Arabs make up the largest population group in Syria. Once the centre of the Islamic Caliphate, Syria covers an area that has seen invasions and occupations over the ages, from Romans and Mongols to Crusaders and Turks. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, it is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Arab Sunnis, the last of whom make up a majority of the Muslim population. Modern Syria gained its independence from France in 1946, but has lived through periods of political instability driven by the conflicting interests of these various groups. Since 2011 political power, long held by a small mainly Alawite elite, has been contested in a bitter civil conflict initially sparked by the Arab Spring that turned into a complex war involving regional and international powers. The publication will be a valuable aid to the study of the vital aspects of the subject.