Syria

Syria's four major geographical features are:
-Coastal Region: lies between the mountains and the sea
-Mountainous Region: includes the mountains and hills that run from the north to the south along the Mediterranean.
-Interior Region: includes the plains of Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Al Hassakeh, and Dara'a. It is situated to the east of the mountainous region.
-Desert Region: consists of the desert plains situated in the southeastern part of the country along the Jordanian and Iraqi borders.

Geographical features. Chapter one. <ftp://ftp.fao.org/country/syria/pdf/country_profile_chap1.pdf>



Syria's Stereotypes
1.) Al men are bearded and all women are veiled.
2.) Syria is full of violent and corrupt country
3.) Syria will always be at war with the isrealites.


Ibrahim Hamidi. "Seeing Syria inside out," FW:, March 2009
<http://www.fw-magazine.com/content/seeing-syria-inside-out>

-Around 2000 BCE, Syria was located in the region subject to Egypt.

- Arabic is the official language of Syria spoken by 89% of the population.
6% speak Kurdish
3% Armenian
2% other
English and French are spoken in business circles.



Arabic German Consulting. " Syria: Location, Population, Religion, Memebership, Currency".
<http://www.arab.de/arabinfo/syria.htm>. 1998-1999. (accessed May 21, 2009)

-Palmyra is one of Syrias most famous ruin cities of the Neolithic age (1000 BC). It is located just north of Damascus.
The picture above shows the ruins of Palmyra today.


Maan Al-Sabbagh. "Palmyra"
<http://www.reuter.net/syria_private_tours/palmyra.htm>

Muslims represent majority of Syrias' population. It is dominated by the Sunni Islam religious group of which 80% are native Syrian Arabs, Sunni Islam setz the religious tone for Syria and provides the countrys basic values. There are 12 million Sunni Muslims in main Syrian cities (75% of population). They follow full Sunna, the saying of Muhammed as handed down by his companions and obey the Grand Mufti who is elected forlife.
The remainder of the population are Kurds, Turkomans, Christians, Circassians and Palestinians.
8% of the Syrian population is Christian.
Islamist have been strongly suppressed in the past, and remain outlawed from Syrian politics.
According to constitution, only a muslim can be president.
Memberships in religious communities are determined by birth.


Arabic German Consulting. "Syria: Location, Population, Religion, Membership, Currency. 1998-1999. (accessed May 31, 2009) <http://www.arab.de/arabinfo/syria.htm>

ISLAM-
Islam plays a very important role in Syria, with over 80% of its population being Muslim, the Syrian muslims follow this religion very well.
When the religion of Islam was spreading, it was taken as the main religion in Syria.
There are many mosques in Syria for muslims to practice their religion.(Syria Gates)

SUNNI'S-
The largest religious group in Syria is the Sunni Muslims, of whom "80% are native Syrian Arabs, with the remainder being Kurds, Turkomans, Circassians, and Palestinians. Sunni Islam sets the religion tone for Syria and provides the country's baisc values"
"In theory, a Sunni approaches his God directly because the religion provides him no intercession of saints, no holy orders, no organized clerical hierarchy, and no true liturgy. In practice, however, there are duly appointed religious figures, some of whom exert considerable social and political power."(U.S. Library of Congress)

SHIA-
"Shia Islam is often viewed as a deviant or heretical form of orthodox Islam. However, Shia Islam is the result of schism and, as scholars correctly observe, the elements for a Shia interpretation of Islam are present in the Quran as well as in the hadith."
Shia Islam's distinctive institution is the Imamate, which holds that the successor of the Prophet is more than a political leader
"The five Shia principles of religion (usual ad din) are: belief in divide unity (tawhid); prophecy (nubuwwah); resurrection (maad); divine justice (adl); and the belief in the Imams as successors of the Prophet (imamah). The latter principle is not accepted by Sunnis"(U.S. Library of Congress)


"Syria Gate All Abour Syria." Islam 1999-2002. Accessed May 25, 2009.
<http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/general/islam.htm>

Thomas Collelo, ed. Syria: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987. Accessed May 25, 2009.
<http://countrystudies.us/syria/31.htm>

Islam was divided into the Sunnis and Shiites after the defeat of Ali and his son Hussein by the Umayyads. The triumph of the Umayyads not only "caused a split in Islam: is made Damascus the capital of the new Arab/Islamic empire. This weakened the empires control .
The islamic empire then transferred the empire's capitol from Damascus to Baghdad. In 861 The turkish slave-boys known as Mamlukes who later became soldiers to maintain the security of the empire, took over Syria and once again "brought it into an association with Egypt."
Syria/Palestine resumed its "historical as the battlefield for the struggly between rulers of the Tigris-Euphrates and the Nile Valleys.
The Fatimids originated in Syria as leaders of the Shiite Ismaili movement, which was dedicated to the overthrow of the Abbaid caliphate. Theus they were regarded as hiritcal enemies by Baghdad.
Between 962-1000, Syria was indaded 38 times by successive Bysantine emperors.
The Sub-Shiite sect is the Alawite, or Nusairi. are about 10% of the population of Syria. In 1071, the Byzantines took Syria and Palestine and drove the Fatimids back to Egypt.


Mansfield, Peter. A History of the Middle East. NY: Penguin Books, 1991.

In 1258 it seemed as if nothing could prevent the Mongols from overrunning Syria and Egypt.
Around 1295 the three centuries of Mamluke rule in Egypt rule in Egypt and Syria showed many of the aspects of an advanced civilization. Mamluke generals fought each other for the governship of Syria. As the Mongol Empire declined, there was no longer an external threat to enforce the unity that had ben achieved at Ain Jalout.
In 1497 the Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope and opened a new route to India and teh Far East which outflanked the traditional link between Europe and Asia through Egypt and the Red Sea. Syrian merchants concentrated on the land route from Alexandretta (the modern Iskenderum) through Aleppo to Baghad and Basra, and a flourishing transit trade to and from the east survived.
After a battle near Aleppo in 1516, in which the aged Mamluke sultan Ansuh al-Ghawri died of a stroke and his army was annihilated, Selim easily occupied Syria and Palestine. Ottoman empire aqcuires Syria at this time as well.


Mansfield, Peter. A History of the Middle East. NY: Penguin Books, 1991.

World War I of 1914 and the granting of France's mandate over Syria by league of Nations in 1922 led to Syrias brief moment of independence.
Some of the impacts after WWI were: Syrian intellectuals wbegan urging the study of Arab history literature and language.
In addition, Syria civilians demanded decentralization of Ottoman administration and andministrive reform.
Ottoman governors such as Jamal Pasha suppressed them Syrians went underground and demanded complete Arab independence. Secret groups were formed such as: Al Jamiyyah al Arabiyah al Fatat ( Young Arab Society a.k.a. Al Fatat) and Al Ahd (the Covenant) which was a secret association of Arab army officers.
In addition, Jamal Pasha was determined to tighten his control over Syria. He arresed Al-fatat members ruthlessly. 21 Arabs were hanged in city square of Damascus and Beirut on the morning of May 6, 1916. This event is commemorated as Martyr's Day, a national holiday in Syria and Lebanon.


Country Studies. "World War I"
<http://www.country-studies.com/syria/world-war-i.html>