Syria

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Country summary

Capital

Damascus

Borders

Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km

Government type

republic under an authoritarian military-dominated regime

Population

21,762,978 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

2.006% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

74.22 years[1]

Unemployment

8.5% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

145[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

126[3]


Following World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French administered the area as Syria until granting it independence in 1946. The new 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 Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005.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. In May 2007 Bashar al-ASAD was elected to his second term as president.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Syrian pound (ISO code: SYP)
  • Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA%[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $73.54 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $73.93 billion (31 December 2008)[1]


Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[4] 15 874 19 326 21 100 21 582 22 397 24 475 28 203 33 407 40 549 55 204
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[5]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[6] 23.941
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[7]
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Syria", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Syria", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. Transparency International. "Syria", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. World Bank. "Syria: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. World Bank. "Syria: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  6. World Bank. "Syria: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  7. World Bank. "Syria: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

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