SYRIA

OVERVIEW

• Capital: Damascus
• Largest City: Aleppo
• Official Language: Arabic
• 71479 square miles (89th)

GEOGRAPHY

• The Northeast of the country "Al Jazira" the South "Hawran" are important agricultural areas
• The Euphrates river crosses the east of the country
• One of fifteen of the "cradle of civilization"
• Climate is hot and dry with occasional snowfall in the winter

Untitled Slide

• Divided into 14 governorates
• Then divided into 61 districts
• And further divided into sub-districts

Untitled Slide

ETHNIC GROUPS

RELIGION

CULTURE

• Importance is placed on family, religion, education, self-discipline and respect
• The music scene of Syria is hugely important to the Arabs
• Nearly all of Syria's media outlets are state-owned

SPORTS

• Most popular: soccer, basketball, swimming, and tennis
• Syrian cities host many different soccer teams
• National soccer team ranked 138th by FIFA
• In their first national game vs Turkey, they lost 7-0

CUISINE

• Influence from greek and southwest asian dishes
• Also evolved from turkish and french cooking
• Most popular dishes: shwarma and baklava
• Yabra, stuffed grape leaves

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Significant concern
• Ranked "not free" by Freedom House
• Many activists have been & are being arrested
• Government also blocks websites, banning travel, etc.
• August 2013, accusation of using chemical weapons on civilians

SOURCES

• en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria
• www.voanews.com