Conventional Long Form name: Syrian Arab Republic
Capital: Damascus
Government: republic under an authoritarian regime
Independence day: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
National Holidays: Independence Day, 17 April (1946)
Executive: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 3 June 2014 (next to be held in June 2021); the president appoints the vice presidents, prime minister, and deputy prime ministers
Legislative: unicameral People's Assembly or Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)
Judicial: Court of Cassation (organized into civil, criminal, religious, and military divisions, each with 3 judges); Supreme Constitutional Court (consists of 4 members)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Their Ambassador to the U.S.: None
Their Embassy in the U.S.: Embassy ceased operation on 18 March 2014
Consulate(s): a Chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
U.S. Ambassador to Syria: Special Envoy to Syria Michael RATNEY
U.S. Embassy in Syria: on 6 February 2012, the US closed its embassy in Damascus or Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansour Street, No. 2, Damascus
No U.N. representative.
Flag symbolism: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; two small, green, five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; the band colors derive from the Arab Liberation flag and represent oppression (black), overcome through bloody struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white); identical to the former flag of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961) where the two stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; the current design dates to 1980
(similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band, Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white band, and that of Egypt, which has a gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band)
Anthem: "Humat ad-Diyar" (Guardians of the Homeland)
Symbols: hawk; national colors: red, white, black, green
Refugees and IDP's: 526,744 (Palestinian Refugees) (2014); undetermined (Iraq) (2015)
note: the ongoing civil war has created more than 4.6 million Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of January 2016
IDPs: 6,563,462 (ongoing civil war since 2011) (2015)
Stateless Persons: 160,000 (2014);
Human Trafficking: due to Syria’s political uprising and violent unrest, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, foreign migrant workers, and refugees have fled the country and are vulnerable to human trafficking; the lack of security and inaccessibility of the majority of the country makes it impossible to conduct a thorough analysis of the scope and magnitude of Syria’s human trafficking situation; Syria is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Syrian refugee women and girls are forced into exploitive marriages or prostitution in neighboring countries, while refugee children are forced into street begging domestically and abroad; the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields
Drugs: a transit point for opiates, hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money laundering
Capital: Damascus
Government: republic under an authoritarian regime
Independence day: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
National Holidays: Independence Day, 17 April (1946)
Executive: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 3 June 2014 (next to be held in June 2021); the president appoints the vice presidents, prime minister, and deputy prime ministers
Legislative: unicameral People's Assembly or Majlis al-Shaab (250 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)
Judicial: Court of Cassation (organized into civil, criminal, religious, and military divisions, each with 3 judges); Supreme Constitutional Court (consists of 4 members)
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Their Ambassador to the U.S.: None
Their Embassy in the U.S.: Embassy ceased operation on 18 March 2014
Consulate(s): a Chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
U.S. Ambassador to Syria: Special Envoy to Syria Michael RATNEY
U.S. Embassy in Syria: on 6 February 2012, the US closed its embassy in Damascus or Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansour Street, No. 2, Damascus
No U.N. representative.
Flag symbolism: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; two small, green, five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; the band colors derive from the Arab Liberation flag and represent oppression (black), overcome through bloody struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white); identical to the former flag of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961) where the two stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; the current design dates to 1980
(similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band, Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white band, and that of Egypt, which has a gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band)
Anthem: "Humat ad-Diyar" (Guardians of the Homeland)
Symbols: hawk; national colors: red, white, black, green
Refugees and IDP's: 526,744 (Palestinian Refugees) (2014); undetermined (Iraq) (2015)
note: the ongoing civil war has created more than 4.6 million Syrian refugees - dispersed in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of January 2016
IDPs: 6,563,462 (ongoing civil war since 2011) (2015)
Stateless Persons: 160,000 (2014);
Human Trafficking: due to Syria’s political uprising and violent unrest, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, foreign migrant workers, and refugees have fled the country and are vulnerable to human trafficking; the lack of security and inaccessibility of the majority of the country makes it impossible to conduct a thorough analysis of the scope and magnitude of Syria’s human trafficking situation; Syria is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Syrian refugee women and girls are forced into exploitive marriages or prostitution in neighboring countries, while refugee children are forced into street begging domestically and abroad; the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields
Drugs: a transit point for opiates, hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money laundering