(WIPO code: SY) (latest review October 2023)

by SABA & CO., Damascus

General Information

Area

185,190 sq. km.

Population

22,933,531 (2023).

Capital

Damascus.

Language

Arabic.

Currency

Syrian pound.

Imports

(2017): U.S.$ 6.279 billion.

Exports

(2017): U.S.$ 1.85 billion.

Chief imports

Industrial and agricultural machinery, electrical machines and equipment, building and sanitary materials such as iron bars and sheets, timber, paper and cardboard, stationery goods, chemical products, drugs and medicines and quite a large number of consumer goods.

Chief exports

Crude oil, petroleum products, wheat and cotton, clothing, semi-finished products, processed food, pharmaceuticals.

Chief agricultural and industrial products

Agricultural products: sugar, olive oil, vegetable oils, cereals (wheat, barley, maize, Indian corn, lentils, chick-peas, broad beans, etc.), cotton, fruit and tobacco. Animal products: raw wool, hides and skins, butter, ghee. Industrial products: cement, glass, petrol and petroleum products, silk cocoons and acetate, cotton threads, woolen and cotton textiles, leather goods, yams, silk brocades, inlaid brass, carved wood products, canned fruit and vegetables.

General Remarks

Syria was part of the old Ottoman Empire until the end of World War 1. In the year 1920 it was proclaimed an independent Kingdom and was then placed under French mandate by the League of Nations until 1945 when Syria won its independence after several revolutions against the French. It then became an independent republic and joined the UNO.

Oil was discovered in the northeast, and exports began in 1968. Aleppo and Damascus are thriving commercial centers.