phosphates, chrome and manganese ores,
asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum

Land use:
arable land: 28%
permanent crops: 3%
meadows and pastures: 46%
forest and woodland: 3%
other: 20%

Irrigated land: 10,000 sq km (1992)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification; water pollution from dumping of raw sewage and wastes
from petroleum refining; inadequate supplies of potable water
natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms
international agreements: party to - Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified
- Biodiversity, Desertification, Environmental Modification

Note: there are 42 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (August 1994 est.)

@Syria:People

Population: 15,451,917 (July 1995 est.)
note: in addition, there are 31,000 people living in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 16,500 Arabs (15,000 Druze and 1,500
Alawites) and 14,500 Jewish settlers (August 1994 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (female 3,639,776; male 3,826,154)
15-64 years: 49% (female 3,691,862; male 3,854,989)
65 years and over: 3% (female 219,251; male 219,885) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.71% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 43.21 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 6.07 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 41.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.81 years
male: 65.67 years
female: 68.01 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.55 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian

Ethnic divisions: Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects
16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in
Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian,
French widely understood

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 64%
male: 78%
female: 51%

Labor force: 4.3 million (1994 est.)
by occupation: miscellaneous and government services 36%, agriculture
32%, industry and construction 32%; note - shortage of skilled labor
(1984)

@Syria:Government

Names:
co