History

The city has seen it all. From archaeological sites excavated on the outskirts of Damascus that date as far back as 7000BC, to the Amorites of Egypt who first settled the city 5,000 years later, through Greeks, Romans, Christians and Ottomans, Damascus is probably the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It has seen great empires rise and fall, crusades fight and falter and colonial powers wax and wane. Key to the city’s success as a nurturer of civilisations is its location, sitting in the fertile plain created by the waters of the Barada river that flow from the Anti-Lebanon mountain range to its north-west—an oasis of life on the edge of an inhospitable desert. With the carve-up of the former Ottoman empire following the First World War, Damascus was ruled under French mandate and only became the capital of the independent Syrian republic in 1945.

Politics

Syria has been ruled by the Baath Party for 42 years. Founded on an ideology of pan-Arabism and socialist reform, but hampered by huge military spending in its wars with Israel and declining revenue from oil sales, the party has failed to deliver the economic development Syria so badly needs. When the young Bashar al-Assad was recalled from medical studies in London to succeed his father as President in 2000, expectations for change were high. That period, known as the ‘Damascus Spring’, has now faded to an autumn as the pace of reform has slowed. Many blame what has become known as ‘the old guard’, the Baathist establishment who haven’t taken kindly to the President’s attempts to shake things up a little. The recent crisis over Lebanon, huge US pressure on the country and the general acceptance that pan-Arabism, as a political force, is over—Baath officials recently openly called for the end to the party’s pan-Arab command wing—have left Syria at a political crossroads. Analysts and the populous alike watched this year’s Baath Party conference, only the second since Bashar took office, with a great deal of interest.

Religion

Muslims comprise 89% of the population. Two thirds of Syrians are Sunni Muslim. Other Muslims include Shi-ites, Ismailis and Allawites. Many of Syria’s ruling class are drawn from the Allawi community. There is a significant Christian population of some 11%, divided between Maronite Catholic and Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Orthodox churches. The Druze, a religious group closely related to Islam, constitute an important community, particularly in the southern Hauran province. There is a tiny Jewish community in Damascus, Qamishli and Aleppo.

Economy

Modest economic reforms have taken place in the past few years, including cuts in interest rates, opening private banks, consolidating some of the multiple exchange rates and raising prices on some subsidised foodstuffs, but the economy remains highly controlled by the government. Oil is still a mainstay of the Syrian state, accounting for around 40% of state revenue. From a peak of 604,000 barrels a day in 1996, production fell to around 520,000 in 2004. Remaining reserves are estimated at 2.5 billion barrels. Gas reserves are stronger, totalling up to 600 billion cubic metres, of which around half is currently recoverable. Production has grown rapidly from four billion cubic metres in 1999 to around nine billion cubic metres in 2004.

Agriculture accounts for 25% of GDP while the service industries of a rapidly growing private sector account for 44%. Damascus and Aleppo have long been important centres of cotton and textile production. Annual real GDP growth has averaged 2.3% for the past seven years. One fifth of Syria’s rapidly growing population are unemployed.

Population

Syria has a population of approximately 19 million people of which 90% are Arab. The largest minority are Kurds, at around 8%, with Armenians and expatriate and migrant workers making up around 2%.