Syria: Geography, History, and Ethnic Composition

1. Syria

2.

THE TERRITORY OF MODERN SYRIA AND THE ENTIRE LEVANT REGION HAS ALWAYS BEEN CALLED THE CROSSROADS OF WORLDS
BECAUSE MANY CULTURES AND STATES FROM ASIA, AFRICA, AND EUROPE INTERSECTED HERE. SYRIA WAS THE SCENE OF A FIERCE
CONFLICT BETWEEN ANCIENT EGYPT, ANCIENT BABYLON, THE HITTITE EMPIRE, THE SHASU NOMADS AND THE SEA PEOPLES,
WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED AS THE BRONZE AGE CATASTROPHE.

3.

THEN, ON THE TERRITORY OF SYRIA, STATES OF VARIOUS PEOPLES AROSE AND DISAPPEARED, SUCH AS THE
ASSYRIANS, ARMENIANS, AND ARAMEANS.

4.

The Arab Caliphate and the subsequent Ottoman Empire
had the greatest influence on the appearance of modern
Syria.
Syria owes its modern borders to the Entente,
which divided the Ottoman Empire after its
victory in the First World War.

5. Administrative structure

SYRIA IS A UNITARY STATE WITH
AN ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
COMPRISING 14 GOVERNORATES
(MUHAFAZAT)

6. terrain

Syria's terrain is primarily a vast,
arid to semi-arid eastern plateau
(the Syrian Desert) covering over
50% of the country, bordered in the
west by a narrow Mediterranean
coastal plain and two parallel,
mountain ranges.
The majority of the population lives
in river valleys and on the coast of
the Syrian Sea

7. Political and ethnic map

8.

kurds
armenians

9.

sunnis
alawites