Browse listings of B&B, Home Exchange, Vacation Rentals (furnished apartments, villas, cottages, condos, farmhouses and other types of accommodations) of Syria:
Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Syria
- Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2
- Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Currency:Syrian Pound (SŁ)
- Country Dialing Code: 963
Must See - Properties on UNESCO World Heritage List by
- Ancient City of Damascus
- Ancient City of Bosra
- Site of Palmyra
- Ancient City of Aleppo
Syria
Location
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Capital
Damascus
Population
18,448,752
note: in addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers (July 2005 est.)
Regions
14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus
Climate
mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus
Ethnic groups
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 widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Government type
republic under an authoritarian, military-dominated regime since March 1963
Background
Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic, but in September 1961 the two entities separated and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, and over the past decade Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD in July 2000, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April of 2005.
Visitor's Impressions
If you would like to share your experiences of traveling to Syria or to other countries, please send us your article and we will gladly post it at this site.
