Portal:Syria

Welcome to
The Syria Portal

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north and northwest, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. It is a republic under a provisional government and comprises 14 governorates. Damascus is the capital and largest city. With a population of 26 million across an area of 185,180 square kilometres (71,500 sq mi), it is the 56th-most populous and 87th-largest country.

Following the Arab Spring in 2011, Syria became embroiled in a multi-sided civil war with the involvement of several countries, leading to a refugee crisis in which more than 6 million refugees were displaced from the country. In response to rapid territorial gains made by the Islamic State during the civil war in 2014 and 2015, several countries intervened on behalf of various factions opposing it, leading to its territorial defeat in 2017 in both central and eastern Syria. Thereafter, three political entities—the Syrian Interim Government, Syrian Salvation Government, and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria—emerged in Syrian territory to challenge Assad's rule. In late 2024, a series of offensives from a coalition of opposition forces led to the capture of Damascus and the fall of Assad's regime. By 2025, the war had left Syria's economy in a poor state, following years of international sanctions that were later eased. (Full article...)

Selected article -

The petroleum industry in Syria forms a major part of the economy of Syria. According to the International Monetary Fund, before the Syrian civil war, oil sales for 2010 were projected to generate $3.2 billion for the Syrian government and accounted for 25.1% of the state's revenue.

Syria is a relatively small oil producer, only accounting for 0.5% of the global production in 2010; by 2016, it had dropped to less than 0.05%. Although Syria is not a major oil exporter by Middle Eastern standards, oil is a large industry forming a major component of the Syrian economy, because of Syria's extremely low GDP per capita. Syria's oil sector has been hit by the Civil War and international sanctions imposed on Syria. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected picture

Maaloula landscape

Did you know...

… that Syria is one of the world's oldest civilizations, dating from the Palaeolithic era (c. 800,000 BCE)
… that Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire for approximately 400 years.
… that Syria's name comes from an ancient kingdom called Assyria.
… that the Syrian cities of Damascus and Aleppo are some of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
… that the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives led to the fall of the Assad regime after more than two decades in power?

Selected biography -

Adonis on 12 May 2011

Ali Ahmad Said Esber (Arabic: علي أحمد سعيد إسبر, North Levantine Arabic: [ˈʕali ˈʔaħmad saˈʕiːd ˈʔesbeɾ]; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis (أدونيس [ʔadoːˈniːs]), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. Maya Jaggi, writing for The Guardian stated "He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, "exerting a seismic influence" on Arabic poetry comparable to T.S. Eliot's in the anglophone world."

Adonis's publications include twenty volumes of poetry and thirteen of criticism. His dozen books of translation to Arabic include the poetry of Saint-John Perse and Yves Bonnefoy, and the first complete Arabic translation of Ovid's "Metamorphoses" (2002). His multi-volume anthology of Arabic poetry ("Dīwān ash-shi'r al-'arabī"), covering almost two millennia of verse, has been in print since its publication in 1964. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images

The following are images from various Syria-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Fattoush, an example of Syrian cuisine (from Culture of Syria)
Image 2The Roman Theatre at Bosra, one of Syria's best preserved monuments from Roman times. Syria's long and rich history plays a huge part in its culture. (from Culture of Syria)
Image 3The world's first alphabet from the ancient city-state of Ugarit, northern Syria. 15th century BCE. (from History of Syria)
Image 4Palmyra, one of Roman Syria's most prospering cities (from History of Syria)
Image 5Roman Theatre at Bosra (from History of Syria)
Image 6Ottoman-Syrian dress in the 19th century. (from History of Syria)
Image 7Azm Palace, 18th century residence of Ottoman governor of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 8Stuck and abandoned tank of the Assad's forces on the road to Damascus, December. (from History of Syria)
Image 9Salah Jadid (right) alongside Ba'ath party founder Michel Aflaq (left) shortly after the 1963 coup. Neo-Ba'athist Military Committee led by Jadid and Hafez al-Assad later overthrew the National Command in another coup in 1966, leading to a schism within Baathist movement (from History of Syria)
Image 10The ancient city of Ugarit (from History of Syria)
Image 11Children killed by the Assad regime in the Ghouta chemical attack, the deadliest chemical weapons attack in the 21st century (from History of Syria)
Image 12Fattoush, an example of Syrian cuisine (from Culture of Syria)
Image 13Al-Fayhaa Sports Complex (from Culture of Syria)
Image 14Female figurine, Syria, 5000 BCE (from History of Syria)
Image 15Syrian opposition offensives that overthrew Assad's regime in 11 days (from History of Syria)
Image 16Nizar Qabbani's style explored themes of love, eroticism, religion, and Arab nationalism. (from Culture of Syria)
Image 17Russian planes bombing positions of the Assad's enemies. (from History of Syria)
Image 18From 1831 until 1841, Syria was governed by Egypt under Muhammad Ali (from History of Syria)
Image 19Krak des Chevaliers from the South-West (from History of Syria)
Image 20Former flag of Syria (1932–58), now used by the Syrian opposition and Free Syrian militias (from History of Syria)
Image 21Maktab Anbar in the Ancient City of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 22Azm Palace, 18th century residence of Ottoman governor of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 23The Roman Theatre at Bosra, one of Syria's best preserved monuments from Roman times. Syria's long and rich history plays a huge part in its culture. (from Culture of Syria)
Image 24Syrian government forces tank. (from History of Syria)
Image 25Alleged Syrian nuclear reactor site destroyed in air strikes by Israeli Air Force during Operation Outside the Box. (Photo from video released by the US government) (from History of Syria)
Image 26Kousa mahshi (from Culture of Syria)
Image 27Maktab Anbar in the Ancient City of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 28Al-Fayhaa Sports Complex (from Culture of Syria)
Image 29The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites near Aleppo (from History of Syria)
Image 30Killing of Rafic Hariri triggered a massive Intifada against Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005, which led to the withdrawal of Syrian military forces after global backlash (from History of Syria)
Image 31Parts of Syria and neighbouring countries formed a part of the Roman Empire (from History of Syria)
Image 32Opposition demonstration in Baniyas, 29 April 2011 (from History of Syria)
Image 33Syrian tank during October war, 1973 (from History of Syria)
Image 34Coin of Bambyce, c. 340–332 BC (from History of Syria)
Image 35Landscape of Syrian mountain. (from Music of Syria)
Image 36Nizar Qabbani's style explored themes of love, eroticism, religion, and Arab nationalism. (from Culture of Syria)
Image 37Israeli tanks advancing on Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War. Then Defence Minister Hafez al-Assad was widely blamed for the failure of Syrian military, intensifying his rivalry with Jadid (from History of Syria)
Image 38A group of Syrian musicians from Aleppo (from Music of Syria)
Image 39Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (left) with European Council President António Costa at the Arab League summit on Gaza, in Cairo, 3 March 2025 (from History of Syria)
Image 40Kousa mahshi (from Culture of Syria)
Image 41President Adib Shishakli (from History of Syria)
Image 42Ottoman Syria, circa 1683 (See: list of territories) (from History of Syria)
Image 43Citadel of Aleppo (from History of Syria)
Image 44Syrian army column in Lebanon (from History of Syria)
Image 45Map marking boundary between British and French territory (from History of Syria)
Image 46The Ancient city of Apamea, Syria, one of Syria's most important commercial centres in Hellenistic times (from History of Syria)
Image 47Philip the Arab, Roman Emperor (from History of Syria)
Image 48Umayyad Mosque (from History of Syria)
Image 49Syrian artillery crew during Yom Kippur War against Israel (from History of Syria)
Image 50The inauguration of President Hashim al-Atassi in 1936 (from History of Syria)
Image 51Empress Julia Domna (from History of Syria)
Image 52The States of the French Mandate (from History of Syria)

Lists

Topics

Related portals

Religions in Syria

Arab states

Other countries

WikiProjects

WikiProject Syria
WikiProject Western Asia

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Expand : Help expand the Syria-related stub articles
Featured article candidates : Help bring Syrian related articles to featured status
Wikify : Update and wikify Geography of Syria
Portal : Help expand this portal

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Welcome toThe Syria Portal