_#_Disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan
Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic
disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over
water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers;
Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
_#_Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August)
and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast
_#_Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal
plain; mountains in west
_#_Natural resources: crude oil, 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%; includes irrigated 3%
_#_Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification
_#_Note: there are 38 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights
_*_People
_#_Population: 12,965,996 (July 1991), growth rate 3.8% (1991);
in addition, there are at least 12,000 Druze and 13,000 Jewish settlers
in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (1990 est.)
_#_Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 37 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 71 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Syrian(s); adjective--Syrian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Arab 90.3%; Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
_#_Religion: Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim
sects 16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, tiny Jewish communities in
Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo
_#_Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic,
Circassian; French widely understood
_#_Literacy: 64% (male 78%, female 51%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 2,400,000; miscellaneous and government services 36%,
agriculture 32%, industry and construction 32%; majority unskilled;
shortage of skilled labor (1984)
_#_Organized labor: 5% of labor force
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Syrian Arab Republic
_#_Type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963
_#_Capital: Damascus
_#_Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (muhafazat,
singular--muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al
Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda, Dara, Dayr az Zawr,
Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq,
Tartus
_#_Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under
French administration); formerly United Arab Republic
_#_Constitution: 13 March 1973
_#_Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special
religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: National Day, 17 April (1946)
_#_Executive branch: president, three vice presidents, prime minister,
three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral People's Council (Majlis al-Chaab)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court, High Judicial
Council, Court of Cassation, State Security Courts
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Hafiz al-ASAD (since 22 February
1971); Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, Rifat al-ASAD, and
Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mahmud ZUBI (since 1 November
1987);
Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mustafa TALAS (since 11 March 1984);
Deputy Prime Minister Salim YASIN (since NA December 1981);
Deputy Prime Minister Mahmud QADDUR (since NA May 1985)
_#_Political parties and leaders: ruling party is the Arab Socialist
Resurrectionist (Bath) Party;
the Progressive National Front is dominated by Bathists but includes
independents and members of the Syrian Arab Socialist Party (ASP),
Arab Socialist Union (ASU),
Syrian Communist Party (SCP),
Arab Socialist Unionist Movement, and
Democratic Socialist Union Party
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President--last held 10-11 February 1985 (next to be held February
1992);
results--President Hafiz al-ASAD was reelected without opposition;
People's Council--last held 22-23 May 1990 (next to be
held May 1994);
results--Bath 53.6%, ASU 3.2%, SCP 3.2%, Arab Socialist Unionist
Movement 2.8%, ASP 2%, Democratic Socialist Union Party 1.6%,
independents 33.6%;
seats--(250 total) Bath 134, ASU 8, SCP 8,
Arab Socialist Unionist Movement 7, ASP 5, Democratic Socialist Union
Party 4, independents 84;
the People's Council was expanded to 250 seats total prior to the
May 1990 election
_#_Communists: mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000
_#_Other political or pressure groups: non-Bath parties have little
effective political influence; Communist party ineffective; greatest
threat to Asad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative
religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood
_#_Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Walid MOUALEM;
Chancery at 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
232-6313;
US--Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh,
Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29,
Damascus); telephone [963] (11) 333052 or 332557, 330416, 332814, 332315,
714108, 337178, 333232, 334352
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black
with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered
in the white band; similar to the flag of Yemen which has a plain white
band and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic
inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white
band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle
centered in the white band
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Syria's rigidly structured Bathist economy turned
out slightly more goods in 1990 than in 1983, when the population was 20%
smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe
drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts
to match Israel's military strength, a falloff in Arab aid, and
insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry
and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic
regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the
mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit for which Syrian businessmen have
long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have
benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural
development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled
Syria to cut oil imports. A long-term concern is the additional drain of
upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation
projects are completed toward the end of the 1990s. Output in 1990
rebounded from the very bad year of 1989, as agricultural production
and oil revenues increased substantially.
_#_GDP: $20.0 billion, per capita $1,600; real growth rate 12%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Budget: revenues $4.8 billion; expenditures $5.5 billion, including
capital expenditures of $2.1 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $2.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--petroleum 40%, textiles 30%, farm products 13%,
phosphates (1989);
partners--USSR and Eastern Europe 42%, EC 31%, Arab countries 17%,
US/Canada 2% (1989)
_#_Imports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--foodstuffs and beverages 21%, metal and metal
products 16%, machinery 14%, textiles, petroleum (1989);
partners--EC 42%, USSR and Eastern Europe 13%, other Europe 13%,
US/Canada 8%, Arab countries 6% (1989)
_#_External debt: $5.2 billion in hard currency (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 17% (1990 est.); accounts
for 19% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 2,867,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced,
500 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco,
phosphate rock mining, petroleum
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 27% of GDP and one-third of labor force;
all major crops (wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas) grown
mainly on rainfed land causing wide swings in production; animal
products--beef, lamb, eggs, poultry, milk; not self-sufficient in grain
or livestock products
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $538
million; Western (non-US) ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88),
$1.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12.3 billion; Communist
countries (1970-89), $3.3 billion
_#_Currency: Syrian pound (plural--pounds);
1 Syrian pound (5S) = 100 piasters
_#_Exchange rates: Syrian pounds (5S) per US$1--11.2250 (fixed rate
since 1987), 3.9250 (fixed rate 1976-87)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 2,241 km total; 1,930 km standard gauge, 311 km
1.050-meter narrow gauge; note--the Tartus-Latakia line is nearly
complete
_#_Highways: 27,000 km total; 21,000 km paved, 3,000 km gravel or
crushed stone, 3,000 km improved earth
_#_Inland waterways: 672 km; of little economic importance
_#_Pipelines: 1,304 km crude oil; 515 km refined products
_#_Ports: Tartus, Latakia, Baniyas
_#_Merchant marine: 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 61,951
GRT/86,552 DWT; includes 18 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 vehicle
carrier, 1 bulk
_#_Civil air: 35 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 99 total, 96 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: fair system currently undergoing significant
improvement; 512,600 telephones; stations--9 AM, 1 FM, 40 TV; satellite
earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station, with 1
Intersputnik station under construction; 1 submarine cable; coaxial
cable and radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon (inactive)
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, Syrian Arab Air
Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces, Police and Security Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,825,214; 1,584,887 fit for
military service; 149,105 reach military age (19) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.6 billion, 10.9% of GDP (1988 est.)
_%_
_@_Tanzania
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 945,090 km2; land area: 886,040 km2; includes the
islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of California
_#_Land boundaries: 3,402 km total; Burundi 451 km, Kenya 769 km,
Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia
338 km
_#_Coastline: 1,424 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;