Syria is a country in the Middle East, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, with a history reaching back to the dawn of civilisation. Its capital, Damascus, is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Once the heart of great empires and a crossroads of trade and faith, Syria has in recent years been devastated by a long and tragic civil war that has reshaped its society and scattered millions of its people.
The land of Syria holds some of humanity's earliest cities and kingdoms, from ancient Ebla and Mari to the Phoenician and Aramaean states along the coast and interior. It was ruled by Persians, Greeks, and Romans, who left magnificent cities such as Palmyra. In the seventh century Damascus became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, the centre of a vast Islamic empire. After centuries of Ottoman rule, modern Syria emerged under French oversight and gained independence in 1946.
Syria runs from a fertile Mediterranean coastline, backed by mountains, eastward across plains and the valley of the Euphrates River to the steppe and desert of the interior. The coastal strip and the river valleys have long supported farming and dense settlement, while much of the east and south is arid. This mix of sea, mountain, river, and desert has shaped a land of ancient cities, trade routes, and agricultural heartlands.
Syria's flag has three horizontal bands of red, white, and black, with two green stars on the central white band. The colours are shared across many Arab nations as symbols of a common heritage, recalling past glories, present hopes, and historic struggles. During the recent conflict, different flags came to be associated with the government and the opposition, making the banner itself a marker of a divided country.
Syria is a religiously diverse country, with a Sunni Muslim majority alongside significant communities of Alawites, Druze, and various Christian churches whose roots reach back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. Damascus and other ancient cities hold sites sacred to more than one faith. This long mosaic of religions has been a notable feature of Syrian society, though it has come under severe strain during the years of war.
Syrian cuisine is a celebrated expression of the wider tradition of the Levant. Mezze, a spread of many small dishes, opens a meal, featuring favourites such as hummus, the chickpea dip, baba ghanoush, stuffed vine leaves, and kibbeh, a dish of bulgur and minced meat regarded as a national speciality. Grilled meats, flatbread, olive oil, and fresh herbs are central, and Syrian sweets and pastries are renowned across the region.
Syria's farmland, concentrated along the coast, the rivers, and the wetter north, has long made the country a significant agricultural producer in the region. Its principal crops include wheat and barley, cotton, olives, and a wide range of fruits and vegetables. The Euphrates and irrigation sustain farming in the drier interior. The civil war severely disrupted this sector, damaging fields, infrastructure, and the rural communities that depend on the land.
Syria's ancient cities and its role as the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate place it at the centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic history. In modern times, the country gained independence from French rule in 1946 and later came under long one-family rule. In 2011 protests grew into a devastating civil war involving many factions and foreign powers, causing immense loss of life, destroying historic cities, and forcing millions of Syrians to flee as refugees.
Syria's population, once around 22 million, has been profoundly disrupted by years of war, with millions displaced inside the country and millions more living as refugees abroad, in one of the largest displacement crises of modern times. The people are predominantly Arab, with Kurdish, Armenian, and other minorities, and they span the country's many religious communities. The capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo are its historic urban centres.
