Portal:Syria

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The Syria Portal

Flag of Syria	Emblem of Syria

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 Syria's 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.

During the Arab Spring in 2011, members of the Syrian opposition organized protests against the Assad regime, which became known as the Syrian Revolution. After the government responded with lethal violence, the Free Syrian Army was formed, and the revolution escalated into a multifaceted 13-year civil war, drawing in several countries and triggering a refugee crisis that displaced more than 6 million people. Rebel advances were reversed following the emergence of the Islamic State, which occupied roughly two-thirds of Syria by May 2015. Alongside rebel and government counteroffensives, several countries led a campaign that resulted in the Islamic State's territorial defeat in 2017. Following its defeat in the four-year Battle of Aleppo, the Free Syrian Army fragmented and declined. By 2020, the civil war had become a frozen conflict, while Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) consolidated the remaining rebel groups in its stronghold in northwestern Syria. In late 2024, HTS and other opposition forces launched a series of offensives, culminating in the fall of Damascus and the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024. The Syrian caretaker government was established following the fall of the Assad regime and remained in place until it was replaced by the Syrian transitional government in March 2025, under Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new president of Syria. Post-war conflict continues following the fall of the Assad regime, involving clashes with Assad loyalists, Alawite and Druze insurgents, the former Syrian Democratic Forces, and Israeli forces. (Full article...)

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During the rule of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party from 1963 to 2024, and later under the Assad family from 1970 until the regime's collapse in 2024, Ba'athist Syria used different national flags of Syria, all featuring a red, white, and black triband bearing either two or three green stars or the national coat of arms.

Following the 1963 Ba'athist coup d'état, the Revolutionary Command Council adopted a new flag, a red–white–black horizontal triband with three green stars. The three stars represented Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, while also symbolizing the Ba'athist principles of Waḥda, Ḥurriyya, Ishtirākiyya ("unity, freedom, and socialism"). In 1972, after Syria joined Egypt and Libya in the Federation of Arab Republics, the three green stars were replaced by the Hawk of Quraish. Upon the dissolution of the federation, Syria restored the two-star red–white–black tricolour in 1980 by readopting the former flag of the United Arab Republic to symbolize its continued commitment to Arab unity. The flag had been used until 1961, when Syria was part of the United Arab Republic. During the Syrian civil war, the two-star flag became closely associated with the Ba'ath Party and the government of Bashar al-Assad. (Full article...)

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Fruit market in Hama

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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?

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Assad in 2018

Bashar Hafez al-Assad (born 11 September 1965) is a former Syrian politician, medical doctor, and military officer who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until his overthrow in 2024 after the Syrian civil war. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1970 to 2000. His rule as president was a highly personalist dictatorship that governed Syria as a totalitarian police state, becoming arguably more repressive than his father. In August 2026, Assad was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a Syrian court and sentenced to death in absentia.

In the 1980s, Assad became a doctor, and in the early 1990s he was training in London as an ophthalmologist. In 1994, after his elder brother Bassel al-Assad died in a car crash, Assad was recalled to Syria to take over Bassel's role as heir apparent. Assad entered the military academy and in 1998 took charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon begun by his father. On 17 July 2000, Assad became president, succeeding his father, who had died on 10 June 2000. Assad also became commander-in-chief of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces and secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Hopes that the Western-educated Assad would bring reform to Syria and relax the occupation of Lebanon were dashed following a series of crackdowns in 2001–2002 that ended the Damascus Spring, a period defined by calls for transparency and democracy. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Killing 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 2The States of the French Mandate (from History of Syria)
Image 3Nizar Qabbani's style explored themes of love, eroticism, religion, and Arab nationalism. (from Culture of Syria)
Image 4Salah 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 5Map marking boundary between British and French territory (from History of Syria)
Image 6Al-Fayhaa Sports Complex (from Culture of Syria)
Image 7Syrian tank during October war, 1973 (from History of Syria)
Image 8Israeli 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 9The ancient city of Ugarit (from History of Syria)
Image 10Opposition demonstration in Baniyas, 29 April 2011 (from History of Syria)
Image 11Alleged 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 12The 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 13The 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 14Stuck and abandoned tank of the Assad's forces on the road to Damascus, December. (from History of Syria)
Image 15From 1831 until 1841, Syria was governed by Egypt under Muhammad Ali (from History of Syria)
Image 16Syrian artillery crew during Yom Kippur War against Israel (from History of Syria)
Image 17Empress Julia Domna (from History of Syria)
Image 18The inauguration of President Hashim al-Atassi in 1936 (from History of Syria)
Image 19Syrian 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 20Palmyra, one of Roman Syria's most prospering cities (from History of Syria)
Image 21Maktab Anbar in the Ancient City of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 22Kousa mahshi (from Culture of Syria)
Image 23Philip the Arab, Roman Emperor (from History of Syria)
Image 24The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites near Aleppo (from History of Syria)
Image 25Fattoush, an example of Syrian cuisine (from Culture of Syria)
Image 26Ottoman-Syrian dress in the 19th century. (from History of Syria)
Image 27Syrian army column in Lebanon (from History of Syria)
Image 28A group of Syrian musicians from Aleppo (from Music of Syria)
Image 29The Ancient city of Apamea, Syria, one of Syria's most important commercial centres in Hellenistic times (from History of Syria)
Image 30Children killed by the Assad regime in the Ghouta chemical attack, the deadliest chemical weapons attack in the 21st century (from History of Syria)
Image 31Maktab Anbar in the Ancient City of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 32Syrian government forces tank. (from History of Syria)
Image 33Ottoman Syria, circa 1683 (See: list of territories) (from History of Syria)
Image 34Landscape of Syrian mountain. (from Music of Syria)
Image 35Fattoush, an example of Syrian cuisine (from Culture of Syria)
Image 36The world's first alphabet from the ancient city-state of Ugarit, northern Syria. 15th century BCE. (from History of Syria)
Image 37Coin of Bambyce, c. 340–332 BC (from History of Syria)
Image 38Citadel of Aleppo (from History of Syria)
Image 39Azm Palace, 18th century residence of Ottoman governor of Damascus (from Culture of Syria)
Image 40Al-Fayhaa Sports Complex (from Culture of Syria)
Image 41Russian planes bombing positions of the Assad's enemies. (from History of Syria)
Image 42Krak des Chevaliers from the South-West (from History of Syria)
Image 43Umayyad Mosque (from History of Syria)
Image 44Female figurine, Syria, 5000 BCE (from History of Syria)
Image 45Parts of Syria and neighbouring countries formed a part of the Roman Empire (from History of Syria)
Image 46Kousa mahshi (from Culture of Syria)
Image 47Syrian opposition offensives that overthrew Assad's regime in 11 days (from History of Syria)
Image 48Former flag of Syria (1932–58), now used by the Syrian opposition and Free Syrian militias (from History of Syria)
Image 49Roman theatre at Bosra, considered to be one of the World's best preserved Roman Theatres. (from History of Syria)
Image 50Nizar Qabbani's style explored themes of love, eroticism, religion, and Arab nationalism. (from Culture of Syria)