Syria

Exact population: 18,881,361 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 2006 est.)
Literacy: Total population: 76.9%; male: 89.7%; female: 64%
Ethnicities: Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Land boundaries: Total: 2,253 km; border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km
Terrain: Primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Extremes: Lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -200 m; highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m
Imports: Turkey 9.4%, Ukraine 8.7%, China 7.8%, Russia 5.4%, Saudi Arabia 5.2%, US 4.7%, South Korea 4.6%, Italy 4.3% (2004)
Exports: Italy 22.7%, France 18%, Turkey 12.9%, Iraq 9%, Saudi Arabia 6.2% (2004)
Industries: Petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining

Source: CIA World Factbook