World Factbook
Syria
Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Area
land
185,887 sq km
note
note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory
water
1,550 sq km
total
187,437 sq km
Climate
mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus
Terrain
primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Land use
other
23% (2023 est.)
forest
2.9% (2023 est.)
agricultural land
74.1% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: arable land
arable land: 24% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent crops
permanent crops: 5.7% (2023 est.)
agricultural land: permanent pasture
permanent pasture: 44.5% (2023 est.)
Location
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Coastline
193 km
Elevation
lowest point
Yarmuk River -66 m
highest point
Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m
mean elevation
514 m
Irrigated land
9,820 sq km (2022)
Map references
Middle East
Land boundaries
total
2,363 km
border countries
Iraq 599 km; Israel 83 km; Jordan 379 km; Lebanon 403 km; Turkey 899 km
Maritime claims
contiguous zone
24 nm
territorial sea
12 nm
Natural hazards
dust storms, sandstorms volcanism: Syria's two historically active volcanoes, Es Safa and an unnamed volcano near the Turkish border, have not erupted in centuries
Geography - note
the capital of Damascus is located at an oasis fed by the Barada River and is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities; there are Israeli settlements and civilian land-use sites in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights (2017)
Natural resources
petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower
Area - comparative
slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania
Geographic coordinates
35 00 N, 38 00 E
Population distribution
significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley
note: the recent civil war has altered the population distribution
Major watersheds (area sq km)
Indian Ocean drainage
(Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Euphrates (shared with Turkey [s], Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 3,596 km; Tigris (shared with Turkey, Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 1,950 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth